Firstly, thank you Netgalley, Pedro Iniguez and RDS Publishing/ Raw Dog Screaming Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

I appreciated the unique aspect of each story, as the collection spans a variety of horror sub-genres, delving into some truly harrowing topics. While I didn’t necessarily enjoy some stories as much as others, I do think it offers a diverse range of horror experiences, which kept me interested. However, at times, I felt that 20 stories may have been a bit much. The writing can feel simple in parts, and I think some of the stories could have benefitted from a bit more depth. Instead of trying to cram everything into a few pages, a more in-depth exploration of fewer stories would have been welcome. Despite these minor criticisms, I still think it’s a solid anthology. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in the genre, as it offers a lot to think about.

I honestly don’t know what to say. These stories were so weird and left a lot to the imagination including any type of conclusions. I felt grossed out and uncomfortable reading most of the stories as well as confused and left unsatisfied.
I don’t think I necessarily liked the book but I can’t say it was bad. Not my cup of tea for sure but if you’re looking for a weird, bunch of stories to leave you scratching your head and maybe to discus/debate with friends then this book would be a good read for you.
I just wished the stories had a conclusion and would love to read a few of them if they were complete short stories there was major potential!

Thank you to Raw Dog Screaming Press and NetGalley for an eARC of this book!

I am so impressed with this collection of short stories. Each story was so different and unique and I never felt like I was reading the same thing twice.

With multiple POV’s of people from different cultures, it was so refreshing to read and I felt so immersed in each world the author was painting for me.

Sad, scary, jaw dropping and shocking are just a few words I’d use to describe the stories in this collection. Pedro Iniguez is a master of the craft of the short story. He provides the right amount of information and doesn’t make the stories linger longer than they needed to be. Some of them I even felt myself wanting more out of and I LOVE that feeling. It’s like he drops you off in this little universe and tells you a wonderful story and then sends you on your way.

Horror fans are going to love this!

I've long been a fan of Pedro Iniguez and his writing, but also the advocacy he does with teaching classes for writers who identify as of Mexican descent, and was glad to hear that he had a collection coming out in March of this year.

Rather than reviewing each story individually or going down the list of "this is what I liked about xyz," I will highlight the stories that spoke to me most. I think "Feast of the Dreamer" spoke to me on a different level. It's a distinctly "Pedro" story that only he could have written, and hits all the points in an effective way. I also enjoyed "Shantytown: A Mexican Ghost Story." It starts off with the protagonist, Maribel, telling her mother that the ghosts are back. The story explores grief, of what it means to live in the part of Tijuana that the characters do, of what American-owned factories have done to this place (and, on a deeper level, the settler-colonialism that pervaded Mexico since day one, and the effects of which are still felt to this day). It ends on a very chilling note.

Pedro's stories, most of them on the shorter side, are packed with a lot of incredible things story-wise, with characters, with settings, and it gives the collection a sense of immediacy. There's a lot of different things to absorb, but it's also delivered in a way that even though it's fast-paced, it's also really deep with the things that do stick around in your head afterwards and resonate.

To Latine readers of the book, particularly those of Mexican descent, I hope the collection gives them a sense of representation and being seen and "Our stories exist too. There is space for yours as well." I hope we see many more collections, longer form works, and other projects from Pedro in the years to come.

Fever Dreams of a Parasite by Pedro Iniguez is a masterly crafted collection of works that explores the fragility of the human condition in ways that I feel like I have not seen explored before. There were very few stories in this collection that left me unaffected, and a handful of stories felt like a punch to the gut, while others made me so uncomfortable in my own skin that I wanted to crawl right out of it (The Body Booth, anybody?).

I want to do this review justice, but I need to express first and foremost that after reading Iniguez's work in this collection, I've become a passionate reader and long term fan of his. I felt so exposed reading through each story, and it was clear from every word on the page that Iniguez is passionate about human rights and the human condition. He is empathetic to the plight of all people, and that's both admirable and clear within his work.

Another point of interest with Iniguez's work that I found fascinating was how it felt like he carefully leads the reader to a conclusion that, by the end of the work, becomes false. He quite literally yanks the rug out from under our feet in almost every story in a way that we are given very little time to accept this rug-pull and are left feeling disoriented and lost. Sometimes I don't feel as though those endings are as effective as others, but with many stories, I could not have predicted which direction I was being led until I arrived to the conclusion. I find that highly skillful to pull off repeatedly.

