Cynthia Gómez’s debut novel Muñeca is due to hit shelves this June. Having read her prior short story collection, The Nightmare Box and Other Stories from Cursed Morsels, as well as her earlier novelette, The Shivering World from Dread Stone’s Split Scream (later, Tenebrous), I was thrilled to get my hands on this one. Told through the traditions of magical realism, the novel is a passionate queer romance that seamlessly blends horror, history, and music.

“If you can give the kids a good time then that’s all it’s for. Forget art and all that – that’s bullshit. If you can send that shiver...