I didn’t know quite what to expect when I accepted an ARC of Something Followed Us Home: Tales of Latiné Horror.
As you know, I love reading all different types of horror. While I’ve enjoyed novels by authors Cynthia Pelayo and Leopoldo Goût and Isabel Cañas, there are a lot of authors that I’ve never heard of contributing to this collection of short stories.
I’m super glad I took a chance on Something Followed Us Home. It contains some outstanding tales, and I walked away with some new favorite authors.
What’s Something Followed Us Home about?
All of the authors in Something Followed Us Home are of Latiné descent – meaning, with roots in Latin America (Central American and South American countries). Some of the stories in this collection take place in other countries, and some of them take place in the U.S.
While Latiné authors have been emerging as horror writers extraordinaire for a few years now, they’re still a largely overlooked population in this genre. Latiné culture has its own folklores, mythologies, urban legends, and political and social history that can be blended to create distinctively spooky storytelling.
What I loved about Something Followed Us Home
What surprised me most (in a good way!) about Something Followed Us Home is how humorous the stories are.
I usually think of “horror” as relatively serious writing that’s full of suspense and bite-on-your-nails anticipation. In other words, stories that are no laughing matter. But, many stories in this collection had me laughing out loud or biting back a smirk as I read.
“Her First Cruise Ship” by Ann Dávila Cardinal falls into this category. It’s fantastic, razor-sharp satire, and it hit me hard, especially since I recently visited Rome and Sorrento. I really hope the shopkeepers there didn’t view my arrival on their home turf like the shopkeepers in this story did.
Another one that made me giggle was “My Boyfriend,” by Gerardo Sámano Córdova. It’s about a guy whose boyfriend is possessed by a demon – and he likes the “demon-boyfriend swirl” version of his partner much better than his actual partner. Shit goes a lil’ cray-cray when the boyfriends decide they need to sacrifice a human in order to bring the demon back after they banish it.
For those of you who want a ‘true” spooky story experience: there’s plenty of that in Something Followed Us Home, too. “The Immaculate Rebirth of Nicki Duran” by Zoraida Córdova is a terrifying concept and excellently executed. I really like that the ending left me with questions. Everything is scarier when we don’t quite understand it.
While there are some “traditional” ghost stories in this collection, many of the authors used social media, bullying, vampires, angels and demons, zombies, government conspiracy theories, and so much more to up the creep factor. Thanks for all the new nightmares, everyone.
Should you read Something Followed Us Home?
If you’re looking for unique horror stories to while away a dark and stormy evening, pick up Something Followed Us Home. It’s a solid set of supernatural tales, though one or two were DNFs for me.
Here are some of my favorite stories:
- Her First Cruise Ship
- My Boyfriend
- The Immaculate Rebirth of Nicki Duran
- Guardian Angel
- LUZ Y FER
- El Jibaro de Puerto Rice
- Specter
- Fidelity
- We Are Gathered Here Together
What’s the book-inspired recipe?
Stay tuned for the book-inspired recipe: Grapefruit Alfajores Cookies.
Although I received a complimentary advance copy of Something Followed Us Home from Kaye Publicity, all opinions expressed in this review are my own. I was not compensated in any way for this review or for any other promotion/publicity I’ve done related to this book.
