Mystery Lights

"Delicious"--The Los Angeles Times

"Full of menace and delight."--Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love

Introducing an electrifying new voice in contemporary fiction that illuminates the many forces that haunt us.

An influencer attempts to derail a viral TV marketing campaign with her violent cult following. A marriage between two ghost hunters is threatened when one of them loses her ability to see spirits. The lives of a famous painter in the twilight of her career and a teenage ufo enthusiast converge when a mysterious glowing orb appears in their small desert town. And a slasher-flick screenwriter looking for inspiration escapes a pack of wild dogs only to find herself locked in an suv with a strange man beside her.

From the all-too-real horror of a sexual predator on a college campus to a lost sister transformed by cave-dwelling creatures, Lena Valencia's debut story collection, Mystery Lights, grapples with terrors both familiar and fantastic.

Author: Lena Valencia
Publisher: Tin House
Published: 08/06/2024
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.70d
ISBN: 9781959030621

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/17/2024
Kirkus Reviews 07/01/2024
Shelf Awareness 08/08/2024

About the Author
Lena Valencia's fiction has appeared in Ninth Letter, Epiphany, Joyland, the anthology Tiny Nightmares, and elsewhere. She is the recipient of a 2019 Elizabeth George Foundation grant and holds an MFA in fiction from The New School. Originally from Los Angeles, she lives in Brooklyn, New York, where she is the managing editor and director of educational programming at One Story and the co-host of the reading series Ditmas Lit.