The Halloween-month episode feels like the right time to mention that I have been revisiting the works of Mariana Enriquez of late. The Argentine novelist is a master of cosmic horror (the only subgenre of horror worth consuming, given how much of the rest is flooded with rank misogyny) and weaving history into her narratives.

I’ll admit that on multiple nights I sacrificed sleep because Mariana Enríquez’s extraordinary novel Nuestra Parte de Noche completely captivated me. Its scope is vast, and its narrative is utterly absorbing. Available in English as Our Share of Night, the story revolves around a recalcitrant medium tethered to a shadowy cult, which was deeply embedded within the corridors of Argentine power during the country’s bleakest era but is slowly fraying. Yet beneath that chilling occult narrative lies something even richer: a powerful, intimate drama about a father (the medium), a mother (the daughter of the cult’s ruthless leader), and their son, whom they desperately try to protect while withholding crucial truths about the darkness closing in around him.

Nuestra Parte de Noche is about secrets and loyalty. It also delves deeply into Argentina’s history with death squads and authoritarianism. Re-reading it, I’ve discovered moments I missed over its nearly 600 pages.

Enriquez’s other book I am revisiting is the short story collection Los Peligros de Fumar en la Cama (English: The Dangers of Smoking in Bed). And it starts off impressively with “Angelita Unearthed,” which I won’t explain because it’s just too delightful of an opener to spoil. I’ll only say that two of the other stories involving children, “Rambla Triste” and “Kids Who Come Back” are equally engrossing as they are unsettling. This is a great introduction to the author, if you don’t yet have the time or stamina to tackle the novel.

 I hope you have a joyous Halloween.

Playlist

Hymenoptera
Bob Ostertag
Motormouth: Bob Ostertag Plays the Buchla 200e
Bob Ostertag

URAMESHI DEPECHE MODE
Blackchai, August Fanon
OTHERWISE A BLUR
BLacK KiDs Productions

lattice
KMRU
forge
Seil Records

ISLAND OF WOODS
Ryuichi Sakamoto
千のナイフ
Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. / NIPPONOPHONE

Viewfinder - Intro
Wendy Eisenberg
Viewfinder
American Dreams Records

Suprime o Exterior
Carla Boregas
Pena ao Mar
Self-released

Quicksilver (for Simone)
Fred Frith
Fifty
Week-End Records

A Love Song
Pauline Oliveros
The Well & The Gentle
Important Records

Great Vitreous Tact
Nzʉmbe
Ardor or Entropy
Drowned By Locals

As if one were sinking into sand
The Caretaker
Patience (After Sebald)
LEITER

Our Little Scene
Dead Door Unit
Abandon
Tribe Tapes