I fell in love with Mariana Enriquez’s stories after reading Things We Lost in the Fire and was so hungry to read more of her work. When I saw The Dangers of Smoking in Bed was finally being translated to English I was overjoyed and so excited to dive back into Enriquez’s world of macabre characters and supernatural frights. I didn’t think it was possible, but I ended up loving this new collection so much more than the first.

The stories in The Dangers of Smoking in Bed are bold, sexy, and push boundaries at every turn. The stories portrayed people or places that seemed to be haunted by death and self-destruction. Sexual deviancy is found everywhere with some spine chilling narratives that unabashedly show the darkest depths of human desire. Our Lady of the Quarry and Meat present terrifyingly obsessive teenage girls whose jealousy and dark hearts wreck havoc.

My favorite story of the collection, which also happened to be the longest, was Kids Who Come Back. The story focuses on missing children, the street urchins, and the runaways. This is a story that could have easily continued on to a full-length novel, it is paced wonderfully and had an air of mystery that became ominous the deeper into the story that I got. The Dangers of Smoking in Bed is a standout collection in the horror genre from a talented writer that I’ll be thinking about all year.

Book Review for The Dangers of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

The Dangers of Smoking In Bed by Argentinian author Mariana Enriquez is a collection of twelve short stories unlike any other I've read before. First published in Spanish in 2009, this collection was translated by Megan McDowell. These stories are horrifying, dark, and morbid and I loved it. They startled me, made me feel queasy and the suspense nearly killed me. Each time I started a new story I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen and how the story was going to take a turn to the unexpected, which happened EVERY TIME.

These horror stories are written with enough detail to suck you in, know the characters and punch you in the gut with their shocking audacity. Several times I asked myself, "Did I just read that; is that really what it says?" There are themes of jealousy, revenge, curses, fear, death, and mental illness. There's also drug use, sex, and a whole lot of weirdness.

I have Enriquez' short story collection: Things We Lost In The Fire and now I can't wait to read it. I believe I have found a new favourite author.

If you like horror and you don't shy a way from the grotesque then I highly recommend this short story collection.

Bookworm Rating: 🐛🐛🐛🐛🐛

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this e-ARC.

This book was disgusting. I mean truly disgusting
it was everything I wanted and didn't know I needed

This collection contains 12 short stories each horribly grotesque in their own ways and I thoroughly enjoyed all of them

will definitely be reading from this author in the future
I'm having issues with my computer but I will post a full review on my Goodreads as soon as I sort it all out

A macabre collection of twelve short stories set in modern-day Argentina that touches on underlying social issues. A cross between urban realism and horror the novel introduces characters that either cross moral and ethical issues and suffer the consequences or happen to be on the receiving end of someone else's wrath.

I was invited to read Mariana Enriquez's The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, presented to me as a collection of "singularly unsettling stories". I will say this is a new to me author and I have not read her previous anthology (Things We Lost in the Fire). I tend to gravitate to the horror genre and typically don't shy away from graphic and/or unsettling content so this novel seemed to be perfect for me. I loved many of the stories but I will warn readers that this is not for the faint of heart. "Unsettling" is a very good description of some of the content and I was left feeling uncomfortable with some of the content. This is not a bad thing, as I feel the book is intended to make readers feel uncomfortable. This book does include content that may not be suitable for all readers, some more descriptive than others, including: sex/sexual fetish, drug use, cannibalism, pedophilia, and excretion/other bodily fluids just to name a few. I will say I enjoyed many of the stories despite their graphic nature and several of them stayed with (plausibly haunted) me long after I was finished with the novel. Here is quick synopsis, as I understood it, of the stories in this collection without giving too much away. If you want to be surprise about the stories stop reading here...
Angelita Unearthed- A young woman must help an unsettled spirit that reveals itself as a rotting baby.
Our Lady of the Quarry- A teenage girl’s desire results in her calling on something unholy
The Cart- A neighborhood's cruel treatment of a vagrant leads to a curse
The Well- A story of a witch, a well, and extreme paranoia
Rambla Triste- A woman visiting her friend in the city is plagued by a stench...the smell of revenge
The Lookout Tower- A ghost befriends a girl in hopes of being free
Where Are You, Dear Heart? - A woman who is sexually obsessed with the human heart
Meat- A musical idol and two teen fans that can't let him go
No Birthdays or Baptisms- Two friends photo/film venture leads to an unexpected outcome after a job for a special client
Kids Who Come Back- Two friend's encounter childhood runaways and abductees who "return"
The Dangers of Smoking in Bed- A woman's unusual curiosity with fire
Back When We Talked to the Dead- Friends play with a Ouija board and discover something sinister.

