Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book.

This book was both terrifying and strange, yet it was also written so well that I couldn't stop reading (or stop feeling creeped out). I don't get to read short story collections very often but this makes me want to find as many collections as possible.

The Dangers of Smoking in Bed - Mariana Enriquez ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Populated by unruly teenagers, crooked witches, homeless ghosts, and hungry women, they walk the uneasy line between urban realism and horror.

Mariana’s writing is amazing and I really enjoyed reading it. I love scary/horror stories and this was no different. while different since many are written by white men, I appreciated this.

I received this book as part of a promotional giveaway from Netgalley and found myself utterly enthralled wirh Enriquez's stories! It's easy to see how her brilliant take on Horror and the shadowy corners of literature has made her one of Horror's most unique voices.

This was an absoluetly fantastic read by an author whose career I am eager to follow. At turns creepy, melancholic, lyric, and fierce, this collection has teeth. I mean that in the best possible way.

This book is bizarre and terrifying. It's full of horror stories ranging from dark and disturbed to, well, more dark and disturbed. I hadn't read anything by this author before but I definitely will seek out more of her work -- it's the kind of writing that makes you wonder if any of these things could actually happen one day.

4.25 stars. An excellent short story collection. So many strong ones scattered and sprinkled throughout. I was impressed and I now consider this author to be a favorite. My favorite stories were "The Well" and "Kids Who Come Back". "Meat" was impressive and "Our Lady of the Quarry" stuck with me afterwards and I upped my rating a 4.5* to a 5*.

5 stars: The Cart, The Well, Meat, Kids Who Come Back, Our Lady of the Quarry (changed rating up)
4 stars: Angelita Unearthed, The Lookout, No Birthdays or Baptisms, Back When We Talked to the Dead
3.5 stars: Rambla Triste
3 stars: Where Are You, Dear Heart?, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed

This is a collection of creepy tales that started out amazing, some where so good I had to put the book down for a second to recover from what I just read, but at the 60% mark this book just fell flat and i found myself trying to rush through the last ones. Like horror movies nowadays compared to those of the past, they went from scary and creepy to dumb and gory for no reason. Some of the stories I would definitely read if you love scary stories or its around that magical time of year known as Halloween, but would I am not sure I would recommend the book as a whole. Plus the story that goes along with the title is not scary at all, actually felt a bit stupid in the general theming of the book.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The synopsis of this book sounded intriguing to me so I requested a copy to read.
Unfortunately, I have tried reading this book on 2 separate occasions and during this 2nd attempt, I have
decided to stop reading this book
and state that this book just wasn't for me.

I don't read a lot of Argentine writers and that's clearly a mistake.

This collection is fantastic. While it's inarguable literary fiction, Enriquez draws from horror, fantasy realism, urban realism, and mythos. These stories will haunt you; the imagery is hyper realistic. Plus, coming from cultural background that believes in the mystical as much as physical realm, these stories serve as modernized cautionary/oldwive's tales meant as a warning--sometimes a threat.

For lovers of th strange, dark, and social commentary.

This book is a collection of raw, spooky, and horrific reads where the line between reality and your nightmares is blurred. Definitely not for the faint of heart, as Enriquez does not shy away from the gore and grim. Horror stories always stick with me, and this collection os short stories is one I'll be thinking about for a long time. They feel personal which only adds to the terror.

This book is a chest full of unexpected delights. Mariana Enriquez has a literary command that is visible from the first few lines of the book. In this book, you wont find stereo-typical stories, but new tales with intriguing premises. Each chapter is a stand alone story.

This is a creepy, haunting, somewhat depressing collection of stories only get better as the anthology moves from story 1 - 12. It's so creepy I almost felt like Mariana Enriquez wasn't willing to add a story #13 as it would be too much to take.
As someone who loves short stories, and believes it takes a lot of talent to write really good ones, I can honestly say I will be watching Enriquez for future novels. The types of books that get put in Fiction when they should really be in Fantasy or Horror. That is what this collection felt like. Stories that were so real feeling you forgot that the ideas behind them are 'supposed' to be fictional. I have to wonder if all of them (especially story 12) actually are.

Some notes on each story:

Story #1 - Angelina Unearthed
Spooky and melancholic.
"It's weird to see a dead person during the day."

Story #2 - Our Lady of Quarry
Little lost on this one. I need an English professor to explain it...lol.

Story #3 - The Cart
This is a very normal story with an extreme ending I didn’t see coming. We have social classes, racism, mental capacity and more dividing the world. I think this is an attempt to show how quick poor decisions can be made in heated situations.

