Coming October 6, 2026
Bruja’s Nest
The Love Witch meets Monstrilio in Bruja’s Nest, where a young woman’s abuse history and ambition erupt into body horror, class war, and monstrous motherhood.
Raised amidst poverty, alcoholism, and sexual abuse, Yolanda is determined to seize control of her future. When she starts work as an indentured servant on the Fernández De la Rosa estate, she realizes she can secure a place as the lady of the house: with a spell from the local bruja, she can trick their naive son into getting her pregnant.
But the fertility ritual—piercing her flesh, tucking a rooster’s heart inside herself—begets more than she expected. Yolanda’s body swells and seethes with infection, her few allies dwindle, and she delivers a massive egg under the watchful eye of Santa Muerte, the Mexican folk saint of death. The hacienda where she’s been promised a permanent home is full of blasphemies, secrets, and bodies, and the family she’s tied herself to is loyal only to wealth and power.
But Yolanda will do anything to protect her child, who deserves the love and safety she never had. Even if everyone insists he’s a monster.
What readers are saying…
"Bruja's Nest is a potent and startling literary incantation that invokes the most powerfully complex elements of magic, motherhood, and unflinchingly grotesque body horror. This is an uncompromising and deeply affecting work exquisitely scrawled in blood, fury, and pain."
—Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
“Tense, boldly written, and fiercely addictive, Brenda LaTorre’s debut novel Bruja’s Nest is part class war telenovela, part shocking body horror, and every bit as wicked and biting as its conniving and irrepressible heroine. I am a major fan.”
—Robert Levy, author of The Glittering World and No One Dies from Love
"Bruja's Nest is 100% twisty fun! It's Succession with gristle, the [chicken] heart of darkness, and Shirley Jackson if only she could have watched telenovelas. There's bizarro bravado on every page. ¡Felicidades, Brenda LaTorre! Sequel!"
—Nancy Holder, New York Times Bestselling Author
“Brenda LaTorre’s Bruja’s Nest is an eerie and unsettling delight, a supernatural page turner with macabre echoes of Geek Love and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. A delectably dark debut novel.”
—Elizabeth Hand, author of A Haunting on the Hill, Wylding Hall, and Generation Loss
The Taste of the Underworld Cocktail
by Lindsay Merbaum of Pick Your Potions
Yolanda’s mother is convinced her daughter is a bad seed. So she sends her off to become a live-in servant at a once illustrious hacienda, where Yolanda will eat the family’s scraps for her meals. Determined to become la señora of the hacienda, Yolanda sets out to seduce the family’s dashing son, who also happens to be gay; with the help of the local bruja, Yolanda plans to leverage a pregnancy to improve her standing.
This delightfully dark and innovative novel approaches classic elements from the telenovela–demon spawn, secret loves, terrible rich people, and more–and spins them into a Gothic horror coming-of-age tale detailing the origin of a true bruja.
The Taste of the Underworld is made with gin, a sophisticated spirit that complements the drink’s floral notes, provided by the syrup. The syrup is a combination of marigold (cempasúchitl)--- the flower of the dead, guiding spirits between worlds; chamomile for Panchito’s shampoo; and rose for the remnants of spells cast in Valentín’s room. The drink is balanced with fresh lemon juice for the lemon tree, the site of so many pivotal—and devastating—moments, from a terrible accident to an unfortunate death.
Taste of the Underworld
Ingredients
2 oz gin (Hendrick’s, Botanist recommended)
1.5 oz marigold chamomile rose syrup
1 oz fresh lemon juice
Lemon twist
Instructions
Prepare the syrup. Once cool, add to a shaker with ice, along with the gin and lemon juice. Agitate vigorously for about 20 seconds. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
Marigold Chamomile Rose Syrup
Ingredients
1 c water
1 c sugar
1 teabag dried organic marigold petals
1 teabag chamomile
1 teabag dried organic rose petals
Instructions
Bring the sugar and water to a boil, then let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off heat but keep the pot on the warm burner. Steep the tea in the syrup, covered, until cool. Remove and discard the teabags. Store in a glass bottle or jar and keep refrigerated.