Brilliant short story collection. Genre-wise, the stories fall at various points in a triangle between 'Weird', 'Horror', and 'Horrifying', as most begin with a strong horror set-up (curses, cults, ghosts in various forms and from various points of view all get involved) and then run somewhere entirely unpredictable with it, with destinations ranging from delightful to stomach-turning. Most of the narrative voices across the stories are cynical, world-weary, and sometimes cruel, extending to language which is at points racist or transphobic, and befitting the mucky, nasty events in many of the stories. Throughout, however, a magic and humour permeate which stop the stories becoming bleak.

Topics covered across the collection range from obligation to the dead, young love, the mechanics of fetish subcultures, urban decay, and much more, and are all are treated with a deft, sardonic hand. The only complaint I have of the book is one which applies to a few short story collections (Helen Oyeyemi's What is Not Yours is Not Yours springs to mind), which is that the stories often feel unfinished. Enriquez tends to leave stories on an ambiguous note, often at a major crossroads, and while this can leave the reader intrigued, wanting more, I find that it leaves the story feeling flat. That is not, however, to detract from the excellent story which came before the less-than-satisfying endings, and I would still strongly recommend this book to any horror fans with a love for the weird.

Content warnings for

Spoiler

paedophilia, child sexual abuse, self-harm, graphic depiction of excretions, racist language, transphobic language, corpse of a baby