Picture this: You finally move into the perfect house with your new husband, except it’s haunted…by his ex-wife… and everyone gaslights you about it. The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas takes the classic haunted house trope and drapes it in the rich texture of a gothic nightmare set in post-independence Mexico. The feeling that the very walls in your house hate you alone is unsettling, but paired with the gaslighting and isolation, it digs under your skin in just the right way.
I didn’t much care for the forbidden romance subplot, as it felt more of a distraction for me, but I can see how it will land for readers who enjoy a little romance in their gothic horror. For me, the real draw was the atmosphere: the creeping dread, the whispers in the walls, the sense that truth itself was being buried alive beneath the house’s foundation. Those elements were so strong that I found myself wanting to keep going and see what was just around the corner.
This book gets a solid yes from me. It’s spooky, immersive, and imaginative. I love a good blend of history and horror that leaves me thinking about the many ways houses can remember the dead.
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