Story #4 - The Wall
I find this story difficult to accept. Would a parent or grandparent really condemn their child to take on evil intentionally?"

Story #5 - Rambla Triste
This one gave me shivers. Maybe because it’s 3am and I can’t seem to sleep (lol) or maybe because I’ve been to old European cities with areas that just feel inherently haunted. The old church in Amsterdam on a corner of the red light district was like this for me when I was there years ago. Like someone(s) watching, waiting to ensnare you in their misery.

Story #6 - The Lookout
Chilling, depressing, and creepy ghost story. Ghosts preying on the weak, living, just seems unfair."

Story #7 - Where are you, Dear Heart?
This story made me a bit queasy at the end. Not gonna lie it’s pretty gruesome. Here’s a small taste of where it heads:
"I had to contain that desire, that wish to date myself, to open him up, play with his organs like hidden trophies."

Story #8 - Meat
Pieces of this story remind me of We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix. It’s about a rock star whom influences two teen girls in a terrifying way.
Another gruesome element here; but the obsession is handled really well and comes through in the end. I felt convinced by the end why the whole terrifying scenario.

Story #9 - No Birthdays or Baptisms
I’m not sure the point on this story. It’s beautifully written, as they all are in this anthology, but it doesn’t seem to have a purpose.

Story #10 - Kids Who Come Back
By far the longest story in this anthology. I really expected more. After so many great stories before this one it felt a little flat. Missing some of the creep factor of the stories before. A bit disappointed on this one.

Story #11 - The Dangers of Smoking in Bed
Less paranormal and more real life disturbing. Not even sure I get it but feels like some real madness is bleeding off the page in this super short narrative.
Or maybe I don’t get it as I haven’t smoked in 15+ years? Or never smoked past age 23?

Story #12 - Back When We Talked to the Dead
So as a teen I also played with a Ouija board. And since everyone who goes in my parents basement, where we used it a few sleepover nights, swears year one basement corner is creepy. Doesn’t matter what furniture or décor we put there; hasn’t ever mattered. It’s just a cold spot in an already cold room.
This story felt like the perfect creepy ending to this haunting anthology.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Body horror. Spiritualism gone awry. The revenge of extreme poverty. And the ghosts of missing children. With The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, Mariana Enriquez joins the bastion of women short story writers who turn everyday and mundane life circumstances into the explicit and terrifying. But unlike her colleagues Karen Russell and Carmen Maria Machado, Ms. Enriquez tells her stories in Argentina places her stories within the specificities of Argentine and Latin American life, with one sojourn to Barcelona (but still a firmly Argentine story). I loved this additional detail and nuance that space, place and culture provided, and the familiarity of the sheer fear and shock the stories provided despite their perceived distance. I look forward to exploring more of her work.

Mariana Enriquez writes a rich and complex horror collection in THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED. There are images and moments that I've turned over again and again since finishing this book in March -- a glance behind me reveals a ghost baby out of the corner of my eye, a lit candle sends my apartment up in flames.

My only complaint is that each of these stories could be a novel by itself. Most of her stories lead me to a terrifying, out-of-this-world ending and then, moved on. But I wanted to see her characters react to the horrors that have befallen them and sit with that discomfort a little longer. "Kids Who Came Back" is probably my favorite story of the collection, in large part because it's the longest and most satisfying to me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Hogarth Press for the ARC.

Envy, greed, lust, and gluttony. In Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez’s riveting collection of short stories, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed (translated by Megan McDowell), individuals are tempted by myriad cardinal sins. These macabre stories have some of the hallmarks of classic gothic stories similar to those of Edgar Allan Poe. There are beating hearts, unearthed reanimated bones, and exhumed bodies feasted upon by ravenous teens. The haunting stories set mainly in Argentinian locales detail female loss, pain, and violation. This is not a fictionalized detail in the grand scheme of things. In Argentina young women’s disappearances and sexual violence run rampant.

In “Angelita Unearthed,” a young girl digs up a collection of bones in her grandmother’s backyard. Years later, those same bones, reassembled as a baby girl shrouded in a pink blanket, reanimate themselves but the girl notes: “The angel baby doesn’t look like a ghost. . .she is half rotted away, and she doesn’t talk.” (6) Another gripping story explores the consequences of neighbors who shun the golden rule. An elderly homeless man clinging to the margins of society contains all his worldly possessions in “The Cart.” When the neighborhood expels the old man and seizes his cart, a host of unfortunate circumstances ensue: men lose their jobs, families lose their business, and freak accidents occur. No one is saved from newfound misery except the narrator and her family. This visceral story, where you can almost smell the malodorous scents wafting through the neighborhood, is a cautionary tale about charity and greed.

