Silver Nitrate book review

I am very grateful to have received an ARC of Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I’ve heard great things about her other books such as Mexican Gothic and seeing she now has a book about cursed media (a favorite trope of mine) I couldn’t resist requesting it.

Disclaimers:
The following is my honest review in exchange for the temporary ecopy.
Links provided may contain affiliate codes (this means I receive a small commission at not cost to you if you use them to make a purchase. Thank you for your support).

Content warnings for Silver Nitrate:
Supernatural horror, ghosts, blood, murder, supernatural violence, alcohol and drug use, grief, car accident, cancer, racism, Nazis, colorism, misogyny, themes of unrequited love, cults, non-consensual touching but nothing overtly sexual ever occurs on page, bullying of children (past, flashbacks on page) for disability and race/background, animal violence.

Montserrat has always been overlooked. She’s a talented sound editor, but she’s left out of the boys’ club running the film industry in ’90s Mexico City. And she’s all but invisible to her best friend, Tristán, a charming if faded soap opera star, though she’s been in love with him since childhood.
Then Tristán discovers his new neighbor is the cult horror director Abel Urueta, and the legendary auteur claims he can change their lives—even if his tale of a Nazi occultist imbuing magic into highly volatile silver nitrate stock sounds like sheer fantasy. The magic film was never finished, which is why, Urueta swears, his career vanished overnight. He is cursed.
Now the director wants Montserrat and Tristán to help him shoot the missing scene and lift the curse . . . but Montserrat soon notices a dark presence following her, and Tristán begins seeing the ghost of his ex-girlfriend.
As they work together to unravel the mystery of the film and the obscure occultist who once roamed their city, Montserrat and Tristán may find that sorcerers and magic are not only the stuff of movies.

Silver Nitrate is without a doubt SMG’s love letter to horror geeks – especially Mexican horror geeks. Being a white American from Appalachia, I admittedly missed a lot of the Mexican cultural and horror references – this did not take away from my enjoyment of the book and I was able to get the idea of what what being referenced easily but I’m sure I would have enjoyed it even more if I’d had and I am happy for those that do get them.

Montserrat, the heroine of the story, is an autistic coded, bisexual, horror fantatic, heavy metal lover, and analog film/audio nerd. I adore her so much! I relate to her more than I probably should.
Few people shared her taste. She’d scared a date off by renting Evil Dead, another with Videodrome.
(Look, some people just don’t understand cool peeps like us, Momo.)
I envy her horror poster collection and her ability to deal with the misogynistic assholes of the world like her boss and Nando, the guy who sells movie memorabilia and information. I wish I had the balls she carries effortlessly.

Tristan isn’t my favorite character by any means but I came to like him because of seeing him through Momo’s eyes as well as the fact he plays her foil well. He is a voice of reason in a setting where reason and logic have no real place. Later in the novel he has the same vibe as Randy from Scream with various commentary on how this situation or that action gets people killed in horror movies. Something that Montserrat teases him over:
“How would you know? You close your eyes all through Friday the 134th, you coward.”
“I kept them open when people were getting naked.”
Tristan’s character arc is the most profound in the story. We see him move from self-absorbed, cowardly, aging tv-star with a drug/alcohol problem to the hero that Montserrat deserves. His arc and their relationship are an example I’d love other writers (horror, romance, or otherwise) to study, that is how well done it is.

The beginning of the novel does start slow and has a tendency to info/lore dump in the dialogue. I believe this works however because of who Montserrat is. Like I said, she is definitely autistic coded and when anyone offers even a vague interest in her special interest (film, analog audio, and especially horror film) she is happy to unload her encyclopedic mind on them. I find this relatable (I tend to do the same) and charming but like Tristan and Momo’s family and probably other people in her life, I’m sure some readers will find the beginning a bit of a drag. I encourage you to stick to it!

As someone who has studied story beats and horror, I can see how artfully each one lands in Silver Nitrate. Silvia Moreno-Garcia really knows how to craft horror and move the reader from act to act in a breathless, “what is going to happen next” fashion. Silver Nitrate is a slow burn, however. It takes a good third of the book before the spooky shit hits but by that time you’ve come to know and love the main characters and are fully invested in them as their world spirals out of control.

The bad guys of the book are layered in well-researched occultism – full of social commentary that slashes apart the racist bastards that really lived and spread their concepts, stealing from each other, from brown people in Asia, Africa, and South America, and from a the past (fictional and real). As someone who has done a lot of research on this topic as well, I loved seeing SMG write about this topic in a way that is intelligent and still twist it into a plot device in a fantastical horror in a way that shines.

The combination of occultism and analog horror was beautifully done. Something that even the main character revels in:
It sounded like something out of The Devil Rides Out or another Hammer film, but rather than feeling put off Motserrat was intrigued. The post synchronization, the silver nitrate film stock, they both contributed to make this more charming than macabre, although she appreciated the disturbing vein of darkness to the whole tale.
This bit right here, beautifully encompasses the whole of the book. It is disturbing and dark in the way old horror films are without the terror and shock of gore. It is charming with its romantic B-story plot and homage to old school horror geekery.

The horror in Silver Nitrate is supernatural in vibe with a splash of real world danger. We see ghosts and sorcerers creating magic but the real terror comes in the form of a murder while Montserrat listens on the phone, a Nazi cult breathing down the necks of the main characters, and the dread of a world that is full of prejudices and isolates the main characters with their barely concealed loathing.
The dread creating by oozing blood and looming shadows is accentuated by real world dread of aging out of careers in entertainment and movies, of living in a world that is leaving you behind as it dumps analog and embraces digital.
The themes are poignant and emotional. Its elegant.

One could argue that Silver Nitrate isn’t, in fact, a horror novel. There are spooky moments – ghosts, hell hounds, murder and blood. However, it feels more like dark urban fantasy rather than a fearful page turner. I am not complaining, as a fan of both genres. I just wanted to give a heads up for folks who are picking this up thinking they’re about to read the Mexican novel version of the movie Cigarette Burns – this isn’t that.

Spoilers in this Paragraph
A friend said she wouldn’t read the book until I confirmed the will-they-won’t-they romance hinted in it comes through.
Silver Nitrate does indeed have a HEA wherein both MCs live and end up together romantically. Its a slow burn though, which fits as Tristan definitely has some growing up to do. While you can understand why Montserrat loves him, and you know that he loves her too, his self-absorption and somewhat cowardly immaturity is the main core of his character arc and it was awesome seeing him grow into a man deserving of such a bad ass heroine.

In all, this is a 5 star read.
I could form a whole personality around Silver Nitrate (/joking…sort of). I do intend to compile a movie and music list from it and throw it in Creepsville for discussion and #TerrorTuesday movie nights. If you haven’t joined my discord, consider doing so. Along with a weekly movie night, we also have a book club, TTRPG discussions, and general chatting as fellow weirdos. (If the link isn’t working feel free to hit me up on Discord @ SmallTownCreepy.)

Recommendations

If you enjoyed Silver Nitrate I recommend:
For cursed media, watch The Ninth Gate and/or Cigarette Burns (being mindful of content warnings)
For a badass Latina main character who loves horror movies, watch Brand New Cherry Flavor.
For analog, retro, magical vibes try Mister Magic by Kiersten White or Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s book Signal to Noise. (If you want to listen to analog horror, check out my podcast currently running a Public Access campaign Can’t Stop the Signal)
For mexican horror try Silva Moreno-Garcia’s book Mexican Gothic or Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas.