Mystery Lights: Stories

"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.