A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez is a beautifully written collection of short stories that leans into the eerie and unsettling. Enriquez’s prose is stunning, and her ability to create haunting, atmospheric worlds in just a few pages is impressive.

That said, as with most short story collections, some stories clicked with me more than others. While a few left a lasting impact, others felt a bit forgettable. If you enjoy dark, literary fiction, you’ll appreciate the craftsmanship here, but be prepared for some hits and misses.

I have a love/hate relationship with short stories collections. I love getting snippets of ideas from authors but I miss the overlying plot integrated within a traditional novel. A Sunny Place for Shady People is a collection of weird horror stories that largely take place in Argentina. These stories invoke visceral reactions through graphic and often disturbing visuals. Despite that, the writing style
Is beautiful and the author does a great job with character and world building especially given the shorter format of each story. Of the twelve stories, the majority feature women as they encounter supernatural creatures in transformative ways. From ghosts to birds to disappearing faces these stories will capture you and haunt you in the best way possible.

For fans of:
Mona Awad
Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Short stories
Translated works

Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for my copy; all opinions are my own

A super dark collection of short stories, each packed with a novel's worth of spooky concepts. The title story will haunt me all year, the story of a journalist writing about one of the scariest things that ever happened in Los Angeles. Not for the faint of heart, this is a traumatic and terrifying read for spooky season.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This collection of stories was so, so cool and creative. I absolutely love the writing style of Mariana Enriquez, her prose just flowed so naturally and made every single story worth reading. There was not even one that I didn't enjoy, all were creepy and spellbinding at the same time. I have had her other novel on my "to read" list forever, this book has convinced me I need to read it sooner rather than later! I cannot recommend this collection of short stories highly enough!

This was the first book by Mariana Enriquez that I have read and I really enjoyed having a bundle of different stories to read. Most of these were very chilling and intriguing. I loved being able to jump from one to the next and stay on my toes. Very well done.

I love some of the short stories in this collection. They are creepy and always make you think. There are a couple in this collection that were not as strong as the rest, but overall, this is a fantastic collection. In fact, I need to get the Spanish version to gift it to my mom, who I think will love this collection.

Eerie as hell short stories and some absolutely terrifying images if you think about them too hard, and they lurk in the corner of your subconscious. Fantastic collection, and highly recommended.

I was super excited to get the chance to read this as an ARC (thank you NetGalley & the publishers!) and tried so very hard to keep up with it once the semester started.

A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE by Mariana Enríquez (transl. by Megan McDowell) is such a wonderful collection of stories that I’m looking forward to reading the original Spanish collection in the future. I knew that this was going to be my “read before bed” book, and I still can’t decide if that was a good decision or not 😅 Some of the stories were SO unsettling that I for sure thought I’d be seeing some of these characters in my dreams… in that sense, I think this is a perfect set of stories—with a variety of eerie, creepy, and just plain disturbing vibes—to get you in the mood for the Halloween season.

There were a few stories that end with a level of uncertainty of what will come next that at first I was upset that they ended there, but the abrupt endings honestly added to the horror of waiting and not knowing—which I’d say is a major theme throughout!

A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE is out now & gets a solid 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ from me!!

This book was a quick read, but an enjoyable quick read. Each story was masterfully written and creepy in their own way. I would have to say my favorite is Metamorphosis. I recommended it to someone who could relate to it and they loved it as well.

The cover immediately captured my attention and accurately depicted what to expect going in. Mystery, in-your-face visualizations, a fairytale/folklore quality with modern twists.

Some of it was a little over the top for me regarding social commentary. It felt forced at times, but maybe the point was to be jarring.

It’s a collection of short stories so pour yourself a drink, light a candle, and put this book on deck when you want a taste of literary horror.

I think this was just not for me. I was looking for something a little more fast paced, scary, and creepy.

Beautiful, poetic, if somewhat opaque prose that dances on the edges of the supernatural but never quite sticks the landing.

“A person knows when she’s going crazy; it doesn’t happen overnight, not even after a trauma. Everything, everything in the body is a process. Including death.”

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez is a horror short story collection with a conscience; it’s as creepy and disturbing as it is truthful.

One of my favourite books of 2023 was Our Share of Night, an expansive and stunning novel by Enriquez, so I was excited to see what she can do within the short story format. Long story short (LOL), she doesn’t need 500+ pages to impact readers.

