In Granada during the mid 1800s, the vampire Radamés learns of an ancient Aztec codex revealing the vampires of the “New World” live somewhat normal “human” lives. These vampires marry, and can give birth. Fueled by the chance for a fuller existence, Radamés schemes his way onboard a ship headed to Mexico.
In the forgotten city of Teotihuacán, Radamés falls in love with a member of this ancient sect of vampires. They call themselves Filth Eaters. From this very union of vampires the mestizo vampire Doro is born.
Spanning centuries in the past and not so distant future, we see threads of empire, corruption, greed, and climate collapse while the vampires search for the very human desire of love.
Why we’re excited about this book:
Hailing from Texas, Ito Romo’s stories are often dubbed “Chicano Gothic” and with good reason. He writes of dark and gritty life along Interstate 35, where his family has lived for generations. The author of The Border is Burning and El Puente / The Bridge, Romo was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2019. With his debut novel, ten years in the making, Romo spans centuries to present us with a very different kind of vampire. John Philip Santos (Places Left Unfinished at the Time of Creation) says: “Ito Romo’s earlier fictions whispered in dark tones of the hauntings and sinister presences that inhabit our world. In his masterful Filth Eaters, he conjures a vampire epic across epochs and continents that would’ve shook Vlad, Dracula, Nosferatu, and Lestat to their bones, culminating in a Mestizoavatar of the undead who completes an occult destiny—to save the world. Try to be un-shook.”, and Stephen Graham Jones (The Buffalo Hunter Hunter) says: “Ito Romo’s vampires step across centuries with dignity, but with desperation, too—you don’t want to get close to them, but you can’t look away.”
Releasing from Deep Vellum Publishing 19 May 2026, Filth Eaters by Ito Romo is available for pre-order now.
BOB PASTORELLA