A Sunny Place For Shady People by Mariana Enriquez

* Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for providing the ebook in exchange of a honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I rarelly read short story collection because I like to get fully into a story for a longer period of time but this book was do well done that each story felt whole even if they are never more than 20 pages. They were creeepy and weird and perfect for the spooky season!

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More in the vein of <i>The Dangers of Smoking in Bed</i> than <i>Our Share of Night</i> (not just in structure, but in the general tone). This is not really a horror collection, I would say, but more literary short stories with a horror or macabre inflection on them. Something where you read it and say afterward, "Hm, that was creepy" rather than actually feeling creeped out, per se, while reading it, if you know what I mean. Another bad sign: I finished this collection barely two weeks ago and can barely remember the plot or details of any individual story from it, though I also remember not having a bad time while reading them.

Argentina writer, Mariana Enriquez's latest short story collection translated to English, A Sunny Place for Shady People offers 12 more tales of horror, both body and psychological, dread or a world just slightly off kilter.

Each story begins with a relatively normal narrator going about their life, when something occurs that shifts their perception, showing that what they thought was true and safe is not all there is of the world. Most are narrated by a women, sometimes presented as an account after the fact, or just as it occurs. Not all of the stories involve ghosts and the paranormal, but many do.

One story centers on a doctor who can talk to an engage with ghosts, trying to calm them and stop their haunting, or just be quieter in their afterlife. Other stories are more centered in the realm of possibility, two childhood friends traumatized by playing in the dregs of a refrigerator factory and what they left inside one of them. Children with just black hollows for eyes seek to enter a van for a NGO that provides aid to the un-housed. A possibly imaginary young woman talks about her artistic sister and the other generations in a declining mansion and how we might all become animals in time. Some stories play out in expected ways, the out of towners shocked by something in the small rural towns, but most of the tales are handled to move outside the known tropes. Or at least to subvert them in unexpected ways. And they don't always end with the shocking twist, sometimes they linger beyond, showing how one is changed by the unsettling events.

Recommended to readers of horror, supernatural tales, short stories or works in translation.

Enriquez is an incredible writer, that much is certain. Even in translation, images she conjures up are visceral and gut-churning... when they're scary. The majority of the stories didn't quite hit for me. As the book progresses, some of the short stories get more creepy, skin-crawly, and disturbing like what I came to expect from Our Share of Night. I like that the people in these books are regular folks who interact with the occult or spirits. I like that there isn't always a conclusion. That being said, I felt there was a plethora of good ideas that simply needed more fleshing out. It is hard to give this an "Average" rating, but alas, it didn't wow me.

I liked The Dangers of Smoking in Bed more, but still really enjoyed these short stories. Each one had me saying "what the fuck" at least a couple times, sometimes out of disgust, sometimes from being creeped out, sometimes both.

Haunting, harrowing stories perfect for reading on gloomy fall days.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.

A Sunny Place for Shady People was my newest attempt at a short story collection. I found these to be super intriguing and easy to get through. Short stories are still something I am working on adding more regularly to my reading, but this one was one I'll recommend widely.

Thank you for this arc.

Love the writing and storytelling. Definitely going to reread this SOON!!

I was really looking forward to reading this new short story collection from Mariana Enriquez since I really enjoyed her other collections but I had to soft DNF this one.

The short story, “Julie,” had some blatant fatphobia that really turned me off and I just couldn’t shake that feeling which is unfortunate because the other stories up until that point were great. I may return to finish the collection at some point but as of right now, I have no desire to continue.

Three stars for the stories I did like.

This collection of short stories was be the entertaining to read and had my hooked from the first one. Each story had well developed characters and managed to pack tons of lore and horror into every single one.

There were a few times I felt like not enough information was given to the reader and I wasn’t sure if this was a stylistic choice (open ended endings or the allure of mystery), but it was definitely a little confusing as to what was happening.

Overall, this was a great collection that blended Argentine lore/horror with modern day issues and it was executed wonderfully.

I loved every one of them. They’re dark, eerie and thoughtful. It’s very much in hand with Hispanic culture of walking hand in hand with death and the supernatural.

