Our Take

Mariana Enriquez has emerged as one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary horror, and A Sunny Place for Shady People confirms her status as a master of the unsettling. These twelve stories don't rely on cheap scares or gore—instead, Enriquez weaves dread into the fabric of everyday life, creating an atmosphere where the supernatural feels inevitable rather than shocking. Her Argentina is a place where ghosts are as common as neighbors, where transformation and dissolution happen without explanation, and where women bear the weight of both mundane and metaphysical terrors. What sets Enriquez apart is her ability to ground the fantastical in achingly real human emotion. Her characters struggle with grief, isolation, desire, and rage, making their encounters with the macabre feel like natural extensions of psychological states. Megan McDowell's translation captures the lyrical beauty and visceral horror of Enriquez's prose with stunning precision. Readers who love Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado or the haunting fiction of Shirley Jackson will find a kindred spirit here. For fans of literary horror that lingers in your mind like a half-remembered nightmare, A Sunny Place for Shady People is essential, unforgettable reading.