Don’t play with magic you don’t understand. You’d think this would be common sense by now, but there’s always some skeptic willing to treat mystic rituals like a game—to their own detriment. Montserrat and Tristán learn this lesson the hard way in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s latest horror novel Silver Nitrate, which came out last month.
Montserrat loves old horror films. She also loves immersing herself in the intricacies of creating the perfect aural landscape as part of her work as a sound editor. And she loves her childhood best friend Tristán. Unfortunately for Montserrat, the things she loves rarely love her back. Her favorite film director left his final horror movie unfinished and seems to have completely dropped out of the game. At work, Montserrat battles constant misogyny and favoritism as her shifts are given over to coworkers who are less experienced and less hardworking, but better able to play along with the boys’ club culture. And Tristán is, as always, a mess—fresh out of a relationship that was in danger of getting serious and staring down the ten-year anniversary of the crash that killed his movie-star girlfriend, ended his promising career, and changed his life forever, he’s back to leaning on Montserrat to take care of him like she always has. Then Tristán learns that his new neighbor is none other than Montserrat’s favorite director Abel Urueta. Urueta enlists the two friends into helping him finally finish that incomplete film, which he claims was imbued with a magic spell by a Nazi sorcerer named Wilhelm Ewers. Montserrat and Tristán play along, but soon learn that Ewers’s magic is all too real. Tristán’s dead girlfriend keeps appearing in his apartment, Montserrat feels haunted by a dark presence, and Ewers apparently still has loyal followers around Mexico City who are devoted to carrying on his legacy. Montserrat will have to immerse herself in Ewers’s occult writings and understand how the despicable man thinks if they plan to beat him at his own game. But can she toy with such dark magic without losing herself?
Silver Nitrate puts a new twist on the concept of cursed films. It seems like legends around cursed film sets and productions have existed since the dawn of the industry. From The Exorcist to Poltergeist, horror movies especially seem to be haunted by accidents, deaths, and other misfortunes. Then there are the fictional tales of films that curse the viewers—most famously represented by The Ring, but the blend of bigotry and occultism in this novel also reminded me of P. Djeli Clark’s Ring Shout, in which screenings of Birth of a Nation are used to summon eldritch beings and transform Ku Klux Klan members into supernatural monsters. Silver Nitrate combines elements of both types of cursed films. In this case, several magic practitioners plan to use the film as a ritual to enact a spell when screened in front of an audience, but when the spell is interrupted, those who worked on the film are cursed with terrible luck. While at first the juxtaposition of ancient magic with twentieth-century technology seems incongruous, there is in fact a long history of film and the supernatural going hand in hand.
This novel also does a particularly good job of exploring the insidious temptation of evil. Montserrat and Tristán know from the very beginning that Wilhelm Ewers is evil, and they are repulsed by his abhorrent views and his blatant disregard for human life. Yet, as Montserrat studies his occult writings and develops a supernatural connection to the deceased sorcerer, she can’t help but get caught up in his charisma and tempted by the promise of power. It’s easy to cast blame on those who fell under Ewers’s spell, but when you have been made to feel powerless it is hard not to jump at the opportunity for something more. It takes deep reserves of integrity and the support of loved ones who remind you of your true self to resist falling into such a well-laid trap.
If you like stories of esoteric magic and close, complicated friendships in vibrant settings (in this case, 1990s Mexico City), be sure to check out Silver Nitrate! You can find it on shelves now at your favorite local retailer, or buy a copy online and support The Gothic Library in the process using this Bookshop.org affiliate link. If you’ve already read it, let me know your thoughts in the comments! And if you’re interested in more books by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, check out my reviews of Certain Dark Things and Mexican Gothic.