In Manuel Muñoz's The Consequences, the story "Susto" describes a man's disturbed psychological state after he discovers a dead body in a field. The Spanish word "susto" can be translated into English as "fright," but it also refers to an illness associated with certain Hispanic and Indigenous populations in Latin America and the Southwestern United States. It is sometimes referred to as "fright sickness" or "soul loss." While there are regional variations in how exactly susto is defined, it is generally a condition believed to be brought on by a traumatic event, such as an accident, a near-death experience or the loss of a loved one, and is also sometimes thought to have supernatural causes. Possible symptoms include trouble sleeping, extreme anxiety, crying, agitation and listlessness.

Susto is often considered a folk illness or "culture-bound" syndrome, meaning an affliction that is dependent on cultural contexts, and of which medical practitioners outside of those contexts ...