Listen

Mexican Gothic audiobook vs book: which should you choose?

A gothic horror novel set in 1950s Mexico, in which Noemí Taboada goes to a remote mansion to check on her newly married cousin, read by Frankie Corzo.

Read vs Listen·Verdict last reviewed 2 November 2026·5 min read

Short answer: for the Mexican Gothic audiobook vs book choice, we say listen on Audible (72% confidence, leaning). The story stays with one heroine and one narrator reads it, and AudioFile named it a Best Audiobook of 2020, which favours audio. On the print side, the scored UK edition has a listener rating below 4.0 for the narration.

The verdict

Listen on Audible

The story stays with Noemí throughout and one narrator reads it, so one voice carries it naturally. AudioFile named it a Best Audiobook of 2020 and says “Frankie Corzo’s velvety voice puts listeners under her spell”.

Definitely readDefinitely listen

72%

Listen

Listen on AudibleOur pick · 10h 39m, read by Frankie Corzo Kindle edition320 pages (Jo Fletcher Books)

Affiliate links: we may earn a small commission, at no cost to you. It never changes a verdict.

Confidence 72%, which puts it in the leaning band. Bands run from close call at 50 to 64, through leaning at 65 to 79 and clear at 80 to 94, up to clear cut at 95 and above. Is listening the same as reading? See what the research says.

The audiobook at a glance

Recording	UK edition, our verdict	US edition
Narrator	Frankie Corzo	Frankie Corzo
Length	10 hours 39 minutes (10h 39m), unabridged	10 hours 39 minutes (10h 39m), unabridged
At 1.5x	about 7h 6m	about 7h 6m
At 2x	about 5h 20m	about 5h 20m
Audio publisher and date	Arcadia (Quercus), 10 September 2020	Random House Audio, 30 June 2020
Audiobook price	£15.79 on Audible UK	$18.00 on Audible US
Kindle price	£2.99 on Amazon UK	Not confirmed
Print	Jo Fletcher Books paperback, 320 pages	Del Rey hardcover, 320 pages, 30 June 2020
Listener rating	Performance 3.82 from 790 ratings	Performance 4.22 from 10,944 ratings

Frankie Corzo reads every English edition. The UK Arcadia edition is newer, so it is the one scored. Its Audible UK page carries a Random House Audio credit, which suggests one recording sold under two labels, but this is not confirmed. Spanish and French recordings are also sold.

Ratings and prices checked 2 November 2026. They change often. Amazon US does not show Kindle prices outside the US, so US Kindle prices are not given.

Lengths checked 2 November 2026. Speed times are calculated.

Why this verdict What it is Case for reading Case for listening The audiobook Who should ignore it Questions

Mexican Gothic

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Genre: Horror
First published: 30 June 2020
Length: 320 pages
On audio: 10 hrs 39 mins, Frankie Corzo
Awards: Locus Award and British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel

On this page

Why we reached this verdict
What this book actually is
The case for reading it
The case for listening to it
The audiobook in detail
Who should ignore this verdict
Questions people ask

Why we reached this verdict

Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions. They are based on research into what most people find easier to follow in each format, not on whether the book is any good.

Two criteria point to listening

✓

Single point of view and narratorPurdue University’s Big Read guide says it is told in the third person through Noemí, and Locus and This Is Horror both follow her experience. One narrator reads it.

✓

Award-winning or praised narrationAudioFile named it a Best Audiobook of 2020 and says “Frankie Corzo’s velvety voice puts listeners under her spell”.

–

Full cast or produced audioFrankie Corzo reads it on her own, with no cast or music listed.

–

Read by the authorIt is a novel, read by a narrator rather than the author.

–

Long book320 pages in the UK Jo Fletcher Books paperback and the US hardcover, under 400.

–

Unfamiliar names or dialectThe names and places are Spanish (Noemí Taboada, Leocadio, El Triunfo), but no source discusses Spanish words or dialect in the text, so it does not count.

One criterion points to reading

✓

Narration criticisedThe UK edition, which is the one scored, has an Audible Performance rating of 3.82 from 790 ratings, below 4.0 from more than 100 ratings. On Audible US the same narrator scores 4.22 from 10,944.

–

Three or more points of view, one narratorThe story stays with Noemí (Purdue), so there are not three or more points of view.

–

Jumping timelinesReviews place it in 1950, and no source describes a non-linear structure, so it does not count.

–

Story depends on images or layoutNo source mentions anything on the page that the story depends on, so it does not count.

–

Many similar-sounding namesThe Doyle family includes Howard, Virgil, Francis, Florence, Ruth and Agnes, but no source calls the names confusing, so it does not count.

–

Literary or dense proseLocus calls it “a dark and delectable concoction”, which praises the atmosphere rather than calling the prose dense, so it does not count.

