A Primer to Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Genre-Straddling Bibliography

Stories of Magic, Desire and the Fantastic.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s first book was a short story collection published by Toronto-based small press Exile Editions. The book compiled a mix of never-before-published stories as well as fiction previously published in markets like Shimmer, Expanded Horizons, and Futurismic. It was nominated for the 2014 Sunburst Award. 

My favorite story’s either the titular one or “The Doppelgangers” but, honestly, the whole book’s great. 

A perfect introduction to the kind of work Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s capable of pulling off.

The follow-up to This Strange Way of Dying was another stellar collection of dark fantasy and horror stories full of magic and simmering unease—this time self-published by Moreno-Garcia’s very own Innsmouth Free Press. Out of print, unfortunately! But still worth keeping an eye on.

Then, a year after Love & Other Poisons, Solaris Books published her debut novel, Signal to Noise—a truly charming, heartwarming coming-of-age work of magical realism and family drama about a teenager casting spells with vinyl records. 

If you were reading books a decade ago, you’d probably recognize the edition of the book that incorporated the iconic Stranger Things font (ITC Benguiat) in its cover, which was everywhere for a while.

I started reviewing books for the internet in the early 2010s, which was around the time Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s career as a published novelist started. 

My first experience with her fiction was her second novel, Certain Dark Things, after I was randomly assigned to review it for a now-defunct website. The author described it as a vampire “neon-noir.” I loved it immediately. 

However, the book experienced a rocky release. The publisher reorganized and downsized, leading to Certain Dark Things going out of print before it even had a chance to breathe. 

Then, thankfully, Tor Nightfire reprinted it in 2016 with the coolest cover any book has ever received, thanks to the wonderfully talented artist John Picacio. It is probably one of her most well-known books now, and I admit I feel a little hipster-ish sense of pride about reading it early on and then witnessing its riveting rebirth.

A section of that (decade-old) review was later reused as a blurb for the new edition, which I’ll share here:

"Are you one of those people who like to bitch about vampire lit being too pretty? Then shut your trap and pick this up immediately. You like your vampires bloody and violent? This is what you need. You enjoy clever, immersive world-building? Here you go. You dig noirish narco shoot-outs? You just hit bingo, motherfucker.”

The great thing about one of your favorite authors being so prolific is that there are usually several of their books you still haven’t read, that you know will be waiting there for you when you’re particularly yearning to read something by them you’ve never read before. 

When it comes to Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s bibliography, I’ve only read about half of her current output. Does that make me unqualified to write a primer about her work? Debatable! It is happening, anyway. In fact, you are already reading it. It’s too late! 

I haven’t read The Beautiful Ones yet, for example. Advertised as a “sweeping romance with a dash of magic,” I’m sure it’s further evidence of the skill that I admire most about her work: she never seems to work exclusively within one genre. One year readers get a gritty vampire noir, and then the next they have a historical romantic drama about a love triangle on their hands. 

The Beautiful Ones also faced a less-than-ideal publishing experience, as it was the second book to come out through Certain Dark Things’s OG publisher, but it was later reprinted by Tor and received a new, welcoming life with its second edition.

Set during the Jazz Age, Gods of Jade and Shadow follows a young woman who accidentally frees the spirit of the Mayan god of death and gets roped into helping him with an adventure to restore him to full power. 

The author has described it as a “fantasy bildungsroman,” somewhere between young adult and adult fiction. At its heart, it is a fairy tale. 

Crimereads described Untamed Shore as a "Patricia Highsmith-like tale of grifters and con artists set in Baja California,” and honestly, if that doesn’t immediately sell you then I don’t know what to tell you. 

SMG is a great horror writer, yes, absolutely, but personally? I think she’s even better when tackling the noir genre.

Mexican Gothic is easily Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s most well-known book at this point. It really took off in social media influencer circles and fell into high demand. I used to run a horror bookstore, and I’d say Mexican Gothic was one of the most-requested titles to consistently keep in stock. 

If you’re into gothic fiction and you haven’t already read this one…honestly, what are you waiting for? Go get it.

Another incredible work of noir from Moreno-Garcia, this time set at the beginning of the Dirty War in Mexico. It’s a slow burn that requires a deep appreciation of the genre, I think, but boy oh boy is it a wonderful experience. 

Comic books! Missing women! Rock n’ roll! Hitmen! Russian spies! This book has it all.

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is an incredibly bold concept—“A lavish historical drama reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico”—and, predictably, SMG pulled it off extremely well. 

A historical science fiction novel exploring similar themes as the classic work, it very much works as its own thing. Not a sequel or prequel or anything like that. Give it a read! 

Of the many Silvia Moreno-Garcia books I’ve read, Silver Nitrate is my favorite so far. I loved it so much that back when I still owned a bookstore I made it the book club pick twice within three years. 

Silver Nitrate follows a sound editor in 1990s Mexico City coming into contact with a lost film that’s supposedly cursed. A great mystery about weirdo occult shit. Highly recommended!

Another book exploring the world of film—this time, however, we follow those in front of the camera. The Seventh Veil of Salome is multi-layered historical fiction structured as an oral history accompanied with newspaper articles. 

A bona fide transportation back to the Golden Age of Hollywood! I haven’t read this one yet but it sounds like a ton of fun. 

The Bewitching is another one of Moreno-Garcia’s novels that I simply could not keep in stock back when I ran a bookstore. This one was in intense demand. Readers simply love SMG’s weird witch stuff. 

This is another title of hers I’ve yet to read, but that doesn’t mean you have to wait, too. Go get it.

Lastly, we arrive at SGM’s newest novel, The Intrigue! Fresh off the presses, we’re back in the lovely, beautiful world of noir, and this time we’re dealing with one of my favorite subjects in fiction: romance scams! HELL YES, BABY. 

I picked my copy up from a local crime-themed bookstore in Minneapolis called Once Upon a Crime, and although I’m not too far into it yet, I can already tell we have ourselves another winner on our hands. 

Go scoop up your own copy at your own local indie and join me in reading the latest book from one of the best modern writer working today. REJOICE!