Let me start by saying, I am not a baby. I read horror pretty frequently. I read the first story in this book and had such vivid and disturbing nightmares that I did not finish the rest of the book. So, if you are looking to have your pants scared off of you - read this! I’m giving it 5 stars even though I’m too scared to finish it because Mariana Enriquez definitely succeeded in her writing!

"Coca ate her cat, and then she killed herself."

"The sheets were impregnated with the smell of chicken cutlets."

"The girls had opened he casket to feed on Espina's remains with devotion and disgust; around the grave, pools of vomit bore witness to their efforts."

I love these sentences. There are so many more I could have chosen as examples of Mariana Enriquez's unique storytelling style, which (in English translation, at least) is straight-forward, gutsy, and completely bare of ornamentation. Also, somehow, there is a nearly jolly tone in the storytelling, a casual fatalism in the way each of these horror stories spools out, where no matter how horrific the story becomes along the way to its end, what's happening on the page still seems perfectly normal, somehow.

It's a perfect style to continuously disarm me. There is such a fearlessness here, in imagery and message. I'm a little grossed out by these stories, but also, I'm dazzled.

The stories here in this newly published collection are less layered, and more direct, than those in Enriquez's previously published collection in English, "Things We Lost in the Fire." The stories here go straight for the jugular, with very little meander along the way. I didn't love all of them, but I loved the audacity of all of them.

A girl accidentally unearths the bones of a dead relative and is haunted by the encounter throughout her life. Three young women plot to destroy an older friend in a jealous fit using supernatural forces. The putrid scent of abused and abandoned children overwhelms the residents who live in that part of the city. A girl with a fetish for the workings of the human heart takes her obsession to dangerous levels. Two young fans of a rock star who has killed himself in a gruesome manner go to extreme lengths to remain close to him. A woman who keeps public records on disappeared children is deeply affected when one of the missing girls suddenly reappears. Five young women try to contact the dead spirits of friends and relatives who have been “disappeared” by the government and meet with chilling results.

Those are some of the topics that Argentine writer and journalist Mariana Enriquez develops in <i>The Dangers of Smoking in Bed</i>, a collection of twelve short stories that explore supernatural themes with a social conscience. Similar to the author’s previously translated collection <i>Things We Lost in the Fire</i>, this volume is set mostly in the impoverished barrios of Buenos Aires and told from the perspective of a series of sad, lonely, or disturbed female protagonists. The comparison between the two collections is interesting because while the English language version of <i>Dangers</i> comes out four years after the first book, it was originally written several years earlier. That distinction is important because this volume seemed, on the whole, to be the more embryonic and less assured of the two.

To be sure, Enriquez is a very talented storyteller as well as someone who is deeply committed to exploring the grittier side of life with fantastical and magical realism elements. The best stories in <i>The Dangers of Smoking in Bed</i>—and, for me, those included ‘Our Lady of the Quarry', ‘Rambla Triste', ‘Kids Who Come Back' (which is also by far the longest), and ‘Back When We talked to the Dead’—were the ones in which the history of political strife in her native Argentina is always just beneath the surface (even though ‘Rambla Triste’ is actually set in Barcelona). Conversely, some of the other tales, including the title story, were far sketchier and more easily forgotten. Nevertheless, this is a book that I can easily recommend to fans of the author, although those new to her work might want to start with <i>Things We Lost in the Fire</i> instead.

What a wonderful, weird and dark collection of stories! Mariana Enriquez is an Argentinian writer, so her tales are mostly set there and are steeped in Argentinian traditions and folklore. The general themes, though, are universal. Her characters, all female of all ages, are misfits whose stories are filled with horror and a sense of dread. This is feminist writing done right, since the tone is not preachy and it’s not one of those books where men are the root of all evil. The usual problem with story collections is that the quality tends to be uneven, but this time I’d have a hard time choosing a favorite (or one I liked less, for that matter). Every single one enthralled me, chilled me and horrified me in equal parts. As extreme as the situations are, the characters are still relatable and they feel real, which is remarkable considering the length of each story. These women are victims of other people, fate, demons and even themselves. Some are powerless, but not all. Kudos to Megan McDowell’s translation, that does justice to the original text. Cinco estrellas!
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group - Random House/Hogarth!