Through 12 short stories, Enriquez explores the horrors of what it is to be human living in the world (specifically South America). In my opinion, the scariest things are those that feel the most real, or connect to reality. Enriquez shows us that reality can be just as terrifying as monsters, folklore, and the supernatural. Everything seems equally terrifying, especially with the way Enriquez integrates the many things that scare us and make us uncomfortable: crime, addiction, illness, mental health, gentrification, classism, body dysmorphia, and trauma. There’s many different types of monsters at play here.

Each story is unique and with a distinct voice and a tinge of humour. Time and place are just as important as characters, helping to truly envelop the reader in these short, impactful tales. As with any short story collection, there are standouts; my favourites in the collection were My Sad Dead, Face of Disgrace, Night Birds, and A Local Artist. I struggled at first with the endings of the stories, which aren’t necessarily wrapped up in a pretty bow, but I began to appreciate the intentionality of this choice given the subject matter.

There is no writer out there who is doing things like Mariana Enriquez, and I’m so happy to have discovered her and can’t wait for what’s to come.

Instantly obsessed with anything Mariana Enriquez writes. Her short story collections are otherworldly.

This was an absolutely devastating collection and I loved every second of it. From horrific to surreal, the exploration of womanhood in these stories was incredible. This is actually my first book that I’ve read by Enriquez despite owning Our Share Of Night and The Dangers of Smoking in Bed. After finishing this collection on audio, I can’t wait to jump into these soon.

My favorite stories from this collection were Metamorphosis, The Refrigerator Cemetery, and Julie. Listening to Julie while backpacking through the gloomy, Scottish countryside was actually terrifying.

The cast of narrators for these stories could not have been selected better. Each and every one of them delivered their stories perfectly and left me with chills. The amount of times I whispered “what the f**kkkkkk” while listening to this are countless. Major props to Lee Osorio, Annette Amelia Oliveira, Sol Madrigal, and Maria Liatis!!

I love translated horror and this was one of my most anticipated collections this year. I recommend this for fans of translated fiction, horror, and short stories with a punch!

**Thank you to PRH Audio for the amazing listening experience and to NetGalley and Hogarth Books for the eARC of this haunting collection!**

I read the author’s (very long and meandering) novel last year. Wondering if her short stories would be any better, I decided to try this anthology. Unfortunately, I don’t think this author is for me. I usually like a character-driven story but I think that this author kind of fails at both characters and plot. I can’t tell if the translation is at fault, but all of her writing feels stilted and disjointed. The stories were forgettable immediately upon finishing them except for Metamorphosis, which is still haunting me a bit; that one was the only bright spot in the whole book.

Somehow entertaining and gruesome, A Sunny Place for Shady People was absolutely hypnotic. This features 12 stories that are deeply fascinating and written in Mariana Enriquez' unique voice. Absolutely recommended!!

This is a strange one for sure, and I mean that in the best possible way! I have previously read Mariana Enriquez' novel Our Share of Night and I found it fascinating and haunting, so I was excited to read this collection of short stories. These are all so vivid in the feelings they create: dread, unease, anxiety, etc. I love that everything is rooted so deeply in the culture of Argentina, to the point that the settings almost seem like characters in and of themselves. I tended to read this book at night, as it almost demanded a kind of quiet, mystical energy to truly get absorbed in the stories, and this made the experience all the richer, and scarier. My favorite stories were definitely The Refrigerator Cemetery and A Local Artist but there were none that I disliked. I think this is a strong collection that's perfect for fans of weird books, horror, and translated fiction. I will definitely continue reading anything that Mariana Enriquez' puts out.

Mariana Enriquez writes the most memorable stories I've read outside of maybe John Cheever and Raymond Carver both of whom in their own way are also writing "horror" -- a term that barely works for me, when it comes to Enriquez's stories. What these stories feel like, instead of "horror," is ... TRUE. They capture the true anxieties lurking at the edges of our peripheral imaginations. This is the third collection I've read (the others being THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED and THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE) and it amazes me that Enriquez can capture a level of anxiety, to wrench me into a state of unease and leave me hanging there, in so many and varied ways. A master.

Mariana Enriquez does not disappoint, this collection is a study in sheer atmosphere. Loved the experience of reading this. Some of those stories will stick with me for a long time.