Vampires of El Norte

In Isabel Cañas's historical horror-romance novel Vampires of El Norte, childhood sweethearts Nena—a wealthy rancher's daughter and apprentice curandera (healer)—and Néstor—a poor vaquero—reunite nine years after a terrifying nighttime monster attack. Believing Nena died from the encounter and fleeing his own grief, Néstor returns to Rancho Los Ojuelos just as the 1846 Mexican-American War and U.S. territorial expansion threaten the borderlands. As blind, daylight-walking vampires prowl the region and leave victims with a mysterious wasting illness called susto, Nena and Néstor must confront their past resentment, class divides, and old trauma to fight off both the bloodthirsty creatures and the invading American forces.