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/tbcaine">My Booktube</a>

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC!

Wow this collection is... a LOT.

TW: self-harm, suicide, pedophilia (not explicit details, but it is mentioned), rape, cannibalism, and that is all I can remember off the top of my head.

I think the synopsis says it best when it comes to Enriquez's writing style: "urban realism and horror". Its weird because while some do have more... supernatural elements that make them terrifying. A lot of the time, it is just life itself that is the terrifying aspect and a lot of the "supernatural" elements could be interpreted as commentary about society.

But as a whole this collection was utterly riveting, not a single story felt too slow. I read this whole thing in basically one sitting and now I want her other collection too. (And more of her work to be translated because wow she has talent).

Dark, sometimes chilling short story collection featuring women in pain or fear. Several short stories were outstanding and unforgettable, which is the only thing you can truly ask from a short story collection.

Wow. Mariana Enriquez will never fail to amaze me. I really enjoyed Things We Lost in the Fire, but The Dangers of Smoking in Bed somehow surpassed her previous collection by far. To me, the most incredible thing about Enriquez's storytelling is how she knows exactly when to end. As a reader, you're left wanting more (you always want more of Enriquez's prose, it's so simple to read, especially in McDowell's neat translation, and that's why it's that much more impactful when those endings detonate, and hit) but you don't need another word. The damage is done, and you have to learn to live with it.

While the prose is deceptively spare, there is a lot of depth to these stories. The effectiveness of the horror arrives via how close these stories come to reality– human trafficking, homeless squatters, and the chokehold of drug addiction are just some of the foundations of Enriquez's work, and she is mindful of how intrinsically terrible those struggles are, and tailors her tales to enhance the innate awfulness, not mask it. But most of all, there is humanity in these stories, stories of people who cast away the unwanted, prefer to live in a designed ignorance of the pain and suffering of others. Watching the vengeance exacted by the wronged makes it more urgent to learn from our mistakes.

I had read Things We Lost in the Fire and quickly requested this new book. I was unsettled by the early stories, then became squeamish and finally had to walk away. The horror was too much for me. That being said, I will admit that the writing is amazing.

𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝. 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

Argentine author Mariana Enriquez truly does write in the similar hand of Shirley Jackson, with horror that truly takes a person out of their skin. Discomfort… that’s the word. You feel the threat in your bones, a smell of decay lingers in the heavy air…

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚 𝐔𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝: A girl unearths family bones and the superstitions of her grandmother. Not all baby angels are sweet, some are born to suffering and in death they cry with the rains, demand attention. A putrid, little heirloom- a disturbance.

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐐𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲: Because Silvia knows more, and is Diego’s desire her friends are swimming in jealousy. Could a virgin statue at the dangerous quarry alter Silvia’s luck? Are hungry dogs lurking?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭: A drunken “slum dweller” leaves behind an “accumulation of misfortune” when he gets in a fight with a neighbor, forcing him to abandon his cart of junk. The neighbors isolate, must they leave, is it the only way out? Why didn’t they help the man? Each neighbor plays their part, as all neighbors do.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥: Josefina was six when they visited the old witch, but doesn’t really understand what exactly plagued the superstitious women in her family. Then the disease of fear creeps in, stealing her freedom, life, joy- she is the opposite of her happy, pretty sister. Psychiatrists, pills, nothing cures her could the witch still be around? She remembers the well… are the answers there at the bottom, floating in stagnant water?

𝐑𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐚 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞: The stench of children offends the city streets so they will never forget. The tourists don’t notice, they see only the charm. Julieta knows the darkness, the dirty history. It takes horror to give voice to shame, wrongs. What is that smell trying to say? Who are these children wandering the streets? What are they? Are the people trapped?

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐓𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫: There is a lady upstairs, if only she had a shape, then she could have a presence. Elina has stirred the ghost’s curiosity… she isn’t like the other hotel guests, she isn’t enjoying the beach, doesn’t want to talk to other guests. What happened at the university brought her to the ocean, to ‘calm her’. Elina is the one the lady has been waiting for… is it safe to visit the lookout?

