The Dangers of Smoking in Bed: Stories

Kurze Grusel geschichten mit unerwarteten Plot Twists. Die Autorin hat einen sehr fesselnden und interessanten schreibstil bei dem man konzentriert lesen muss um seine gesamte Essenz einzufangen.Für Leute deren Englisch auf einem mittleren Niveau ist, ist es nicht zu empfehlen da es doch recht schwer zu lesen ist (Das ist allerdings nur meine Meinung, das kann natürlich jeder für sich selber gucken).

Great collection of modern horror stories that take place in South America

Mariana Enriquez does not play around. This is not a collection for the faint hearted, nor is it for someone casually wanting to flip through some sinister images. This is a collection for those already invested in the subtle flavours of the horror genre - be it in whichever form of media.The collection has its troughs and crests, meaning all stories do not function on the same level of investment, nor effect. But they provide you with images that will not abandon your mind soon, or soon enough. Her narration is strongest in the first person, and especially with the story of a girl obsessed with heart murmurs. At times it is almost impossible to go on without experiencing a dry heave, or a sudden flash of a world gone cold. Mariana shines in her story of the kids who disappear. Straddling reality, magic, otherworldliness and morbidity, this is a story that makes its way back into google searches, and lingers with images. This is also her longest story, as with the others, their shorter lengths might be considered to be mercies.Enriquez brings in profundity, scares, laughs and the very certain knowing that horror is local for it to be best realised. That the nitty-gritties of the genre lies in accepting it's proximity to real life, and that transplanting dominant discourses into a very local setting still might not be it's best utilisation. Rather she gives us what she has known all along - real scares lie in the interstices.

The Dangers of Smoking in bed is a collection of short stories with a dark tinge to it.Not all stories are horror or supernatural, even though sometimes they can feel like stories one may tell around a camp fire. The story that gives the book its title ends in a strange but beautiful way. We cannot say that the characters are damaged people. The characters in the book vary a lot, from the functional functionary Mechi who is the protagonist in Kids Who Come Back, to the jealously bitter and revengeful girls in Our Lady of the Quarry. The characters can be people who are stuck in a situation out of their control, such as the family in The Cart, or people who are taken by madness as the teenage girls in Meat. Sometimes they are under the influence of something sobrenatural as in Back When We Talk to the Dead and The Lookout. The language flows clear and the reader feels compelled to keep reading because in those stories we cannot help but to hope for the unexpected.

A fantastic selection of stories and it is clear why it has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize.Primarily based in Argentina, these stories bring the paranormal to the modern day and give you a little bit of a spook. All the stories had endings (I hate short stories that don't have any sense or meaning!) and I think some of these stories would be fantastic developed into a novel or television adaptation.