Image via Arcadia Books/Mia Araujo By David Caballero Published Jul 14, 2026, 11:26 PM EDT David is a Senior Editor at Collider focused primarily on Lists. His professional journey began in the mid-2010s as a Marketing specialist before embarking on his writing career in the 2020s. At Collider, David started as a Senior Writer in late 2022 and has been a Senior Editor since mid-2023. He is in charge of ideating compelling and engaging List articles by working closely with writers, both Senior and Junior, as well as other editors. Occasionally, David also reviews movies and TV shows and writes episode recaps. Currently, David is also writing his second novel, a psychological horror satire that will, hopefully, be picked up for publication sometime next year. Sign in to your Collider account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Thread Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap Gothic novels will always be popular . Some of literature's all-time greatest efforts belong to the Gothic genre, from the seminal horror of Dracula to the timeless romance of Jane Eyre . However, for decades, these stories were focused on the hauntings of great English manors, completely shutting out the Western side of the planet, particularly Latin America and Spanish-speaking countries as a whole. It took a while before that changed, but in 2020, we finally got a great entry into the Gothic genre through a distinct Latino lens.
Silvia Moreno-García 's Mexican Gothic is an incredible book that took all the tropes we have come to expect from the Gothic genre — grand, dilapidated manors, centuries-old secrets, mysterious hauntings, creepy families, and things that aren't quite there — and put a Mexican spin on them . Building the story in the rich tradition of horror and grounding it on very real and heavy themes regarding colonialism and the insidious nature of the patriarchy, the book became an instant critical and commercial hit. Six years later, it remains a great read and one of the classics-in-the-making that are perfect to rediscover — or, indeed, discover — in 2026.
Image via Del Rey Mexican Gothic is set in 1950s Mexico and tells the story of Noemí Taboada , a young, beautiful socialite living in Mexico City. At a party, she receives a mysterious letter from her beloved cousin, Catalina , who married into the seemingly powerful Doyle family, an English clan profiting off a silver mine in the remote town of El Triunfo. Catalina believes her husband, Virgil, is trying to poison her , and begs Noemí for help. Both Noemí and her father believe Virgil might be after Catalina's money, and Noemí is dispatched to El Triunfo to investigate the veracity of Catalina's claims. Thus, she arrives at El Triunfo, where she is met by Virgil's younger brother, Francis, and taken to the Doyles' large and eerie manor, High Place. There, Noemí meets the rest of the Doyle family and eventually begins experiencing strange occurrences .
As the title implies, Mexican Gothic borrows from the rich tradition of Gothic stories to a T . There's a large, tetric manor, High Place, haunted by the ghosts of generations past and very much modeled after the genre's best-known mansions: think of Wuthering Heights, Thornfield Hall, or Manderley. There's also an eerie family hiding deep and dangerous secrets, and a young heroine out of her depth trying to make sense of…