It is time once again for spooky season and our Iron Book Discussion Group will be spending their meeting in October 2026 discussing Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate. A finalist for the Locus Award for Best Horror Novel after its publication in 2023, Silver Nitrate was also named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Tor.com, BookPage, and Book Riot.
*****
BOOK DESCRIPTION
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.
*****
Copies of Silver Nitrate can be picked up from the Book Discussion Shelf on our first floor.
An in-person discussion of Silver Nitrate will be held at the library on Tuesday, October 13, at 6:00 PM. No registration is required, so please join us if you’d like to be part of the discussion.
Published on September 10, 2026.
Back to News