Demonic Possession w/ Isabel Cañas
Spirits: Mythology, Legends, & Folklore
Multitude
4.8 • 2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 September 2025
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Isabel Cañas is BACK and here to talk about her new book, The Possession of Alba Díaz. Join us as we talk about the intersection of demonic possession and bodily autonomy, writing capital-R Romance novels, and how Isabel used her historian background to create an immersive Gothic novel.
Content Warning: This episode contains conversations about or mentions of death, possession, racism, mental illness, poisoning, colonialism, religious persecution, misogyny, sexual assault, and sexual content.
Guest
Isabel Cañas is a Mexican-American speculative fiction writer. After having lived in Mexico, Scotland, Egypt, Turkey, and New York City, among other places, she has settled in the Pacific Northwest. She holds a doctorate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations and writes fiction inspired by her research and her heritage. You can pick up her new book, The Possession of Alba Díaz, wherever you buy books.
Housekeeping
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Cast & Crew
- Co-Hosts: Julia Schifini and Amanda McLoughlin
- Editor: Bren Frederick
- Music: Brandon Grugle, based on "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod
- Artwork: Allyson Wakeman
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About Us
Spirits is a boozy podcast about mythology, legends, and folklore. Every episode, co-hosts Julia and Amanda mix a drink and discuss a new story or character from a wide range of places, eras, and cultures. Learn brand-new stories and enjoy retellings of your favorite myths, served over ice every week, on Spirits.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The I'm going to be. Welcome to Spirits Podcast, a boozy dive into mythology, legends, and folklore. |
| 0:32.6 | Every week, we pour a drink and learn about a new story from around the world. |
| 0:36.1 | I'm Amanda. |
| 0:36.7 | And I'm Julia. |
| 1:13.0 | And we are joined Julia by our first three-peat guest. This is our first, not a multitude podcaster, just a friend of the show who keeps pumping out books. And we love her. And we want to talk to her about every single thing she ever writes and thinks. It's Isabel Canya's. Oh my gosh. You guys, thank you. I didn't know I was a three-peat. I'm so honored. Thank you so much for having me. You are so welcome. This is not a joke. Your flask and sticker pack are in the mail. So we are going to be sending you the exclusive, first-of-its-kind, Spirits my gosh thrilled thrilled well listen if you keep writing incredible books we're going to keep having you on the |
| 1:20.1 | podcast this is kind of how it works five timers club it's going to keep happening guess you will just |
| 1:25.4 | have to keep me around yep seems like it like it. That's fine with me because |
| 1:29.5 | I loved your newest book, The Possession of Alba Diaz. Isabel, tell us a little bit about this book |
| 1:35.0 | and the plot and why people should check it out. Okay, so the possession of Alba Diaz is what it says |
| 1:40.9 | on the tin. It's about Alba Diaz and how she gets possessed by a demon. |
| 1:45.3 | But it's about other things as well. It takes place in the 18th century. So rewind back in history |
| 1:52.1 | to 1700s in Sakatecas, which is the silver mining capital of Mexico at the time. |
| 1:57.4 | A plague strikes the city and Alba and her fiancé, Carlos, retreat to his family's |
| 2:02.5 | mine up in the mountains, along with Carlos's cousin, an alchemist named Elias, and a shit |
| 2:09.4 | hits the fan. Pretty quickly, honestly, for a Gothic slowburn, which is more my style. Things |
| 2:15.2 | start to pick up when we enter the, is it haunted silver mine |
| 2:20.1 | and the creepy, creepy house that they stay in up in the mountains. |
| 2:24.7 | And scary things start to happen. |
| 2:27.0 | Sleepwalking, disembodied voices, hallucinating, maybe unclear. |
| 2:33.5 | It gets creepy real fast. |
| 2:35.7 | Listen, if you are a fan of Gothic literature in general, and in particular, like, Gothic, |
| 2:43.5 | that is not English or, you know, European in that sense. |
... |
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