Acquisition: Debut fantasy-horror novel by Matthew Olivas

Lanternfish Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of Matthew Olivas’ debut novel, Sundown in San Ojuela, for publication in Fall 2023.

When the death of her aunt brings Liz Remolina back to San Ojuela, the prospect fills her with dread. The isolated desert town was the site of a harrowing childhood accident that left her clairvoyant, the companion of wraiths and ghosts. Yet it may also hold the secret to making peace with a dark family history and a complicated personal and cultural identity.

Setting out on the train with her younger sister Mary in tow, she soon finds herself hemmed in by a desolate landscape where monsters and ancient gods stalk the night. She’s relieved at first to find that her childhood best friend Julian still lives in San Ojuela, but soon realizes that he too is changed. Haunted.

Yet she’ll have no other choice than to seek out his help as the darkness closes in.

Matthew Olivas is a queer, Latine, Mexican-American author, horrorphile, fake fan of 80’s punk rock, and collector of tiny robots. His body of work has an affinity of exploring the dark and diasporic among other things, and has been published in Nuestra Realidad Creativa Anthology, The Mesozoic Reader, Bourbon Penn Magazine. He resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and is an alumnus of the 2022 Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop.

Find the author on Twitter @OlivasMatthew.

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