The Dangers Of Smoking in Bed by Mariana Enriquez is a disturbing, eerie collection of short stories.

Set mostly in Buenos Aires, Argentina, these are stories about trapped souls, family betrayals, unexplainable events and perverse pleasures. This is the type of twisted horror that stems more from the dark underbelly of humanity but also with a gruesome subtlety.

I thought these stories were immensely attention-grabbing in all its bizarreness. Unfortunately its not always politically correct such as one particular character, in one of the stories towards the end, who is constantly referred to in a derogatory way rather than just being given a name and there were some earlier references to blackness and trans people that were questionable. These bits of the narrative were hard to reconcile with but I also felt it was used to highlight the ignorance of Enriquez' already deeply flawed characters.

It was otherwise a horrifyingly, eerily good book, perfect for spooky season, however please check content warnings before reading. ⚠️ some that I can think of include; child death, rape, ethnic slurs, transphobia, abuse, addiction etc.