Compared to contemporary horror authors such as Samanta Schweblin, well The Houseguest doesn’t quite come on top. I found myself wishing for Jackson’s humor as I found myself completely unamused by Dávila’s stories. Author: Amparo DvilaLike those of Kafka, Poe, Leonora Carrington, or Shirley Jackson, Amparo Dvilas stories are terrifying, mesmerizing, and expertly. There was also an overuse of ellipsis which made many scenes rather dramatic.

The writing was at times repetitive and there were instances in which certain descriptions & dialogues came across as stilted (i read the eng. The characters are thinly rendered and often interchangeable with one another. Sadly, the stories ended up blurring together somewhat. Alienation, loneliness, madness, and despair are running motifs throughout this collection. Like those of Kafka, Poe, Leonora Carrington, or Shirley Jackson, Amparo Dvilas stories are terrifying, mesmerizing, and expertly crafted-youll finish. Dávila upsets normal family dynamics and every day activities by introducing sinister guests and entities within her characters’ homes. This ‘restricted’ setting augments the oppressive atmosphere of her stories and often worsens her characters’ paranoia.

I appreciated that Dávila sets many of her stories within a household or building, rarely venturing beyond their thresholds. Their characters are paranoid to the point of being delusional, but there are times when their fears are not wholly unfounded and that the people, places, and situations that cause them to feel such anxiety and terror are not wholly normal. Their stories are imbued by a surreal, almost fantastical, quality that seems to blur the line between reality and fantasy. Jackson and Dávila’s approach to the horror genre certainly share similarities. In the case of Amparo Dávila, well, this comparison isn’t wholly unearned. More often than not, upon reading their stuff, I end up rather perplexed by the comparisons to Jackson.

After reading The Houseguest―Dávila’s debut collection in English―you’ll wonder how this secret was kept for so long.Whenever an author is compared to Shirley Jackson, I feel compelled to check their work out. She is a writer obsessed with obsession, who makes nightmares come to life through the everyday: loneliness sinks in easily like a razor-sharp knife, some sort of evil lurks in every shadow, delusion takes the form of strange and very real creatures. With acute psychological insight, Dávila follows her characters to the limits of desire, paranoia, insomnia, and fear. Like those of Kafka, Poe, Leonora Carrington, or Shirley Jackson, Amparo Dávila’s stories are terrifying, mesmerizing, and expertly crafted―you’ll finish each one gasping for air. The world Dávila imagines weighs on the brain like some sort of delirium.' ― Robert Rea, Southwest Review The first collection in English of an endlessly surprising, master storyteller

The Houseguest and Other Stories by Amparo Dávila, translated by Audrey Harris and Matthew Gleeson / ISBN 9780811228213 / 144-page paperback from New Directions

The houseguest and other stories