I am a big fan of Enriquez’’s two previous translated short story collections and her novel, Our Share of Night. While this collection was good, it didn’t seem to hit me like the other collections. Perhaps these were based on myths or concepts that I am not familiar with because I felt I was missing something while reading many of the stories. Thank you to NetGalley for a chance to read and review this book!

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enriquez’s title perfectly captures the collection’s tone: sunny on the surface, but filled with shady, unsettling undercurrents. I personally was elated to receive the ARC of this collection, having read her other short story collection, “The Dangers of Smoking in Bed”. Each story in the collection focuses on characters who are flawed, troubled, and often morally complex. Enriquez’s writing manages to create distinct and fleshed-out characters while also drawing attention to larger societal issues like poverty, inequality, and violence. In a masterful use of the magical realism genre, Enriquez blurs the line between reality and stylistic choices to leave readers questioning what was real.
A standout from the collection was the titular story, A Sunny Place for Shady People. The protagonist, a woman trying to escape her past, arrives at an idyllic seaside town hoping for a fresh start. However, the town is rife with secretive locals, unnerving atmosphere, and an almost palpable sense of menace. What makes this story, along with the entire collection, particularly memorable is Enriquez’s use of the gradual reveal. As the protagonist gets closer to the town's secret, the story shifts from unsettling to downright terrifying, blending psychological horror with hints of the supernatural. This story, like many in the collection, explores themes of escape, both literal and metaphorical, and the idea that no matter how far you run, you can’t escape the darker aspects of yourself or society. A Sunny Place for Shady People sets the tone for the rest of the book, pulling readers into a world where the sunny surface hides something much more disturbing just below.
Overall, A Sunny Place for Shady People is a powerful and unsettling collection. It’s a fresh take on the horror genre, combining traditional aspects of hispanic fiction with bold new takes and palpable horror. Enriquez's blend of the everyday and the eerie will stick with you long after you’ve finished the last page.

The first half of the collection is amazing. Enriquez is a master of atmosphere and horror. There are some short stories that felt like filler stories and didn't stand out quite as much as say the title short. Still a great read especially as we get into Autumn,

3.5 stars rounded up to a 4.
I was so back and forth on whether I wanted to rate this a 3 or 4 star read. Some of these stories were really good. They were perfectly creepy and atmospheric, and I quite enjoyed them. There were a few that felt incomplete. Like there was more to the story that I was missing. I mean they all kind of ended without a resolution per se, but for some of the stories that worked really well and added to the creepy factor, but some of them I didn't think it worked quite as well. But the ones that I enjoyed I really liked. So I rounded up.

Do you like stories that get under your skin? Stories that disturb you with their creepiness without being overly gory? Then you need to read A Sunny Place for Shady People by Marianna Enriquez. In its pages are 12 tales of creepy, disturbing supernatural and body horror. I loved Our Share of Night and if you’re not a big book lover this is a good place to start.

**Thanks to the author and publisher for the e-arc I received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.**

Mariana Enriquez's "A Sunny Place for Shady People" is a captivating collection of twelve short stories that blur the lines between reality and the supernatural in contemporary Argentina. Enriquez masterfully weaves tales of ordinary people, particularly women, whose lives are upended by encounters with the terrifying and surreal.

The stories range from ghostly neighborhoods to families whose faces mysteriously melt away, creating a tapestry of unsettling and thought-provoking narratives. Enriquez's prose is both lyrical and sharp, painting vivid pictures of a world where the mundane and the fantastic collide.
What sets this collection apart is Enriquez's ability to use the supernatural as a lens to examine societal issues and human nature. Her stories are as much about the horrors of everyday life as they are about otherworldly phenomena, exploring themes of gender, violence, and social inequality.
Enriquez's imagination shines throughout, particularly in stories like the one about birds that were once women, showcasing her unique blend of magical realism and horror. The result is a collection that is both deeply unsettling and impossible to put down, cementing Enriquez's place as a master of contemporary Latin American literature.