–

Maps, family trees or footnotesNo source mentions a map or family tree, and no PDF comes with the audiobook, so it does not count.

How the score adds up

Listening 13 points, reading 5

Listening: single point of view and narrator (7), award-winning or praised narration (6), 13 points. Reading: narration criticised (5), 5 points. 72% of the confirmed points favour listening, so the verdict is listen on Audible at 72% confidence (leaning).

The recording in detail

One narratorMulti-voiceFull castDramatised

Scored: Frankie Corzo, Arcadia, 2020, 10h 39m, unabridged
Critic review: AudioFile Best Audiobook 2020: “Frankie Corzo’s velvety voice puts listeners under her spell”
Alternatives: Random House Audio US edition, also read by Frankie Corzo
What you miss: Nothing confirmed

What this book actually is

Mexican Gothic is a novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, first published in 2020. In 1950, Noemí Taboada leaves Mexico City for High Place, the remote house of her cousin Catalina’s English husband and his family, the Doyles, after a troubling letter from Catalina.

It won the Locus Award and the British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel and was shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award. What is wrong with the house and the family is not covered here. The book contains body horror, violence and the family’s racist views.

The case for reading it

On the scored UK edition, listeners rate the narration 3.82 out of 5 from 790 ratings, below the 4.0 line. UK listener reviews mostly complain about the English accents given to the Doyle family.

The Doyle household is large (Howard, Virgil, Francis, Florence, Ruth, Agnes), and print lets you set the pace of the slow build yourself, though no source calls the names confusing.

The case for listening to it

The story stays with Noemí throughout, and one narrator reads it, which is easy to follow by ear.

AudioFile named it a Best Audiobook of 2020 and praises Frankie Corzo’s “velvety voice”. US listeners rate the same narrator 4.22 from over 10,000 ratings. At 10 hours 39 minutes it comes down to about 7 hours 6 minutes at 1.5x.

The audiobook in detail

Arcadia (Quercus) publishes the UK edition (10 September 2020) and Random House Audio the US edition (30 June 2020). Both are unabridged, read by Frankie Corzo, and run 10 hours 39 minutes. Whether they are one recording is not confirmed.

No PDF companion is listed. No dramatisation was found.

Who should ignore this verdict

Lean towards audio if you are in the US or do not mind the narrator’s English accents, which is what UK listeners object to. Lean towards print if accents put you off and you want to set the pace of the slow-building dread yourself.

Get Mexican Gothic

Both editions, so you can go with the verdict or ignore it entirely.

Our pick

Audiobook

Read by Frankie Corzo
10h 39m, or about 7h 6m at 1.5x
Unabridged; AudioFile Best Audiobook 2020

Listen on Audible

Kindle

320 pages (Jo Fletcher Books)
No narrator accents to get past

Get the Kindle edition

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Start here

How we decide

The thirteen questions behind every verdict on this site.

Questions people ask

Who narrates the Mexican Gothic audiobook?

Frankie Corzo reads the unabridged audiobook on Audible UK and US.

How long is the Mexican Gothic audiobook?

10 hours 39 minutes, or about 7 hours 6 minutes at 1.5x.

Is the Mexican Gothic audiobook abridged?

No. Both the UK and US Audible editions are unabridged.

How many pages is Mexican Gothic?

The UK Jo Fletcher Books paperback and the US hardcover both have 320 pages.

Is there a Mexican Gothic film or TV series?

Not as of November 2026. A Hulu limited series was announced in August 2020; Wikipedia reports that Hulu confirmed in April 2024 it would not go ahead.

Is the Mexican Gothic audiobook good?

AudioFile named it a Best Audiobook of 2020. On Audible UK, listeners rate the performance 3.82 out of 5, lower than on Audible US (4.22).

Should I read or listen?

Listen, at 72%, leaning. One heroine’s view and an award-winning reading point to audio, though UK listeners rate the narration lower.

Do you agree with this verdict?

We said listen on Audible. One tap, no sign-up.

Spotted a mistake on this page? Tell us and we will fix it. Or tell us how the site could be better.

How this verdict was reached

Every book on this site is checked against the same thirteen questions, set in advance and applied identically to every title. They are based on research into what readers and listeners generally find easier to follow in each format, not on personal preference, and they are published in full so you can check the reasoning yourself. Verdicts are never paid for, sponsored or influenced by affiliate partners.

The criteria: read the thirteen questions in full.
What we checked for this book: Audible UK and US, Amazon UK, AudioFile (via Kirkus), Kirkus, Locus (June 2020), This Is Horror (5 August 2020), the Purdue University Big Read guide, Open Library and Wikipedia.
Verdict last reviewed: 2 November 2026. Editions and narrators change, so verdicts are rechecked annually.
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