☀️A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE☀️ by @marianaenriquez1973 is a stunning collection of short stories filled with ghosts, goblins, and incredibly relatable humans. Thank you to the author, @netgalley, and the publisher @hogarthbooks for the e-ARC.

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There were 12 stories in this collection and while one or two were not my favorite, I do feel like I got something from each of these. One of the stories revolves around what appears to be a small town cult (A Local Artist), another is a sort of retelling of the historical darkness surrounding the Cecil hotel (A Sunny Place For Shady People), a woman becomes obsessed with fibroids removed from her uterus (Metamorphosis), in another a woman gets SUPER in tune with some spirits (Julie), and my favorite, a man tries to get revenge on women using his dead lovers clothing (Different Colors Made Of Tears).

Highly inventive, strange, blasphemous, and creepy, this collection was pretty amazing. Highly recommended if you like weird, thought-provoking short stories!

Exactly the kind of unsettling, eerie writing we've come to expect from Mariana Enriquez! Her ability to take a normal setting and turn it into something that makes you shudder is unbelievable. Like most short story collections, there were some stories that I enjoyed more than others but overall it's a great collection.

I have read and loved Mariana Enriquez in the past, but for some reason I couldn't connect with any of these stories.

I looooved Mariana Enriquez's other short story collection - The Dangers of Smoking in Bed so when i got the ARC for this book I, literally, squealed. I'm so happy it was just as good! I think The Dangers of Smoking in Bed resonated with me a bit differently so I was a bit more invested but this one touches on some, currently very apt, themes and while there was one I was reading through my fingers (body mod is not my digs) I felt like this was a story that needed to be read.

1000000000/5 stars

As a HUGE fan of Mariana Enriquez, I can confidently say that *A Sunny Place for Shady People* is nothing short of incredible! In this collection of twelve mesmerizing stories, she masterfully weaves the ordinary with the supernatural, capturing the unsettling essence of contemporary life in Argentina. Each tale, from ghostly encounters to surreal horrors, pulls you in with its lyrical prose and haunting themes.

Enriquez has a unique ability to explore the darker corners of human existence while illuminating the strength of women. Her imagination is both terrifying and captivating, leaving you breathless and eager for more. I absolutely need to add a physical copy of this stunning book to my shelves ASAP! If you haven't yet ventured into Enriquez's world, you're missing out on a truly extraordinary literary experience.

3.5. I think Mariana Enríquez's art suffers a bit in the short-story format; the setup doesn't quite pay off at the end of these vignettes. Nonetheless, the nastiness and horror I have come to expect from her writing shines through.

Enriquez is always excellent. There were some stories here that I loved more than others - particularly the ones that take place in Argentina, and do what she does brilliantly - tie in historical atrocities to modern day horror narratives. But even her lighter fare is so much fun to read. And I love the way each concept startles in its originality. There are no overly familiar horror tropes here. And her humor is also really strong in this one. I only wish the book was a million pages longer - I could read her forever.

I am still too intimidated to pick up Enriquez’s tome Our Share of the Night, but I have loved her brand of horror in short fiction format and this new collection is no exception. The collection begins with three brilliant epigraphs that serve to establish an eerie tone along with some of the major themes of the collection: sadness, fear, aging, dying, and the physical and emotional traumas that haunt us. From there, through twelve stories Enriquez featuring women whose otherworldly encounters mirror the terror of being a woman and the contemporary landscape of Argentina. As a master short fiction writers, Enriquez begins and ends every story with an unforgettable image, twist, or bit of prose, making this a literary delight for horror lovers and avoiders alike.

Some of these made me stop and read them aloud to fully luxuriate in them. Spooky, weird, graphic, GORGEOUS language.

A Sunny Place for Shady People is a fantastic short story collection following an array of different characters in a variety of creepy and disturbing scenarios. Through twelve different stories, Enriquez gives the readers glimpses into Argentinian life while exploring occult and horror themes.

I enjoyed the collection and absolutely see myself revisiting these stories, although some of them worked more for me than others. Enriquez has a great voice and this is my first time reading her work, so I will be exploring her previous titles too.

3.5 stars (rounded down).

A collection of horror short stories, "A Sunny Place for Shady People" is, sadly, more misses than hits. Some are wonderfully creepy, atmospheric, and ghoulish visceral, but others are painfully flat and miss their mark entirely. Some deal with real-life horrors, others deal with urban legends and mysticism. My favorite shorts dealt with body horror, and "Face of Disgrace" and "Metamorphosis" were the best of the bunch. I also liked "The Suffering Woman" and "A Local Artist." The writing is hauntingly beautiful, but no amount of frilly prose can excuse dullness. I will definitely read this author again, regardless of how I feel about this set of shorts.