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭?This story is one of my favorites in the collection. A girl with a strange obsession, wondering if she is depraved for her morbid fetishes for particular illnesses. Yearning for ‘ruined beauty’, feverish for the bump bump of the heart. Seduced by the brave sufferings, the variety of abnormalities

𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐭: A Rockstar causes a wave of fanaticism among teenagers, but for two girls their fierce devotion is about to shock the world. How can they absorb his genius?

𝐍𝐨 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐁𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐦: Friends record films with a flair for the pornographic and are hired for their creepiest project yet, is their client’s daughter insane or is something supernatural or sinister afoot?

𝐊𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤: Mechi works to update the archive of missing children, a flood of them. One named Vanadis changes everything by showing up… soon it is hysteria all around, but have the children truly returned? How many children who disappear are ever wanted, cared for? This clever story manages to be depressing and eerie.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐦𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐞𝐝: Paula just wants to shiver again, and starry skies above her head.

𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐖𝐞 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝: Friends channel spirits, hoping to contact the “disappeared” people in their lives, never imagining that they could anger the dead. One girl falls for a mean trick or madness…someone must pay a price.

Tales of characters questioning their reality and sometimes their very sanity. Collective shame stains the cities, the children are feral, and why- it is the filthy degradation of the adults. They won’t let you look away anymore. Rotten babies, family betrayal, deranged fans, superstitions, trapped ghosts… nothing is solid. Yes, read it.

Publication Date: January 12, 2021

Random House

Hogarth

Mariana Enriquez is one of the most amazing authors. There are now two of her works translated into English and I'm desperate to have more.

TW: self harm, suicide, harm to children, sexual assault of children and adults, drug use

This is Enriquez's second English translation, though this was published in Spanish prior to Things We Lost in the Fire. It's certainly darker and more graphic, but there are some really solid stories included if you're willing to hang with the tougher content. I loved that each story's narrator had a unique voice but the collection still felt like a whole. Because it's so dark, it's a little more difficult to make a broad recommendation but fans of darker horror might find their new favorite author with this book.

4.5 stars!

Mariana Enriquez's debut English-language collection, Things We Lost in the Fire, made a huge impression when it was released, sharing tales modern Argentinian life with a strange twist. This follow-up collection, The Dangers of Smoking in Bed, contains more disturbing and beautiful stories. Be advised, this book is not for the faint-hearted.

The collection starts incredibly strongly, with Angelita Unearthed, a story about a buried secret, which goes in an unexpected, and darkly funny direction. The supernatural is a visible theme in this collection, with stories concerning ouija boards (Back When We Talked to the Dead), suspected possession (No Birthdays or Baptisms), and restless spirits (The Lookout Tower).

But make no mistake, the real terror in these stories mostly comes from the living. From family betrayal in The Well, to the dark, dark fetish at the center of Where Are You, Dear Heart, no supernatural haunting could ever do more damage than that of humans.

I'm struck by how well Enriquez writes young characters. In Our Lady of the Quarry, she captures the cattiness and envy of teenage girls very well, and their nonchalance at a particularly violent incident is completely believable. Enriquez sees the potential evil in children, especially in the unsettling Kids Who Come Back, which contains a single, terrifying line that chills the blood.

This collection cements Mariana Enriquez's reputation as a master of the short story. I cannot wait for more of her work to be translated into English.

Although I read about half of the stories, I found I couldn't continue since so many were populated by ghosts and involved trauma. I prefer Enriquez's work where she addresses the political landscape of Argentina more than these fantasies.

Enriquez's book Things We Lost in the Fire is one of my favorite collections of short stories, and when I saw that she had a new collection coming out, I knew it was a must-read. It did not disappoint - this volume is full of more unsettling, creepy, moody stories centering women's experiences and elements of Argentinian culture. If you are looking to diversify your reading, Enriquez is a good place to turn if you like horror and speculative fiction.

Mariana Enriquez's writing is phenomenal. You feel like you're walking down the streets she's writing about, entering the buildings and apartments and homes and offices she creates. Her stories are ripe with anxiety and atmosphere and dread and gloom. But some of the subject matter in here was hard to wrap the head around - especially involving sexual trauma and children. At times, it feels like it goes too far into voyeurism, with some of these stories feeling oppressive without much meaning and reason. Maybe there's something to be said for that. But I definitely had terrible dreams while reading this and would recommend this with a lot of content warnings.