The novel La mala costumbre (Seix Barral) explores the search for identity in the Madrid of the Gothic subculture. Author Alana S.

Portero grew up in the working-class neighborhood of San Blas and in the hidden streets of central Madrid. The story is structured around elements of the hero's journey theorized by the mythologist Joseph Campbell and through which the heroes of the stories from Gilgamesh to Luke Skywalker have traveled. When difficulties arise, an oracular figure appears, a revelation is given and the journey continues.