“The Well” and “The Lookout” deal with women’s mental illness. In the former, the young protagonist Josefina, and her family members, take a yearly outing to Corrientes. One year, Josefina recalls visiting Irene, a bruja, who the family visits in the hopes of curing the susto, or fright, suffered by her mom, grandmother, and eight-year old sister. While the family members recover from their anxiety, the bruja’s cure has irreparable consequences for Josefina. Similarly, in “The Lookout,” a young woman who suffers from PTSD returns to a beach hotel. A resident ghost referred to as “the lady upstairs” sets her sights on stealing away the young woman’s soul. Interestingly, while the female characters suffer from maladies like anxiety, nervousness, and PTSD, the stories tend to focus on those manifestations and less so on root causes.

“No Birthdays or Baptisms” unfolds the story of a young photographer who posts a Craigslist-type of ad for his services as a photographer seeking only bizarre behavior. The title of the story indicates his disdain for mundane celebrations. One assignment in particular plunges him into the depths of sinister family dysfunction.He is filled with lustful feelings for a young girl he photographs who is clearly the victim of sexual trauma. Wracked by guilt the photographer eventually shuns his craft altogether.

In “Meat” the author brings viscerality to a whole new level. Two fanatical teenagers become obsessed with a young Argentine rock star Santiago Espina. When the singer mysteriously commits suicide, the teens go to extraordinary lengths to associate themselves with him. The final scenes of the story occur at a cemetery as the caretaker of the graveyard finds the two girls “covered in dirt, blood and a film of muck that stank and was smeared all over their hands face and clothes.”(104)

Propulsive dark themes of mental illness, suicide, PTSD, sexual violence, fanaticism, and childhood disappearances are unspooled in these stories. Simply put, they are stories of women (and girls) in crisis. In the hands of a skillful writer like Enriquez, the behavior and actions endured by the girls and women in the story appear mundane. However, that abuse, violence, and mistreatment suffered by the characters has consequences on mental health. While a reader may be able to turn away from these fictional horror stories, in real life Latin American women continue to be victimized by the crimes of misogyny, sexism, and violence. In the end, Enriquez does not disappoint—like the lingering muck coating the protagonists in “Meat,” these are stories that seep beneath your skin. Hallmarks of finely crafted horror.

Mariana Enriquez became an instant favorite of mine after I read THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE, so I was anxiously awaiting her follow up, THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED, and lemme tell ya, it did not disappoint. It would be unfair to compare these two collections, for they are vastly different creatures, but this collection seems a bit more personal than her previous one.

THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED has multiple mentions of characters stopping medication for anxiety and depression, and even more about mental illness in general. This is a heavy theme throughout each story, even those stories that are far more horror than literary.

Where Enriquez shines brightest, though, is when she's describing the indescribable. Where Lovecraft would say, "The evil was too horrible to mention," Enriquez kicks the door down, screaming, "THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" That's not to say she's incapable of the subtly creepy and unnerving (take stories like "The Well" and "Our Lady of the Quarry, for example), but it speaks volumes about her ability write any type of horror and absolutely kill it.

In summation: THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED is a gory, visceral, brutally beautiful collection of mental illness, cults, necro-cannibalism, and heartbeat kinks. You'll not find a more eclectic collection outside of Barker's BOOKS OF BLOOD. My highest possible recommendation!

Final Judgment: As the kids say, MOAR PLS

I’m judging the L.A. Times 2020 and 2021 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.

I just tore through the first story, what a wonderful and exciting collection this is going to be. I’m delighted to read on. “All I know is that she isn’t evil, and that I was afraid of her at first, but I’m not anymore.” I love this voice, sharp sparse—fun.

I can safely say I was not mentally prepared for the rollercoaster that I entered while reading this book. The horror that was embedded in it disturbed my mind in a way that had me staying up nights to read so that I wouldn’t close my eyes and be alone with what had occurred.

I don’t think this is everyone’s cup of tea. If you’re looking for an escape this is not it. This is the book you read to come face to face with (magic) reality.

Not quite sure what I think of this collection. It is quite raw and unfiltered, with an element of the speculative in many of the short stories. Almost all of them dealing with women and the ugly sides of women—particularly in the way in which women can often be ugly to one another. That's where it kind of loses me. I feel like there's a lot of unexamined internal misogyny going on in here, particularly in the ways in which she treats the old, the ugly, the fat, etc. as somehow deserving of punishment.

Stylistically it is also not my favorite. There is a lot of narration with regard to the characters' actions but relatively little of their inner lives and thoughts, which are more interesting to me in these kinds of books.