NOMINATED FOR A BRAM STOKER AWARD FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN A NOVEL

2018 - Belinda Alvarez has returned to Texas for the wedding of her best friend Veronica. The farm is the site of the urban legend, La Reina de Las Chicharras - The Queen of The Cicadas.

In 1950s south Texas a farmworker- Milagros from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, is murdered. Her death is ignored by the town, but not the Aztec goddess of death, Mictecacíhuatl. The goddess hears the dying cries of Milagros and creates a plan for both to be physically reborn by feeding on vengeance and worship.

Belinda and the new owner of the farmhouse - Hector, find themselves immersed in the legend and realize it is part of their fate as well.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. - (Simon and Schuster)

"In the age of phony fiction, V. Castro is the voice of authenticity; una voz que lucha por la igualdad. Dark, atmospheric, sexy, and dangerous, her fiction brings readers her unfiltered Latinx essence and a unique pulpy flavor. Her work matters. Read it." 'Gabino Iglesias, author of Coyote Songs

2018 - Belinda Alvarez has returned to Texas for the wedding of her best friend Veronica. The farm is the site of the urban legend, La Reina de Las Chicharras - The Queen of The Cicadas.

In 1950s south Texas a farmworke r- Milagros from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, is murdered. Her death is ignored by the town, but not the Aztec goddess of death, Mictecacíhuatl. The goddess hears the dying cries of Milagros and creates a plan for both to be physically reborn by feeding on vengeance and worship.

Belinda and the new owner of the farmhouse - Hector, find themselves immersed in the legend and realize it is part of their fate as well.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launched in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. - (Simon and Schuster)

Violet Castro was born in San Antonio, Texas to Mexican American parents. Since Violet was a child, she wrote short horror stories and was always fascinated with dark fiction beginning with Mexican folklore and the urban legends of Texas. At eighteen Violet left Texas for Philadelphia to attend Drexel University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Political Science and History.

Violet now lives with her family in the U.K. writing and travelling with her children. She tries to return to the US twice a year to see her parents, three sisters and extended family.

For More information about her books and other publications, please visit www.vvcastro.com. You can also follow her on Twitter and Instagram @vlatinalondon. - (Simon and Schuster)

Booklist Reviews

*Starred Review* Castro's latest is a riveting #ownvoices novel exploring Mexican folk tales and legends mingled with the history of Texas. Belinda is at a friend's wedding when she gets uncomfortably reacquainted with the urban legend of Milagros, a farm worker murdered on the property in the 1950s. Belinda finds that the things she thought she has put behind her are not going to give her up so easily. With alternating time lines between the past and present, Castro's novel serves as a painful chronicle of racial violence against Latinx people. The Aztec goddess of the underworld, Mictecacíhuatl, plays a terrifying role, reminding readers there are fates worse than death. Castro explores multiple perspectives, including the points of view of villainous characters, to keep the reader turning the pages in this novel that evokes the television series Supernatural as well as the Candyman films. Readers will find themselves enraptured by this erotically-charged supernatural thriller which has action and violence that would make Tarantino blush. Castro does not pull any punches. Readers seeking originality and a fresh take on well-worn horror tropes should pick up this novel by a dynamic and innovative voice in horror. Copyright 2021 Booklist Reviews.

Library Journal Reviews

DEBUT In her engrossing, violent, and exultant debut novel, Castro boldly crafts a brutal revenge horror story, one that belatedly but firmly delivers justice to forgotten women from all over the world. In 1952, on a Texas farm, Milagros, a farm worker from Mexico, is brutally murdered. The Aztec Goddess of Death pledges herself to Milagros as the woman dies, tied to a tree and suffocating on the cicada shells stuffed down her throat. The farmland is now cursed and haunted, and the legend of Milagros, Queen of the Cicadas, grows until 2019, when Belinda, facing a midlife crisis, returns to her hometown for a childhood friend's wedding on the now renovated farm. Belinda and the new owner of the property, Hector, are both lost souls who on the outside seem to have succeeded in a world set against them. They connect with the spirits and help bring their awesome and terrifying power back into the world, giving voice to the voiceless and punishing oppressors everywhere. VERDICT Castro delivers an unflinching, honest, raw, and thought-provoking horror tale that is both serious in its social commentary and fun to read. For fans of gruesome, vengeance-themed horror that is deeply tied to its place and the marginalized identities of its protagonists, such as The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones, and Frankenstein in Baghdad, by Ahmed Saadawi.