Sundown in San Ojuela

M. M. Olivas (olivasthewriter.wtf) is an alumna of the Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers’ Workshop and the Lambda Literary Workshop, and holds an MFA in creative writing from San Jose State University. Her fiction has appeared to critical acclaim in Uncanny, Apex, Weird Horror, and Bourbon Penn. As a trans, first-generation Chicana, Olivas explores the intersection of queer and diasporic experiences in her fiction. Her debut novel Sundown in San Ojuela was released by Lanternfish Press in 2024. Olivas currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she collects transforming robots in her free time.

“An immersive supernatural horror novel that pulls from Mesoamerican myth and puts queer and diasporic experiences front and center.”—Shelf Awareness“Sundown in San Ojuela confronts the sense of futility that comes with trying to end a generations-long, deeply embedded cycle of abuse.”—Independent Book Review (starred)“A strange, haunting, brutal study of the intersection between heritage and identity.”—Charlie Marks, Bookseller at Fountain Bookstore"A ferocious debut, heartbreaking and visceral.”—The Rumpus“A wild ride of brujas and old Aztec gods, chupacabras and haunted houses.”—SFWA Grand Master Nalo Hopkinson“If you read one horror book this year, let it be this one.”—Nell Gehrke, Bookseller at Country Bookshelf