Gus Moreno

Really imaginative, creepy, suspenseful horror. It's got a bit of everything: ghosts, possession, zombies (people and dogs), rogue technology, creepy woods, folklore, cosmic angst, nightmares, mindfuckery, insanity. And it's short! I could not stop reading it. The ending was... not sure exactly what happened there, but I liked it. I will be watching for more from this author.

This is an extremely readable grief-laden horror novel with a Lovecraftian vibe and I very much enjoyed it. The novel is written as a letter to Vera by her husband, Thiago, after she died in a freak accident. Prior to her death, the young couple bought a condo in a gentrifying area of Chicago where increasingly creepy things kept happening (cold spots in the room, sounds in the wall, creaks on the floors, weird dreams, their Itza (the novel's version of an Alexa) saying odd things and show more ordering mysterious packages). This haunted condo, though, is just the start of the horror that Thiago will experience through the course of the novel. While Moreno is great at building suspense and writing creative and evocative scares and kills, he is even better at grounding this horror and sadness in realistic and believable characters and in locations with a real sense of place. In reading the acknowledgements, I learned that Moreno was able to so accurately portray a grieving husband after the death of his brother's wife. His descriptions of Thiago's grief are literary and cathartic and really form the heart of the novel. show less

I started reading this in December, but finished it this year, making it my second book of 2023, I guess.

I had just finished reading a book club book that I really, truly did not enjoy, so I was keen to read something that was more to my own taste, and was feeling like something creepy. It'd seen a few of my favorite booktubers who like horror mention this one, and between that and the striking cover, I decided to give it a whirl.

Gus Moreno's writing has this really uncanny quality of show more being taut yet casual at the same time. It has a conversational pace and tone that is underpinned by a pervasive tension that holds out right to the end, and I found it super compelling.

We've got some creepy sci-fi stuff, some Lovecraftian stuff, some haunted house stuff, some possession and zombie stuff... it's like Moreno is the Salt Bae of horror, seasoning the book with a bunch of different horror elements that all kind of harmonize and hit those horror tastebuds just so!

All of the cuckoo-bananas stuff that happens is anchored by Thiago's depression and grief. I really connected with the way these themes were explored; his loss is heavy and pervasive, but the way withdraws and turns it all inward was very relatable to me.

I haven't given away much about the plot here because it's really more than the sum of its parts, and I think if a creepy, unsettling horror that explores loss, grief, technology, family, and culture sounds good to you, I recommend picking this up and just jumping right in. Although, if harm to animals is book dealbreaker for you, maybe skip it... show less

"A surreal excursion into heartache and horror narrated by a man undone by grief . . . Along with allusions to Rod Serling and The Exorcist, there are shades of H. P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, zombie literature and, at least once, A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . . . You may not want to read this book right before bed."
Vera and Thiago had moved into a Chicago condo and some weird things start to happen: They hear foot - steps at night, they experience cold spots throughout the entire show more condo and hear scratching on the walls. They take it all in stride, but then when Vera buys a smart speaker, remember "Alexa"?... things get, if it was even possible...much worse. Packages that nobody had ordered, containing everything from sex toys to industrial strength lye begin arriving; the smart-speaker turns itself on at odd times... talks to someone that isn't there; and plays random music all on its own.

The story is about grief with a bit of weird, cosmic horror. We follow Thiago, a young Mexican man whose wife, Vera, has just died in a freak accident. The time just before her death and especially after is filled with bizarre supernatural occurrences that maybe is related to the Alexa-like smart speaker Vera had bought a short time ago. I don't want to give away any details of the plot, but let's just say that things get creepy.... or creepier. There was the eerie music at odd hours, Thiago waking up to Itza, (the speakers "name"), giving light shows in a room that no one was, or had been in, and was totally empty. Thiago HAD to get away...he planned to move, especially after waking to the sound of Itza talking softly to someone in the empty living room...and someone that wasn't there...was answering!

You've heard about "the best laid plans of mice and men"... Thiago plans are soon null and void. Thiago soon realizes there is no escape...not from his simmering rage over Vera's death, and not from the evil that is hunting him, that's feeding on his grief, and is determined to make its way into this world.

I really liked the book...I gave it 4 stars, but I felt that it was a bit confusing at times. I believe that it's going to be a 'hit" or a "miss" for most readers, even die-hard horror fans. show less