In Fever Dreams of a Parasite Iniguez weaves haunting tales that traverse worlds both familiar and alien. Paying homage to Lovecraft, Ligotti, and Langan, these cosmic horror, weird fiction, and folk-inspired stories explore tales of outsiders, killers, and tormented souls as they struggle to survive the lurking terrors of a cold and cruel universe. With symbolism and metaphor pulled from his Latino roots, Iniguez cuts deep into the political undercurrent to expose an America rarely presented in fiction. Whether it’s the desperation of poverty, the fear of deportation or the countless daily slights endured by immigrants, these tales are about people who are usually overlooked. This fresh perspective is often delivered with a twist that allows us to see the mundane with fresh eyes.
Dark bleatings, my feverish tribe! I’ve got another collection for you today, you know the drill! One story at a time, here we go!
Nightmare of a Million Faces
What a great opener. Anastasia works in adult films and is at a cast and crew party in a hired house in the middle of nowhere. There might be something out there though…be careful where you go and who you trust!
For a short, the lore was rich, both in terms of the concept and the main character. Seriously creeped me out.
Feast of the Dreamer
The disturbing tale of Aurelio, who escapes the pain of the waking world by travelling elsewhere when he sleeps. This story turned my senses inside out.
Skins
An inversion of a typical hunter story, and one that made me make sure my doors were locked. Short and brutal.
Shantytown: A Mexican Ghost Story
A town with a scary local legend that might notice you if you’re unlucky. Has a superb closing line.
Purveyors and Puppets
Horrific social satire about a left wing host that is invited onto a right wing show for a political debate. Very relevant, and pretty disturbing.
Roots in Kon Tum
Frank returns to a place that is suffering the effects of biological warfare. Disturbing, but for completely different reasons than the other stories so far.
Midnight Frequencies
Enrique repeatedly hears a call for meat over a police scanner. Use your imagination about where this goes….no, you’re wrong. I liked it!
The Cellar
Siblings Ramona and Andres are seeing dead relatives, but there’s something wrong with their faces….
Creeped me out massively. This collection does that to me a lot.
The Savage Night
Kushim, a medical man, is cast out of his tribe because they suspect him of meddling with the spirit world, and things only go downhill for him from there…
Not a favourite, but I still liked it.
The Bottom Dweller
Jasper starts working at a seafood place but becomes less than enthusiastic about it once he learns how things are done behind the scenes. I really liked it, even if it did make me side-eye the sushi I planned to have for lunch.
Adrift Ebon Tides
A very short story about a man on a raft…what could possibly go wrong?!
Midnight Shoeshine
Archie has his shoes shined on the pier by Eloy, a poor man that he feels compelled to help. I can’t tell you more but good lord, I loved it. I love stories when, even for horror, there’s a nasty sting in the tail!
The Last Train Out of Calico
This story is set on a train and had three of my favourite horror elements; enclosed location, freakish creatures (I won’t spoil what kind), and they mimic other things – that freaks me out almost more than anything else. One of my favourites!
Bad Dogs
A drug addicted lady and her young daughter are trapped in a phone booth, surrounded by creatures of the nights. I liked this but wished it was longer. It seemed like there was some great subtext to unearth that there was no time to explore.
Birthday Boy
I loved this and the only thing that could have made it better would have been if it had been written as a comedy horror, rather than a straight horror. A boy is absolutely horrified to discover that his pinata is sentient.
The House of Laments
A couple find an old camera in a house and have the pictures developed, only to make an absolutely hideous discovery. And that’s only where the horror starts.
Caravan
Very short, but there’s loads to think about. A potential cannibal is afoot!
Body of Work; or, The Fever Dreams of a Parasite
A designer goes to great lengths to make sure his fashion line is unique…loved it.
Effigies of Monstrous Things
Mario discovers something in the basement of his apartment complex that is so unexpected and horrible that he’s forced to confront what he thought he knew about his landlord, the building, and recent local history and scandal. I really liked this one too!
The Body Booth
I loved the idea for this story. A reporter hears rumour of a unique and truly freakish art exhibit, created by a retired doctor, and manages to get in to a private viewing. The art piece is…interactive. This is right out of the Clive Barker book of weird body horror, and it’s some of the weirdest body horror I have personally ever read. One of my favourites.
Postcards from Saguaroland
What an uplifting story to close out the book on! Oh, wait a minute…no it isn’t!
If I have a criticism outside of some of the stories falling outside of my specific taste, it’s that there are two stories featuring pregnancy and the biological process doesn’t quite line up with reality, as far as I’m aware. In both cases, the process went from ‘not in labour’ to ‘I’ve given birth’ in minutes or seconds. However, I wouldn’t cite that as a reason to not read this whole collection because it didn’t read like it came from any other place besides some mild ignorance about the process.
Overall, I had a good time with this collection. I liked most of the stories and found great variety in the horror and the types of stories being told. There were a couple I wasn’t as enthusiastic about, but there were also three or four that I loved, so it turned out to be an enjoyable reading experience. If you’d like to check out the book or the author, I’ve popped some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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