There’s nothing quite like the thrill of stumbling upon something that ignites my creativity, and watching the universe conspire to make it happen.

The book Parásitos Perfectos by Luis Carlos Barragán Castro is one of those serendipitous discoveries.

On one of our frequent random walks through Unicenter Shopping, we wandered into Yenny “just to see if there was anything.” Usually, there’s nothing.

But this time was different.

A synthwave-style cover immediately caught my attention.

It was the book Mundo Weird: Anthology of New Weird Fiction. I was drawn to it not only because of the design but because it featured Latin American authors—finally, not just the usual American or European perspectives—so I bought it.

Among these stories, my favorite was Amor de Gulgumbro, a tale set in a world teeming with extra-dimensional Tamagotchi/Pokémon-like creatures, each with a somewhat sinister agenda. To me, it’s a brilliant metaphor for the world of social media. From now on, if anyone asks me what I think of social media, I’ll tell them to read that story.

The name Luis Carlos Barragán stayed with me, like an open tab in my mind. It popped up again a few weeks later, just before "Feria del Libro", when Caja Negra published Parásitos Perfectos. I bought it on the spot, following Nassim Taleb's philosophy: the key is to expose yourself to possibilities. Worst-case, you waste a few bucks; best-case, you find something life-changing. And this time, it was life-changing.

Not a single story left me indifferent. This is rare for collections like these, where one or two pieces might shine while the rest fade. Luis Barragán’s mastery of rhythm, action, emotion, and sheer weirdness makes this book a standout in speculative fiction—a gem of the genre, if it can even be contained in one.

To go into detail about what I loved would spoil too much, but suffice it to say that, for me, Parásitos Perfectos represents a turning point in Latin American speculative fiction.

As a writer, Luis’s background as a visual artist is evident—his stories conjure vivid, sometimes unsettlingly precise imagery. He also brings a queer sensibility that softens the masculine edge typically found in sci-fi, an approach that instantly won me over.

I was fortunate enough to attend two of his talks during FILBA in Buenos Aires, both of which were insightful and deepened my understanding of the book's themes. Loneliness, a central theme in his visual art studies, permeates nearly all the stories in Parásitos Perfectos. In one way or another, loneliness—or more precisely, the attempt to escape it—drives the characters’ actions. The book’s final story takes this exploration of loneliness to a cosmic level, closing the narrative arc in a way that is nothing short of breathtaking.

Now, I’m on the hunt for Luis’s earlier works and eagerly awaiting whatever he does next—especially if it’s interactive fiction 😉😉.

So, stop scrolling through Netflix and order the book here. No affiliate link, no influencer nonsense—just pure admiration for Caja Negra for bringing such an extraordinary book to light ❤️.