Mexican Gothic is a 2020 gothic horror novel by Mexican Canadian author Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It centers on a young woman investigating her cousin's claims that her husband is trying to murder her.
The novel landed on multiple bestseller lists and Moreno-Garcia's writing has received comparisons to Daphne du Maurier and Guillermo del Toro.
Synopsis
In 1950s Mexico City, beautiful young socialite Noemí Taboada receives a letter from her cousin Catalina, begging for help. She firmly believes that her English husband, Virgil Doyle, intends to poison her. Suspecting that Virgil may be after Catalina's money, Noemí's father, Leocadio, sends her to the Doyle home, High Place, which is located in the mountains outside of a small town named El Triunfo. Once there, Noemí is struck by the strange and unwelcoming atmosphere of the Doyles' house and the controlling and patronising attitude of its inhabitants. Catalina is proclaimed to be suffering from consumption and Noemí is mostly kept away from her cousin. During an infrequent visit Catalina begs her to seek out a healer living in the small village near the mansion named Marta Duval and pick up medicine that could save her. Noemí does so, but the medicine instead causes a seizure that keeps her from freely visiting Catalina as frequently.
As a result of the drastically decreased visits Noemí spends her time learning about the Doyle family, which also includes Florence Doyle and the frail family patriarch, Howard. The family has a history of incestuous marriages and deep intergenerational traumas, such as one of Howard's daughters, Ruth, killing several family members before shooting herself. Despite being mistreated by Florence and receiving unwanted attention from both Virgil and Howard, Noemí grows closer to one of the Doyles, Francis, who confirms her growing suspicion that the family cannot be trusted.
When she begins to sleepwalk and experience strange dreams and visions, Noemí decides that she must leave the Doyle household, only to be told that she cannot leave. They reveal that Howard discovered a strain of mushroom that has a symbiotic relationship with humans. The Doyles use this fungus and remain at High Place, the house infused with the spores of the mushrooms, which has grown inside its walls and all around it, in order to heal themselves and prolong their lives. Noemí learns that Howard is hundreds of years old, and the history of his immortality is firmly footed in violent histories of colonialism, working class exploitation, and misogynist patriarchy.
As the fungus's potency is lessened depending on the individual's genetics, the Doyles have intermarried in order to ensure that their offspring can also receive these benefits. Because it is interlaced with mycelium and infested with the mushroom's spores, the house can hold memories, which the family refers to as the "gloom". The spores can also help the Doyles control people who have inhaled them, which frightens Noemí. She grows more horrified, however, when she learns that Howard's wife Agnes was used as a sacrifice to grow the spores - and that Howard can use the gloom to take over the bodies of family members, which he's used to further preserve his own life.
The Doyles have found that Noemí's genetics are complementary to theirs and can help perpetuate their bloodline, as the inbreeding has taken its toll on the family, particularly when it comes to producing viable offspring. Howard tells her that she will marry Francis. What he doesn't tell her, however, is that after the wedding he will inhabit Francis's body. They also wish to have access to her money, as the family has become impoverished and no longer runs a successful silver mine as they once did in the town. Refusing to allow his family to carry out their plans, Francis obtains the medicine Catalina sought out earlier in the novel, as it interferes with the mushroom's abilities. Together the three flee the house and manage to set Agnes's body on fire, presumably killing the rest of the Doyles in the process and setting the entire home on fire. Francis, who was bonded to the mycelium through exposure and heredity, is physically affected by the destruction of the fungus. He fully recovers but worries that the fire wasn't enough to eliminate the spores and that he should kill himself to ensure that the family curse is truly ended. Noemí shares his concerns, but assures him that together they can overcome any potential issues.