Despite being marketed on the cover as a thriller, Cynthia Pelayo’s Wheelhouse is a horror novel about haunted Chicago, a city that is haunted not just by ghosts but by the long specter of this strange history that has swirled around the Windy City. No surprise as she has Bram Stoker and Latino book awards on her shelf.

Vanishing Daughters has all the elements that she is known for while adding some subtle but meaningful Sci-fi elements. In this conversation, we go deep into the inspirations of the novel, Pelayo’s process, and the power of meditation.