In A Sunny Place for Shady People, Mariana Enriquez shines a supernatural filter over every day horrors of life in Argentina. Ghosts haunt a neighborhood in “My Sad Dead”. In the title story, a writer researches a story about a dead body floating in a water tank of an LA hotel. “Face of Disgrace” deals with facial paralysis and a family’s curse. “Julie” was the story that made me laugh out loud because it’s about ghost lovers. The rest of the stories are a mixed bag of horrors including bird women, the aging body, haunted history, abused fabric, blocked calls, childhood crimes, saints, and evil. This collection of stories, translated by Megan McDowell, is a testament to the author’s creativity and looking to every day with a macabre mindset. ARC was provided by Hogarth Books via NetGalley. I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A Sunny Place for Shady People by Mariana Enríquez 5/5🪦

Now out in the USA and releasing in the UK 26 September 2024 (ps different cover))

This was the first book I’ve read by Mariana and I now want to read everything she has written. This is a short story collection that I found quite chilling and some of them definitely made me think “nope, nope, nope.” Mostly because of my overactive imagination Lol
I will say they’re not all super creepy but I loved that each one allowed you to connect to the characters on a deep level. I’ve included a few content warnings below!
Each story has different cw/tw but some of them include:
Graphic: Death, Body horror, Blood
Moderate: SA/r*pe, Cancer, Suicide
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Animal death

Thank you to Netgalley, Mariana Enríquez, and Random House / Hogarth for an advanced copy! @hogarthbooks

#creepy #asunnyplaceforshadypeople #marianaenriquez

This review was published in the Charleston Gazette-Mail on Saturday-Sunday, September 21-22, 2024.

A SUNNY PLACE FOR SHADY PEOPLE - Mariana Enriquez, September 17, 2024, Random House/Hogarth, 179 pages, translated by Megan McDowell.

Maria Enriquez is one of the bright lights of Latin American literature; she has had one novel and two short-story collections translated to English (including THE DANGERS OF SMOKING IN BED) and was a finalist for the Booker Prize. Here, her twelve transcendent short stories-which lie on the lines where the differences between good and evil are blurry-are set in her native Buenos Aires, Argentina, and all are haunted by the legacy of dictatorship there, some more obviously than the others.

One of my favorite stories in the collection, in which the influence is explicit, is “Hyena Hymns.” In it, the narrator is visiting his visiting his boyfriend, Mateo’s prosperous family. While having tea, the parents begin telling of a nearby zoo that was set on fire. The hyenas that are now in the area are thought to have escaped the flames.

The next day Mateo suggests they visit the Aguirre palace. The narrator objects, “I hate concentration camp tourism.”

Mateo replies, “Yes, they know the basement was used for torture. But the place was used for lots of other things, too. A summer house for rich people who, by the way, made all the cheese you armed last night, so you’ve already got Evil in you.”

So they go. Mistake. Big mistake.

In the title story, the narrator is from Buenos Aires but is based in New York City, writing for a magazine. Her magazine is starting a new section called “America in Weird” about strange events that involve the supernatural. She has been writing about Latin American politics, but she desperately wants to move to the new section.

So, she pitches a human-interest story to her editor: Elisa Lam, who in 2013 stays at the Cecil Hotel in Los Angeles, disappeared on January 31. The last sight of her was on surveillance footage in the hotel elevator. A few weeks later, guests at the hotel began to notice that the water coming from their taps had an odd color and a foul odor. On February 29, Elisa Lam’s decomposing body was found in the hotel’s water tank. How she got there is a mystery that has yet to be solved (this is a true story, by the way.)

The strangeness does not end, however. Now groups of people gather around the water tank because they believe Elisa’s spirit is trapped there. The people are waiting for a sign.

As the narrator flies from N.Y.C. to L.A. to cover the story, she thinks, “that gringos for you: they’ll worship a dead girl in this sinister hotel surrounded by addicts in various shades of intoxication, madness and crisis, but propriety will keep them from patting down a middle-aged Latina between her legs.”

She gets to L.A. She sneaks into the Cecil Hotel after hours and smuggles a cell phone in. And what she sees is surprising.

It’s worth noting that in the story, there is also a mountain lion running about the city. It is hardly ever seen. So, in both stories there are scary animals existing outside their natural habitats.

Both these stories, and the ten others included in their slim volume, are unsettling, but only in the best, shivery sort of way. Enriquez is a master at this and, separate from genre, her writing is pure and lyrical; she’s a worthy example of some of the best writing coming from Latin America today.