Pedro Iniguez is also highly skilled in how he crafts his descriptions. In this regard, I can describe him as a painter. The imagery he is able to convey in his writing is phenomenal, hellish, invigorating. I also found that Iniguez is bold, and very much unafraid to give us a view into the bad end of his characters. He is unafraid to explore characters who are deplorable, and he is unafraid to put those as the main focus of a story.

It is not lost on me that Pedro Iniguez's best work is longer form, when a story has the ability to grow into itself and pull you the reader in with it. His longest stories in this collection are my two favorites, and I hope to see full length novellas from Pedro some day. I will continue to eat his work up without abandon.

My favorite stories in this collection were the ones that spoke to the human condition in an empathetic and horrific manner. My loudest shoutouts go to:

The Body Booth
The Last Train out of Calico
Body of Work; or, The Fever Dreams of a Parasite
Skins

Thank you so much to Pedro Iniguez, Netgalley, and Raw Dog Screaming Press for this early copy.

Rating: A

Thank you NetGalley for this eARC.

Wow, just wow. Fever Dreams of a Parasite by Pedro Iniguez is a short horror story collection of his works. Circling around various diverse individuals, each undergoes a transformative horror experience in their story, across different age groups, lifestyles and life expectations.

So utterly original, gory, creepy and otherworldly, this collection is full of gore, body horror, themes of grief and loss, family, the struggles of immigrants and life.

I just loved this book and loved the writing - every character came off the page in the stories and drove me to keep reading. I felt like each protagonist in each story was so integrated into their world, that the things they noticed and felt were natural behaviours of theirs - like Mayra and Melody in Bad Dogs or Ramona and Andres in The Cellar. None of the stories were longer than they had to be. The author has such a vivid imagination for horror and I am so amazed by what people are writing out there. The monsters and horrors were so original, I never felt like I was reading something I'd already seen.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable and surprising collection. My favourites were Bad Dog, Birthday Boy and the Body Booth.

Fever Dreams of A Parasite
Pedro Iñiguez

Thank you Netgalley, RDS Press and Iñiguez for the ARC e-book in exchange for my feedback.

4 / 5

These uniquely written and conceptualized stories will wiggle and worm their way into your mind.

Shifting between cosmic and familiar, this is an incredibly solid collection of shorts - many of which might feel familiar, but Pedro Iñiguez takes them all into some unique and interesting directions.

I was pleasantly surprised by this collection.
If you enjoy horror shorts, I recommend checking it out yourself.

This was a collection of stories that I really enjoyed. It’s not per usual that all the stories in a collection is good but this is the exception. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this chance to read this book.

After reading this book I am left wanting more. These short stories were good and definitely well written. I enjoyed how each story had a life of its own and very diverse with the storytelling. Each story written had a life of Its own. Being an avid reader is in my nature and I have read many of books, but this is the second book I have read and I liked every short story written by an author. Although hard to pick my favorite stories are:
Nightmare of a Million Faces
Midnight Frequencies
The Cellar
Midnight Shoeshine
The Last Train Out of Calico
These short stories are a must read and the range and diversity in which these stories were written satisfy everyone dark , creepy and morbid taste.
Thank you to NetGalley, Pedro Iniguez, and RDS publishing for providing me with an Arc! I am leaving this review voluntarily.
#FeverDreamsofaParasite #NetGalley.

Wow! This collection of stories was nothing like I was expecting. Full of horrorca.d heebee jeepees.
One of the stories, Midnight Frequemcies, actually made me dream something similar
That story will stay with me forever.

#NetGalley #FeverDreamsofaParasite

Just finished [Book Title] by Pedro Iniguez and I’m absolutely hooked! Each story in this collection kept me engaged from start to finish, with the perfect amount of surrealism and symbolism that I was hoping for. Iniguez's writing style is smooth and captivating, making the eerie and unsettling tone of the stories even more powerful.

The title couldn’t be more fitting – many of these stories definitely give off that fever dream, surreal vibe. The collection is short but packs a deep thematic punch, each story leaving a lasting impression. If you're looking for a gripping, thought-provoking read with a bit of horror, this one is a must!

Pedro Iniguez does a great job in this collection with the stories being told. I was engaged with each story and was enjoying the symbolism that I was expecting. It was written in a way that worked and enjoyed how Pedro Iniguez wrote this.

This has the perfect title because many of the stories definitely have that fever dream surreal feeling to them. The stories in this collection are a series of horrific gut punches. Short but deep thematically and always interesting. A really great collection.