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.

A collection of sometimes horrifying stories set in modern-day Argentina. This book is not for the faint of heart.

Smoking in Bed is creepy and unsettling. Maria Enriquez has a talent for writing spooky short stories. Though this collection didn't quite reach the level of horror that I am accustomed to with Maria Enriquez's work it was very creepy and chilling.

"Mariana Enriquez has been critically lauded for her unconventional and sociopolitical stories of the macabre: populated by unruly teenagers, crooked witches, homeless ghosts, and hungry women, they walk the uneasy line between urban realism and horror. The stories in her next collection are as terrifying as they are socially conscious, and press into being the unspoken -- fetish, illness, the female body, the darkness of human history -- with unsettling urgency. Written against the backdrop of contemporary Argentina, and with resounding tenderness towards those in pain, in fear, and in limbo, this new collection from one of Argentina's most exciting writers finds Enriquez at her most sophisticated, and most chilling."
Perhaps I should have read the reviews before I read the book as I found quite disturbing despite the fact that I admire Spanish authors and love magical-realism. Many of the stories were so disquieting, but after reading the above, I can see the rationale in them. Still, I wonder if the author felt catharsis in putting onto paper these very macabre tales.