Spooktober: The Haunting of Alejandra – Mental Illness & Horror

It’s time for another spooktober book rec and today we’re talking about The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro. It’s spooky and creepy, but also deals with the intense weight of generational trauma and mental illness. La Llorona in this story is almost mental illness given form. I love that the creature is an allegory for postpartum depression. She haunts the mothers and makes them doubt their love and want to self harm. The story dives deep into how trauma can not only be generational, but often hereditary like a cursed bloodline. The story doesn’t just stop at identifying these issues though. It goes the next step further and talks about how therapy and treatment can set you on the road to recovery. And it is a road, with twists and turns. It’s not always linear. There isn’t a magic cure. You can stumble backward, but you must keep working to move forward.

The creature is incredibly creepy in this book. I love that it lurks, but is also fantastical. It is not limited to the physical realm so there is no locking it out or hiding away. I also love that once the mothers in this story choose to “fight back” against their trauma, they ALSO got hands!

It was very spooky and gets a very big recommendation from me. 8/10 spookies