Ellen Støkken Dahl

Sleeping With the Enemy – Terrifying Tales About Sexually Transmitted Infections

I seng med fienden. Eller Venus' forbannelser, skrekkelige fortellinger om kjønnssykdommer

Dripping, burning, and itchy stories about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) from one of the authors of the international bestseller The Wonder Down Under.

“Delving into the facts and history of STIs gives me this delicious and chill-inducing feeling of joy mixed with horror, much like the one I get when I read a true crime story or watch a good horror movie. Part of me wants to look away, close my eyes, but at the same time, I can’t get enough. I have to look, and I have to read more. It has become an obsession,” writes doctor and author Ellen Støkken Dahl.

Sleeping with the Enemy is an original and intriguing narrative non-fiction book that guides you through a visit to the doctor’s office as the doctor interacts with, diagnoses, and treats patients with some of our times’ most common and feared STIs. With both curiosity and a wealth of knowledge, Støkken Dahl goes into the physical, psychological, and historical facts of these infections ranging from herpes to syphilis.

No gory details are spared in this shameless, entertaining, educational — and occasionally shocking — exploration of sexually transmitted infections.

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Photo: Anne Valeur

Ellen Støkken Dahl is a medical doctor who has worked for several years advising young people, refugees and sex workers on matters of sexual health. Her first book The Wonder Down Under (2017), written with Nina Brochmann, became an international bestseller and a cultural phenomenon with their message of empowerment through scientific knowledge.
Fall 2022 Ellen Støkken Dahl had her debut as a solo author with the book Sleeping With the Enemy, a narrative non-fiction about sexually transmitted infections.
Dahl and her co-author Brochmann has also written two books for younger readers The Girl Book and The Boy Book. With them they are equipping a new generation to make informed choices about their bodies and sexual well-being.
Their work has been featured in The Times, BBC Women’s Hour, Telerama, El País, The Economist’s 1843 Magazine, VICE, Daily Mail, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Playboy, ELLE, Red Magazine, Women’s Health, Refinery29, and Huffington Post, amongst others.