VODKA O’CLOCK 2023-06:
V. Castro
The Haunting of Alejandra
AMBER LOVE 28-Sept-2023 My work is supported by the generous backers at Patreon.com/amberunmasked who appreciate my reviews and my stories; and they also get first access to what’s happening with my books and podcast. Also, I have Amazon Lists so you can shop through my personal recommendations and buy my books.
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It was an absolute thrill to chat with horror writer, V. Castro, about her 2023 book, The Haunting of Alejandra. I wrote a full review of this feminist, intergenerational tale back in March of this year. She’s a like-minded bruja after my own heart.
The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro takes horror to an intersectional feminist level in a way that was unexpected. Castro unleashes a brazen way to deliver tropes and turn them into something brand new.
Castro was encouraged to write as a child, but she didn’t take up writing as a job until her 30s. This timed out with the birth of her youngest child followed closely by the global pandemic. She encourages anyone who wants to pursue a dream that they think they’ve waited too long to achieve to give things a shot.
“I just started writing. Writing had been my therapy. Writing had been a way that I had been able to almost exorcise myself and then COVID hit and I had loads of time during the lockdowns to finish it. And it flew out of me just like the other books just kind of flew out of me. And I’m so grateful for that. But I had so much to say, a lifetime worth of things to say. There’s a benefit to starting later in life.” —V. Castro
Folklore in Texas and Mexico (from before things were split into states and were still colonies or territories) have captivating legends passed down through oral storytelling. Stories of La Llorona and La Lechuza were commonly told.
Castro spoke on her process of creating the story after she had her third child. She was in relationships and found herself stuck. She went through her own existential crisis like the main character Alejandra goes through.
As a woman, Castro felt that she knew her whole life that she would have to work harder and to prove herself. Writing Alejandra was a cathartic process. Parental abandonment, poverty, connection to family and post-partum depression, and having strength to love oneself through tragedies in a society are elements from real life that influence the stories Castro writes.
“Horror can be a flashlight.”—V.Castro
As she says, we’re all masculine and feminine, light and dark, balanced. After getting a scare from a horror story, she hopes her work gives you something back and make you feel good. She also wants to impress upon readers through stories of motherhood that it’s okay not to have children. It’s not for everyone. Do not do it out of obligation or it’s expected. It is an absolute labor of love.
V. Castro has things in the works for her readers coming soon!
Links:
- V. Castro Official
- Search for her on social media.
- RAICES donations
- Planned Parenthood Action Fund Donations
Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.