Darkness on the Edge of Buenos Aires

A review of Argentinian writer Mariana Enriquez's chilling, hallucinogenic short story collection 'The Dangers of Smoking in Bed'.

On the face of it, Argentinian writer Mariana Enriquez's short story collection sounds fiercely gripping. The synopsis promises a collection 'thrumming with murderous intentions, family betrayals and morbid desires, these stories shine a light on a violent city gripped by urban madness; giving voice to the lost, the oppressed and the forgotten', and certainly there's plenty of that here.

Set in Buenos Aires, Enriquez certainly knows how to turn her hometown into a chilling hinterland, existing in the purgatory between night and day and quietly subdued by ethereal forces. It's in this urban hallucination that the stories, and the people within them, find themselves trapped and left to atavistic, primal and reactionary actions. Like in the most evocative post-apocalyptic movies, Enriquez's interest is in the lengths people are driven to when they have nothing but desperation left.

The setting and ensuing darkness are masterfully captured as an overall presence. Where they excel is when they use narrative tropes that are either genuinely stomach-churning or unexpected, like the gore-splattered tension of 'Our Lady of the Quarry'. It can also do bewitching existentialism well, like in the dissection of trauma and abuse survival in 'Where Are You, Dear Heart?' Longest and most all-encompassing is 'Kids Who Come Back', a twisted and devilishly holistic excavation of what happens when a generation is left behind.

But the collection falls short in its ability to use that darkness to make these stories memorable, with the climax of many of these stories being distinctly unsatisfying. As detailed and otherworldly as they are, and as much they might wish to offer an effective parallel, they mostly resolve themselves with what appears as open-ended randomness. Any reader hoping for cathartic comeuppance will rarely get it, which for me makes them almost completely forgettable as soon as they end.

Pick this one up for the unsettling vibes and often engrossing horror. Maybe not so much for a wholesome sense of fulfilment.

You can purchase ‘The Dangers of Smoking in Bed’ here.