“Santa Muerte: The miraculous pagan divinity who doesn’t snub anyone,” Al Dia, November 1, 2019 (aldianews.com/​articles/​culture/​social/​santa-muerte-miraculous-pagan-divinity-who-doesnt-snub-anyone/​56733).

“Who Is Santa Muerte?” JStor, October 5, 2020 (daily.jstor.org/​who-is-santa-muerte).

Biography of the Warrens pulled from the family’s website, warrens.net.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

It’s odd to begin an acknowledgments page by thanking people I’ve never met, but if it weren’t for real-life demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, this book wouldn’t exist. When I watched The Conjuring film for the first time, I was struck with that mystical writerly inspiration, “Ooo, what if…a hurricane hit their basement full of occult artifacts?” Then I began to wonder what it was like to grow up in a home where monsters are real and the proof is right downstairs. So thank you to the Warren family for sharing your stories, so the Martinez family could emerge with their own.

My publishing journey has been a long and winding road, and I am so grateful it led me to my agent, Lane Heymont at Tobias Literary. We sold this book in a pandemic! Your creative and dogged approach to the submission process got this book on the shelf. Thank you for your consistent enthusiasm, because it inspired me to believe in myself at a time when I really needed it.

Thank you to my film agent, Emily Dayton at the Gotham Group, for representing this project before it even found a publisher. Your excitement, and the interest you generated, made all the difference.

Thank you to Wendy Loggia for acquiring this project for Underlined and for bringing me under the Delacorte umbrella. I think every aspiring author dreams of being published by Random House, and you helped make my dream a reality.

To my amazing editor, Alison Romig! It has been such a joy to work with you. Your thoughtful suggestions took the ending to a new level and added a layer of depth throughout the novel. Thank you for championing the project in all stages of the publishing process.

To Nicholas Moegly, the artist who designed my gorgeous cover, I love it more than you know! It perfectly captures the book, and I still don’t know how you create such realistic illustrations. And thanks to everyone at Underlined, especially designer Casey Moses, and copyeditor Marla Garfield.

Lane and I met via Tweet during #PitMad, so thank you to Brenda Drake for creating the online pitch fests that have propelled so many careers. I had several beta readers for this project who helped hone my craft as a first-time horror writer. Special thanks to Gaby Triana, whose notes on sensory details elevated my creepiest scenes. Thank you to Megan Kelley Hall for being an early reader multiple times in my career. Thanks to Jennifer M. Eaton, whose notes on the opening pages inspired me to move “The Storm” later in the book. To my friend from the fourteenth floor of Warren Towers at BU, Amazon editor Grace Doyle, thanks for reading this book and offering much-needed career advice. And thank you to Lucina Stone, author of the novel Santa Muerte, for answering my questions.