Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest offering, The Bewitching, stands as a profound meditation on the persistence of evil across generations, wrapped in the atmospheric dread that has become her signature. This multigenerational horror saga traces the shadowy connections between three women separated by decades—Alba in 1908 Mexico, Beatrice Tremblay in 1934 Massachusetts, and graduate student Minerva in 1998—all bound by encounters with malevolent forces that refuse to remain buried.
The narrative structure, alternating between time periods with surgical precision, creates a haunting echo chamber where each woman’s story amplifies the others. Moreno-Garcia demonstrates her masterful command of temporal storytelling, allowing patterns to emerge organically as readers piece together the horrifying truth that connects these disparate lives.
The Architecture of Academic Terror
A Scholar’s Descent into Darkness
The 1998 timeline follows Minerva, a graduate student researching the life of obscure horror writer Beatrice Tremblay, whose novel The Vanishing was inspired by a true story. Minerva’s academic pursuit becomes increasingly personal as she uncovers the mysterious disappearance of Virginia Somerset, Tremblay’s roommate at Stoneridge College in 1934. The missing student’s fate intertwines with Minerva’s own family history, particularly her great-grandmother Alba’s childhood encounter with witchcraft in early 20th-century Mexico.
Moreno-Garcia excels at portraying the particular anxiety of academic life—the pressure to produce original research, the isolation of scholarly pursuits, and the dangerous allure of becoming too deeply immersed in one’s subject. Minerva’s character rings with authenticity, from her preference for taking notes by hand to her social awkwardness at faculty gatherings.
The Vanishing as Mirror
The discovery of Tremblay’s unpublished manuscript about Virginia Somerset creates a story within a story, where the boundaries between research and reality blur dangerously. As Minerva delves deeper into the case, she begins to experience the same ominous portents that plagued both Alba and Beatrice—dead animals, electrical disturbances, and an overwhelming sense of being watched.
The Weight of Inherited Darkness
Alba’s Mexican Gothic
The 1908 storyline, set in the Mexican countryside, provides the supernatural foundation for the entire narrative. Alba Quiroga’s story unfolds against a backdrop of rural superstition and family tragedy, where her uncle Arturo’s corruption manifests in both mundane and mystical horror. The revelation that Arturo has been practicing witchcraft, using his knowledge to manipulate and destroy, creates a cycle of violence that will echo through the generations.
Moreno-Garcia’s portrayal of Mexican folk magic feels authentic and respectful, drawing from genuine cultural traditions while avoiding the orientalist tropes that often plague Western horror fiction. The relationship between Alba and the witch Perpetua is particularly well-crafted, subverting expectations about who the true threat might be.
New England’s Persistent Shadows
The 1934 sections, chronicling Beatrice Tremblay’s friendship with the enigmatic Virginia Somerset, capture the atmospheric dread of New England Gothic tradition. The Stoneridge College setting, with its ivy-covered buildings and secretive social hierarchies, provides the perfect backdrop for exploring themes of jealousy, ambition, and supernatural vengeance.
Virginia’s character, revealed through Beatrice’s memories and contemporary accounts, embodies the tragic figure of the gifted young woman whose abilities make her both powerful and vulnerable. Her interest in Spiritualism and automatic writing connects her to a broader historical context of women seeking agency through occult practices.
The Mechanics of Moreno-Garcia’s Horror
Atmospheric Mastery
Moreno-Garcia’s horror operates through accumulation rather than shock, building tension through carefully observed details and psychological unease. The recurring motifs—dead birds, electrical disturbances, the sensation of being watched—create a sense of inevitability that makes the eventual revelations feel both surprising and inevitable.
The author’s background in Mexican Gothic literature shines through in her ability to make everyday objects and spaces feel charged with menace. A simple cup of tea left on a table becomes a symbol of absence and loss; a college library transforms into a repository of dangerous knowledge.
Character Development and Dialogue
The three protagonists are distinctly realized, each reflecting the constraints and possibilities of their respective eras. Alba’s dialogue carries the formal cadence of early 20th-century Mexican society, while Minerva’s voice reflects the academic milieu of the 1990s. Beatrice’s narrative, presented as her memoir, strikes a balance between literary formality and intimate confession.
The supporting characters, particularly Carolyn Yates and Noah, serve multiple functions in the narrative while maintaining their own psychological complexity. Carolyn’s transformation from helpful alumna to revealed antagonist is handled with particular skill, her motivations feeling both shocking and, in retrospect, inevitable.
Technical Accomplishments and Minor Criticisms
Structural Brilliance
The novel’s structure deserves special praise. The alternating timelines create a sense of mounting dread as connections between the stories become apparent. The pacing is expertly controlled, with each section ending at moments of maximum tension that propel readers forward while deepening the overall mystery.
Areas for Improvement
While the novel’s strengths far outweigh its weaknesses, certain elements could have been refined. The exposition occasionally feels heavy-handed, particularly in the early sections where Minerva’s research background is established. Some readers might find the academic setting less immediately engaging than the more exotic locales of Moreno-Garcia’s previous work.
The resolution, while satisfying, relies heavily on inherited supernatural abilities that are never fully explained. While this ambiguity serves the horror atmosphere, it may frustrate readers seeking more concrete explanations for the supernatural elements.
Comparison to Moreno-Garcia’s Previous Work
Evolution of Themes
The Bewitching represents a natural evolution of themes explored in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s previous novels. Like Mexican Gothic, it examines the ways trauma reverberates across generations, but with a more expansive temporal scope. The academic setting recalls Gods of Jade and Shadow, while the focus on women’s experiences in different historical periods echoes The Seventh Veil of Salome.
Mature Craftsmanship
This novel demonstrates Moreno-Garcia’s growth as a writer, particularly in her ability to handle complex narrative structures without sacrificing emotional depth. The horror elements feel more integrated into the story’s thematic concerns than in some of her earlier work, creating a more cohesive reading experience.
Cultural and Literary Significance
Reclaiming Women’s Stories
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia serves as both horror entertainment and cultural reclamation project. By centering women’s experiences across different cultures and time periods, Moreno-Garcia challenges the male-dominated horror canon while exploring how women’s agency has been suppressed and demonized throughout history.
Academic Horror as Genre
The novel contributes to the growing subgenre of academic horror, joining works like The Secret History and The Historian in exploring how scholarly pursuits can become dangerous obsessions. The university setting provides both social commentary and supernatural framework, examining how institutions can harbor dark secrets across generations.
Recommended Reading
Readers who appreciate The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia should explore:
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia – For similar atmospheric horror with Mexican cultural elements
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid – For multigenerational storytelling with hidden secrets
- The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield – For Gothic atmosphere and family mysteries
- The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer – For historical fiction spanning multiple time periods
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova – For academic horror with supernatural elements
Final Verdict
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia succeeds as both a compelling horror narrative and a thoughtful exploration of how trauma and evil persist across generations. Moreno-Garcia’s skillful weaving of three timelines creates a rich tapestry of dread that will satisfy both horror enthusiasts and literary fiction readers. While not without minor flaws, the novel stands as a significant achievement in contemporary horror literature, demonstrating how the genre can serve as a vehicle for examining serious themes about power, gender, and cultural memory.
The book’s greatest strength lies in its understanding that true horror often stems not from supernatural forces, but from the very human capacity for cruelty and the ways that abuse of power echoes through time. In an era of increasing awareness about institutional corruption and generational trauma, The Bewitching feels both timeless and urgently contemporary.
For readers seeking intelligent horror that respects both traditional folklore and modern psychological insight, The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia delivers a deeply satisfying experience that will linger long after the final page is turned.