Thank you to NetGalley, Mariana Enriquez, Random House Publishing Group, and Hogarth for the complimentary ARC of this book. All opinions are my own. I was not compensated for this review.

I loved this so much. The stories were all so well-written that I do not think I have one favorite, as they were all fantastic. Great characters and unforgettable tales. Mariana Enriquez is one of my new favorites, and I look forward to reading more of their work.

Mariana Enriquez is easily one of my all time favorite authors. Her lyrical prose, subtle yet terrifying stories, and political/socioeconomic commentary is unmatched. Our Share of Night, a behemoth of a book, was amazing and I was eager to see what she did with a short story collection.

It’s rare, but I really enjoyed every single story. I did a tandem read/listen and I loved the cast of narrators. None were overtly scary and felt more speculative in scope, but very chilling nonetheless. Personal faves were A Sunny Place for Shady People, Julie, Metamorphosis, and A Local Artist.

I really enjoyed OUR SHARE OF NIGHT in the past from this author so I was thrilled to check out more of her work. I've also given another short story collection of her's a shot and found that I tend to enjoy her longer form work more so than her anthologies. While there were some stories that I enjoyed in this collection, I found myself feeling unsatisfied for a majority of the reading experience. There are some interesting ideas and concepts, but sometimes it feels like the conclusions are lacking. Overall I still enjoy reading from this author and will continue to check out her works.

Did not finish book. Stopped at 53%.
I've been trying to finish this book for like 2 months now. I haven't picked it up in weeks so it's time to pull the plug and DNF @ 53% I'm just not feeling it and don't want to keep forcing myself to try and finish this, it's literally putting me in a reading slump.

I'm very picky when it comes to short stories, so this is just my personal opinion. I am not sure if something is just lost in translation.

thank you netgalley and Bloomsbury for sharing a digital copy, as always, opinions are my own.

A Sunny Place for Shady People is a rich, inventive, and oftentimes gross collection of stories centering Argentine people and communities. With blends of supernatural and body horror each story contains memorable imagery and genuine creepiness that make these original stories really stand out. A refrigerator graveyard, haunted dresses, ghostly echoes of senseless violence, and a truly grotesque foray into body modification are just a few examples of imagery in these stories that really stuck with me. My favorite stories were My Sad Dead, Night Birds, The Refrigerator Cemetery, and Face of Disgrace. There really aren’t any clunkers in this collection in my opinion. They’re all really well written and have something memorable that sticks with you after you finish. I really want to read more from this author!

I enjoyed this. It’s like the grown up version of Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. Each story had its own unique flare.

Macabre, ghoulish, and dark are all words that come to mind after reading this new collection of short stories by Mariana Enríquez. At the same time, they're sensitively rendered stories of flawed people dealing with unusual situations. There is the woman who stays in her apartment to soothe the ghosts that haunt the tenants, the young woman whose skin is rotting painlessly, people suffering from melting faces, and women who were punished after some perceived indiscretion and transformed into birds.

While set in contemporary Argentina, they had the feel of folk or fairy tale, but not the sanitized ones most are familiar with. The ghosts haunting places highlight the divisions between people, or the contradictory or false stories they tell about themselves.

The stories lean into the gruesome and violent, with ghosts still bearing the brutalities that led to their deaths. Enríquez uses the supernatural to highlight aspects of Argentinian society, such as gender roles and social status, politics and the systems, such as healthcare or police, that affect them.

Of all the stories, my favourites were:
-My Sad Dead
-Night Birds
-Metamorphosis
-The Refrigerator Cemetery

I found the collection intriguing and disturbing simultaneously for the macabre imagery and for the way Enríquez skilfully weaves the weird and perverse into the ordinary.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Random House Publishing Group - Random House for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Mariana Enriquez’s newest collection is superb. The collection starts off with an unsettling and emotional bang with the quiet, somber dread of the dead that haunts the sites of their demise—and the woman that tries to help them.“El pensamiento positivo es perverso, lo mismo que la buena voluntad.”

I am not typically a fan of short stories, but after reading Mariana Enriquez's absolute stunning work of horror, "Our Share of Night," I was willing to give her "A Sunny Place for Shady People" a chance. These stories are dark! Seriously, the author's tales of ordinary people facing abnormally terrifying situations made my blood run cold and sent shivers down my spine. I enjoyed a few of the stories so much that I wish Ms. Enriquez would turn them into full-length novels!

I will read anything Mariana Enriquez writes, even though her works give me nightmares! Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of this horrifying collection of short stories. Perfect for Spooky Season!