This Thing Between Us

This Thing Between Us (2021) is Mexican American writer Gus Moreno’s debut novel. A horror novel, it also incorporates elements of science fiction to tell the story of Thiago Alvarez, a Mexican American man whose wife, Vera, recently died in a tragic accident. The book, set partly in Moreno’s hometown of Chicago, was inspired by Moreno’s grief after the loss of a loved one and his interest in cosmic horror, a subgenre that derives its terror from humanity’s relative unimportance amid a massive, uncaring universe. The novel explores themes that include The Limits of Rational Control, The Indescribable Intensity of Grief, and The Horror of Technology and Surveillance.

This guide refers to the Farrar, Straus and Giroux first paperback edition (2021).

Content Warning: The source material and guide feature depictions of cursing, rape, graphic violence, death, suicidal ideation, death by suicide, substance use, addiction, racism, child abuse, physical abuse, animal death, animal cruelty, mental illness, and illness.

Plot Summary

Thiago Alvarez describes the funeral of his dead wife, Vera, directly to her. Thiago knows his grief isn’t unique. He describes his dysfunctional family, how their “herniated” family tree ensnares others through marriage and pregnancy. His father, Raul, was abusive and addicted to alcohol, but when he got sick, Thiago dropped out of college to care for him. Vera’s mother, Diane, initially thought Thiago was a “burnout.” Vera hired him on TaskRabbit to put together furniture in her first apartment; six months later, he moved in with her. Three years later, his mother died, and Vera promised that he wouldn’t be alone. They married and bought the condo, but then strange things started happening: clanking noises, cold spots, and floorboards that creaked for no reason. Vera bought a smart speaker called an “Itza,” but Thiago didn’t want it, especially when it started glitching. One day, Thiago and Vera heard scratching in the wall; the pest expert found nothing. Then they started receiving items that they never ordered.

When they told friends about the Itza, everyone had similar stories, but Thiago and Vera knew that the other things happening in the condo made their situation different. They decided to call the real estate agent to ask if anything strange had happened before they moved into the condo. The agent said that an old woman had lived there and left behind an animal carcass, some candles, and the shape of a door drawn in blood on one wall. 

The day after this phone call, the couple’s morning alarm didn’t go off. Vera woke, already late, and hurried off. On the public transit platform, a boy (Esteban Lopez) stole a cell phone and ran, crashing right into Vera, who was climbing the stairs; she fell back, cracking her head open. When police arrested the boy, he didn’t have any identification papers, and Vera’s story became fodder for those who blamed everything on immigrants. The boy said he looked back on the platform because someone called his name, but at the trial, he refused to answer questions about it. Vera ended up in a coma. Thiago and Diane took turns at the hospital. One time, the television in Vera’s room got stuck on The Exorcist as the characters discussed demonic possession. The next day, Vera died. Because of her life insurance policy, Thiago ended up with more money than he’d ever had. 

Prior to the accident, he and Vera had received a piece of mail for the former tenant, Fidelia Marroquín, so they sent her an envelope at their address, requesting return service. Now, Thiago gets a card with the woman’s new address. Thiago visits Fidelia: Language barriers impede his understanding, but he thinks that she wanted to get back at the landlord for evicting her. Thiago also thinks that she says to go to Canal Street and repeats the words, “No end.” That night, Diane calls, upset that Thiago is planning to move. After they hang up, Itza repeats lines from several movies. Its light points to Thiago’s left, and he sees something in shadow. The floorboards creak, and he hears heavy footsteps and falls backward. The next day, he runs over the device with his car.

Thiago drives to Colorado. When he misses a turn, he ends up at an empty diner. The lone worker’s appearance is off-putting, but he and Thiago talk while he makes Thiago a milkshake. Discussing life’s trials, the cook suggests that there’s some “other thing” that persecutes humans—something evil and powerful that seeks to trick people into giving it what it wants. Back on the road, Thiago glances into his mirror and sees something crawling behind him; it’s the cook, moving like a spider.

That night at a cabin he has bought, Thiago drinks a bottle of wine and dreams of a door made of light that opens onto a forest. He screams Vera’s name and then fears that he alerted something to his location. In town the next day, a St. Bernard begins following him; the dog is friendly, and Thiago adopts him, naming him Brimley. When Brimley runs off into the forest, Thiago follows, ultimately discovering a large, upright stone slab. It looks like a door, and it inspires dread. 

