Los peligros de fumar en la cama by Mariana Enríquez

Los peligros de fumar en la cama by Mariana Enríquez
Narrator: Mara Brenner
Published by Anagrama on February 1, 2017
Genres: Horror, Paranormal, Short Stories
Length: 5 hours 32 minutes
Pages: 232
Format: Audiobook, eBook
Source: Purchased
Purchase on: Amazon// Barnes & Noble
Add to: Goodreads
rating
three-half-stars

Una niña desentierra en el jardín unos huesos que resultan no ser de un animal; la bucólica escena veraniega de unas chicas que se bañan en un paraje natural acaba convertida en un infierno de celos de inquietantes consecuencias; un mendigo despreciado siembra la desgracia en un barrio pudiente; Barcelona se transforma en un escenario perturbador, marcado por la culpa y del que es imposible escapar; una presencia fantasmal busca un sacrificio en un balneario; una chica siente una atracción fetichista por los corazones enfermos; un rockero fallecido de un modo atroz recibe un homenaje de sus fans que va más allá de lo imaginable; un chico que filma clandestinamente a parejas haciendo el amor y a mujeres con tacones altos caminando por las calles recibe una propuesta que le cambiará la vida...
En los doce soberbios cuentos que componen este volumen Mariana Enriquez despliega todo un repertorio de recursos del relato clásico de terror: apariciones espectrales, brujas, sesiones de espiritismo, grutas, visiones, muertos que vuelven a la vida... Pero, lejos de proponer una mera revisitación arqueológica del género, reelabora ese material con una voz propia y radicalmente moderna. Tirando del hilo de la mejor tradición, la lleva un paso más allá, con historias que indagan en lo siniestro que se agazapa en lo cotidiano, despliegan un turbio erotismo y crean imágenes poderosísimas que dejan una huella indeleble.
Quienes descubrieron a Mariana Enriquez con Las cosas que perdimos en el fuego tienen ahora en sus manos un libro anterior, en el que ya aparece perfectamente dibujado el universo de una escritora que conecta con maestros modernos de la literatura de terror como Shirley Jackson, Thomas Ligotti o su compatriota Cortázar. Enriquez se asoma a los abismos más recónditos del alma humana, a las soterradas corrientes de la sexualidad y la obsesión... Como ha dicho Leila Guerriero: «El terror, en los cuentos de Mariana Enriquez, se desliza como un jadeo de agua negra sobre baldosas al sol. Como algo imposible que, sin embargo, podría suceder.»
Cuentos: 1. El desentierro de la angelita 2. La Virgen de la tosquera 3. El carrito 4. El aljibe 5. Rambla triste6. El mirador 7. Donde estás corazón 8. Carne 9. Ni cumpleaños ni bautismos 10. Chicos que faltan 11. Los peligros de fumar en la cama12. Cuando hablábamos con los muertos

Review

One of my goals in 2023 was to start reading books in Spanish instead of just English. I’m bilingual, and I’ve tried reading long form Spanish fiction before, but never really stuck with it. I tried reading Fellowship of the Ring in Spanish thinking it would be easier because I know FOTR so it would be like a translation. Wrong. I tried reading Cien años de soledad. The entire page ended up highlighted with words I needed to look up. I felt hopeless. THEN! I found Los peligros de fumar en la cama by Mariana Enríquez. It was contemporary. It was horror. And most importantly, a collection of short stories. I thought if I could not get through this, I’d be hopeless.

WELL! Get through it I did! And I loved it! I bought the ebook and was reading that but then purchased the audiobook so I could read it while at work instead of trying to carve out time in the evenings when I would be too chicken. The audiobook? Fantastic! Mara Brenner spoke clearly and you easily knew which character was which. The emotion she gave really elevated the text.

The writing itself was good and clever. Not only was it horror by itself, but then Enríquez adds a second layer of society and gender horror which is not always so subtle but definitely thought provoking. I don’t want to get too deep into each of the short stories, but I will touch upon a handful that definitely had an effect on me.

Starting off strong with El desentierro de la angelita, the smells and images are still with me. I’ve summarized it to anglo friends and they also were left horrified. The visceral descriptions hit with a punch while the underlying theme of resolving generational trauma lingers and haunts well afterward.

In La Virgen de la tosquera, we get such a 180 from the vibe of ‘la angelita.’ The horror is in the realization that this can be and is very real. Those you consider friends consider you enemies and a joke can lead to your death. Emotions of youth, their intensity, is horrifying. What a young person can do for love is terrifying. The small supernatural element to this short story plays the most miniscule part compared to the realities of humanity.

Carne, I absolutely loved. It is chilling. It is gory. It is beautiful. I don’t want to say more about this one because it literally feels so close to my heart which is a very weird thing to say about a horror story, but it’s true.

I 110% recommend Los peligros de fumar en la cama by Mariana Enríquez with a caveat. I haven’t read the English version, so I don’t know how well the translation is or how intense the descriptions are. If you can read Spanish, or understand spoken Spanish, pick this up absolutely.

three-half-stars

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