Pedro Iniquez has been in the atmosphere, writing for 16 years, and has truly landed this year—2025. He has two collections of stories: one horror (Fever Dream of a Parasite) and one sci-fi (Echos and Embers forthcoming, July 2025). He has a children’s book (The Fib) coming in October. And, with Mexicans on the Moon, he is one of five finalists for the Stoker Award for Achievement in Poetry. As part of our series on Horror Poetry Month, we talk horror, poetry, the speculative future, and his home town of Los Angeles.
1, What draws you to the horror genre?
The horror genre is fascinating because it allows stories to touch on uncomfortable, gruesome, or taboo subjects that most other genres won’t. It can also raise important questions we typically don’t ask ourselves. We don’t always come away with answers, but the important thing is that we at least have a dialogue with those sensitive things we’re afraid to dwell on.
2. How does horror blend into poetry for you?
Typically, I delve into the horrors of the real world with my poetry. The horrors of war, racism, capitalism, school shootings, etc. I also run those topics through other speculative lenses like science-fiction.
3. Poetry in general evokes emotions. I’d characterize your poetry as dark, playful, hopeful and nostalgic. Was this intentional, or was there something else?
This is always intentional. Poetry is about the deliberate choice of words, trying to evoke specific feelings, pointed criticisms, etc.
4. I too am a fan of science fiction. Do you feel that science fiction and horror blend well? I mean, there is the infamous tweet that you can’t have horror in outer space.
Science-fiction and horror go so well together. Body horror, alien invasion stories, zombie outbreaks; all those walk hand-in-hand with science. The fear of the unknown, of tampering with science and technology we don’t understand, of unique lifeforms that may seek to cause us harm. They are perfect companions.
5. One thing that struck me about your poems is the idea that class structures often remain intact in the speculative future. Is this a fair interpretation?
Totally. I was holding a mirror to our times, trying to show people these really neat faraway worlds and distant futures, which should offer the promise of hope, and instead we get the same hardships we’re finding now on Earth. Social commentary was a big goal with my collection Mexicans on the Moon. The idea that these utopias are still marred by the human element, violence, politics, and the luggage we take with us.
6. In the world of horror literature and media, do you see progress for people of color?
I’ve been writing for about 16 years and I can say that things are slowly getting better. I’ve seen more authors of color get book deals or getting published in some cool magazines and anthologies. But so often it seems, that for every step forward, we take two steps back. Especially with regards to censorship and book banning. We have the US government, for example, cutting funding to libraries and schools and so you see BIPOC and LGBTQ authors taking the biggest hits. Their books are getting pulled from schools, libraries, etc. And that sends us back due to the loss of sales. Publishers will hesitate picking up those contracts.
I would say tell the stories you want to tell and don’t stop telling them. Do not give up.
7. All of the finalists for the Stoker Poetry award this year are people of color! Do you have advice for people of color getting into writing horror?
Yes! It’s a wonderful group of nominees and all of them are titans in their field. And they’re wonderful people to boot. I am so proud to be among them. As for advice to people of color getting into horror, I would say tell the stories you want to tell and don’t stop telling them. Do not give up. It’s normal to feel discouraged, and I’d say healthy, too, but the important thing to remember is that you never know when an acceptance is waiting around the corner that could change your life our outlook on things.
8. You’ve been busy, and hopefully been having a good year. Five years ago, would you have foreseen this? Five years in the future, where do you see your creative ventures headed?
Five years ago, I released my SF/ Horror collection Synthetic Dawns & Crimson Dusks. It was around that time that I decided to pursue writing full time. Since then, I’ve definitely gotten a lot more done (more book sales, short story and poetry sales etc.) so that was nice. Five years from now, I plan on working on bigger projects like more novels, picture books, trying out middle grade novels, and possibly looking into pitching those as movie or TV projects. Regardless of what I pursue, I can’t sit still and have to always be working on something!
9. I love you wrote a children’s book. What inspired that?
I’ve always loved picture books and I’m really a kid at heart, so it was only natural. I’ve got a few other manuscripts done, and I’m currently shopping a few as we speak!
The Wasp Woman is an underrated Roger Corman classic! Sure to have burned into your retinas if you watched it as a child.
11. What was the last horror book you read? What horror books and authors would you recommend?
I’m currently reading Tiny Threads by Lilliam Rivera, and I am loving it! A few recent reads have been The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay (forthcoming), Southern Cross by Vaughn A. Jackson, and Blood Cypress by Elizabeth Broadbent, and they were all spectacular!
There are way too many to mention, but [I’d recommend] Stephen King, Clive Barker, Dennis Etchison, Ray Bradbury, Tananarive Due, Gabino Iglesias, Cynthia Pelayo, William Peter Blatty, Shirley Jackson; all are great choices.
12. How is the horror scene in your town? Do you have a favorite spot or local bookstore?
L.A. has a wonderful horror scene and has a wealth of writers living here. I’ve been fortunate to have great friends in people like Peter Atkins, Lisa Morton, A.P. Thayer, Kate Maruyama, Jo Kaplan, Tiffany Brown, and so many more, who are all wonderful horror writers. Burbank has some cool horror-adjacent shops like Halloweentown, a giant horror store with props, collectibles, toys, and cool merch. Until recently, we had Dark Delicacies, an epic horror bookstore. Universal Studios has some great horror icons. And of course, this is the home of Hollywood, where so many horror films are made and screenwriters reside.
13. Finally, what are your current and future projects, and is there anything else you want to shout out?
My horror fiction collection, Fever Dreams of a Parasite, was just released in March from Raw Dog Screaming Press.
My SFF collection, Echoes and Embers: Speculative Stories, is due for release July 15th from Stars and Sabers Publishing.
My debut children’s picture book, The Fib, is set to release on October 7th from Gloo Books.
I also have an upcoming comic book, Catrina’s Caravan: Blood Cycles, from Chispa Comics with no set release date yet.
Readers can find more about me, upcoming appearances, and forthcoming publications at https://pedroiniguez.com/
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Peter Ong Cook
Peter Ong Cook has published stories in 2 HOWLS anthologies so far: HOWLS from the Dark Ages and HOWLS from the Scene of the Crime. His short fiction can also be found in Cosmic Horror Monthly and the anthology Trouble In Paradise. His husky resembles a wolf, the wolf featured in the HOWLS logo, but receives no royalties. The husky would just spend it on the dog-equivalent of booze.
