Las Posadas

Title: Las Posadas
Author: V. Castro
First Published: November 23, 2022
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 41
Genre: Horror, Humor
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:


Synopsis:

Las Posadas is V. Castro's first Christmas horror novelette set in Texas.

Nola has been single for years as she has put her success over love, but this Las Posadas she hopes to find something more with the gorgeous mortician who has just moved into town to take over the local funeral home after the owners die in a house fire.
For weeks the tension has been building between Nola and Henry during their weekly meetings at Puzzle Club. At the start of Las Posadas, and her turn to host Puzzle Club, Nola has an unexpected guest in her new home.

Pozole and pinata sticks at the ready...

Review

With Las Posadas taking place this week I was excited to read this book to celebrate, and it pains me that I felt lukewarm about this novella. I’ve been loving V. Castro’s work, especially with how much of her stories center on Mexican culture and folklore. I enjoyed the start of the novella, Castro’s narrators are always well written and fun to follow. The spice level in this novella was fantastic, and there were a few mildly creepy moments.

The latter half of the novella lost me, it got a little silly and that lessened my enjoyment of the work overall. Honestly it was the stilted, emotionless side characters and the odd choices made in the reveal that did me in. The story started leaning toward a mythological figure from the alpine region which was creepy, but then surprise standard movie monsters, cue B-movie action sequence and a cameo appearance from said figure. The ending simply felt like it was forced. I had a similar experience reading Hairspray and Switchblades which I had finished right before leaping into this novella. In some ways the action in this novella was an improvement over previous work, but I didn’t feel any real payoff.

Quote

Content Warnings

About the Authors