Thiago invites Diane to visit but keeps thinking about the wall and drinking whiskey. Meanwhile, a sprinkler concealed in the backyard sprays orange powder on Brimley’s face. The dog starts convulsing, and though Thiago rushes him to the vet, Brimley dies. The vet, Dr. Jacobson, thinks Brimley triggered a cyanide bomb meant to keep wolves away from ranches. Thiago buries Brimley, planting a small pine on top of the grave. That night, he awakens and finds the patio doors open. He sees the stone wall standing at Brimley’s grave. Thiago decides to destroy it, lighting it on fire and planning to ram it with his truck, but it disappears, and he hits a tree. 

Thiago goes back to sleep and wakes up to find a dog that looks just like Brimley at the door. That day, he watches the new dog eat and play. He finds oddly personal messages in the books on the cabin’s shelves. If it’s really Vera, he says, he needs proof. He finds one of Vera’s hairs in his collar and then sees the wall outside with a huge grave before it, meant for that hair. He looks toward the trees and sees the scene of Vera’s accident. He runs to her, but she climbs the steps and falls.

Suddenly, Brimley attacks Thiago, pursuing him even after Thiago wounds him with a shovel. Diane pulls up in a Lyft, and they manage to trap the dog inside the truck; Diane then helps Thiago into the car while the driver calls the police. Unconscious, Thiago dreams of a beach where he sees the wall in the distance. The diner cook is there and says that Thiago isn’t supposed to be here yet: The cook is preparing a banquet for Thiago. Thiago wakes in the hospital, and Diane says that the police shot the dog. He tells her everything, and when he is discharged, they go to a hotel. On the way, they see police at the vet’s office. Jacobson is missing, they learn, and Brimley’s remains exploded in the examination room.

Thiago explains his theory that the wall reanimates bodies to use as vessels. Diane believes him. That night, someone tries to get into their hotel room, leaving mud outside the door. Thiago considers dying by suicide to evade whatever is pursuing him. He tells Diane what Fidelia said, and Diane points out that “canal” is Spanish for “channel”; she suggests that Fidelia created a portal between places and times, and she calls her relatives for advice.

Thiago and Diane return to the cabin. Diane tells Thiago to write down the entire story so that they can burn it. Soon, they see Jacobson, his face destroyed, in the backyard. Diane calls 911, and Jacobson tells Thiago to claim his seat at the banquet. The vet also says that Thiago killed Vera to remove “distractions.” Diane fires a bullet into the vet’s head, and it creates a vacuum that sucks in her upper body. Thiago pulls her out, but she dies quickly. Stumbling toward the trees, Thiago sees the condo’s interior and himself telling the Itza to cancel the alarm. Jacobson stabs him and throws him into a grave, but the police arrive and save Thiago.

Thiago tells the police the whole story, but they dismiss it. Thiago flies to Chicago for Diane’s funeral. At his hotel, Thiago awaits the cook’s appearance. He goes to a bar, and when the jukebox starts playing a song that suggests the entity is watching him, Thiago downs his drink and leaves. Outside, he sees Diane but knows it’s not her. She says hurtful things to him, and he begins vomiting blood, spitting out his teeth and a piece of tongue. While under anesthesia at an emergency dentist, Thiago arrives at the beach, but the banquet table is full of his people. The cook embraces him, and Thiago senses that the entity cannot be destroyed. The cook says that Vera is waiting, and Thiago goes to the wall. When he reaches out, something inside the wall pulls him in. He wakes up in the dentist’s chair.

Thiago returns to the hotel, takes several Vicodin, and suddenly becomes paralyzed. A dark shape appears behind him, and the television turns to 2001: A Space Odyssey. When the movie’s artificial intelligence (AI) character, HAL, gives instructions to a human character, Thiago’s body obeys. He dreams that he finds and kills Fidelia. In another dream, Thiago finds himself in the old condo. He has no body, and a new tenant walks through Thiago, telling his wife that he found a cold spot. The next day, Thiago goes to the county jail to visit Esteban Lopez. Esteban confesses that he saw Thiago, beat up and bloodied, on the platform the day of Vera’s accident; he says that it was Thiago who called his name.

Drinking vodka at Vera’s grave, Thiago knows that he can’t stop the entity from possessing him. The cook appears behind him, reassuring him that he won’t be alone. Thiago gags when he remembers what he did to Fidelia. His father’s voice says that Thiago needs to see all the lives he has ruined. When Thiago looks down, he is urinating on Vera’s grave. He stumbles back to the hotel, opens a bottle of champagne, and swallows all his remaining Vicodin. He plans to burn the pages he’s written; then he’ll get into the bathtub and die by suicide to evade possession. At this point, however, the point of view changes. The speaker says that “we” can only become whole again in darkness, describing the moment as the one in which “we [become] singular” (251). Thiago claims his seat at the banquet, amid shrieks and moans.