Good morning, everyone! Today I’m a stop on the Random Things Tour for V. Castro’s new collection, Mestiza Blood: A Short Story Collection of Nightmares, Dreams, Desires & a Vision of the Chicana Experience.
V. Castro has quickly become one of my must-read authors. Her work is truly fantastic! And it’s everything great horror should be: social commentary, feminism, sexuality, folklore, and, as the subtitle says, “a vision of the Chicana experience.” And it’s all creepy as hell!
That Chicana experience is very specific—it's the experience of being a woman who lives in the United States but comes from Mexican roots— and it runs through all of Castro’s work. Her tales are steeped in classic legend and lore, even when the basis for the story may not be exactly a traditional legend (this was the case Queen of the Cicadas, which had me googling the legend to see if it was indeed real. It wasn’t, but it also wasn’t far off from so many known stories of its kind.) That experience means that her work often also tackles the generational differences in experience and expectation between immigrants and their children.
I have also found that motherhood is particularly prevalent in a number of her stories, and Mestiza Blood is no exception. In one, Satan herself is the main character. In another, a woman whose parents have recently been picked up by ICE is doing everything she can to avoid authorities while also taking care of her baby, and she's offered what appears to be an impossible choice. In still another, a woman finds out her child has been cursed.
Another big theme, which makes sense as a woman, and as a Chicana, is revenge. Women getting revenge on those who have done them wrong.
While my own experiences in life may be different than Castro's, no woman goes through life unaware of the dangers that seem to lurk around every corner for us. So I have to say, there is definitely a sense of satisfaction in seeing some of the characters get their just desserts in these stories!
If horror has a job to do, aside from scaring and entertaining, I think, like all fiction, it should offer different perspectives. I like fun, but I also like a little meat to chew on. Substance that takes me out of my own experience and puts me into someone else’s. And of course, since it’s horror, I want it to come through with the scares. But not just jump scares! Actual, chill you to the bone scares!
Mestiza Blood is the kind of collection you'll be tempted to zip through, considering that once you've been ripped through one story, you're propelled directly into the next. But I'd argue this is the kind of collection worth savoring. There's a lot going on under the surface of each story. Castro has a lot to tell the world. And it's only in really examining and pondering over each story that I think some readers will have those dawning experiences, touching the true heart of each story if they really try!
Castro is a blazing new voice in the genre whose work offers all of that and so much more! I really can't sing her praises highly enough. I think that she's one of the authors of the genre who is pushing boundaries with each new work. And I think she's a really powerful storyteller!
Mestiza Blood is out now from Flame Tree. Be sure to buy a copy wherever books are sold, but preferably from your favorite indie!
