NIght of the Living Queers is a great anthology for anyone looking for some Halloween spookiness! The stories range from downright terrifying to lighter, with more hopeful endings, and there are new twists on familiar favorites as well as some truly original tales in this one. As in any anthology, some of the stories stand out more than others, but this is well worth picking up for horror fans!

I think that short stories are very difficult to write, especially horror, because it has to convey a lot of feeling within only a few pages. Some of these stories we a hit and some were a miss.

(NetGalley eARC)
I really loved the concept of this book – there’s such a long, complicated history of queerness in horror that an anthology like this absolutely makes sense. Unfortunately, the execution of this one just wasn’t what I wanted. The main thing is that every single one of them needed to be longer. They needed more room to establish characters, lore, relationships, and atmosphere – or they needed to try to do fewer of those things. Most of the stories attempted to cover them all, which is just too much for the length of these stories. In some of the stories the ‘horror’ element felt like little more than a set dressing to set up the story the author really wanted to tell. The really frustrating thing is that every single story had so much potential, and some of them had genuinely creepy endings. But because they were so short and tried to accomplish so much, none of them landed the way I wanted them to. Also, I wanted the tone to be overall a little bit more cohesive, to make this a proper anthology, because the stories were all over the place. Some were pure horror, some were comedy, some were somewhat-concealed-romance, and some were aiming for something more literary. Given how all over the place they were in every other regard too, more genre consistency would have been nice. It’s not that the stories aren’t good or worth reading; there was just a lot of untapped potential I would have liked to see realized.

I could've loved to have this as a teen! I read Thirteen, a 90s horror anthology, over and over, so my nostalgia is high. But this book has all the queerness that I wished for then, and all the diverse storytellers my life was then missing. There are some real highlights here, but no duds.

I really enjoyed these stories and how diverse and unique they all were! I think that there’s a little bit of something in here for everyone. I was able to feel all the feels with these stories!

A delightful YA collection of stories ranging from funny to spine-tingling, written by a wide array of diverse authors on the queer spectrum. I wish books like this had been available to me when I was in their target age range!

An inventive YA horror anthology with enough creepy and haunting episodes to satisfy adult readers too. All the tales take place on a Halloween night with a blue moon (a second full moon in a month) and have queer teen protagonists, mostly people of color.

The first two stories were well-written but didn't offer much that was new in terms of plot. The anthology shifted into high gear with "A Brief Intermission," which combined the classic setting of a haunted drive-in movie theater with contemporary political horror in the vein of "Lovecraft Country". Other standouts for me were "Guested," a sci-fi tale that makes a surprising use of the second-person POV, and "Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle." The latter wasn't the only story using paranormal elements to create a dialogue between past and future selves, but it was the one that made me cry the most. Healing from queer oppression often looks like the inner work of rescuing our helpless younger selves. "Hey There, Demons" was just an adorable teen romance, a nice relief among heavier stories. "Nine Stops" and "Anna" were effectively scary.

The authors didn't shrink from ending on a bleak note sometimes, where you think the antagonist is defeated at first, but the good guys lose in the end. However, too many such stories in a row felt like a letdown.

I was taken aback by "Save Me From Myself" because the ending seemed to punish the main character for her self-harming thoughts. This could hurt readers who struggle with the same issues.

WE LOVE QUEER BOOKS! 👏 👏 👏

This was YA and I can totally see YA horror lovers really enjoying this one. I didn't fully connect, I wanted a little bit more. But that's a *me* thing.

I always try to be super careful about anthologies because I love making connections with characters and that usually only works for me in full length novels. That being said, I loved this one!!

I had such a good time reading this anthology! It had a little bit of every type of spooky you could think of. My emotions were all over the place too…laughing, creeped out, heartbroken! If you are like me and love all things Halloween, I highly recommend checking out this book!

Here are my thoughts on each short story!

Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia by Vanessa Montalban
⭐️⭐️⭐️
I absolutely loved the abandoned hotel setting. There’s something extra creepy about it. This did leave me with lots of questions but overall it was entertaining.

The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one is emotional because it deals with grief. You think one thing is going to happen but then there’s the twist. So good!

A Brief Intermission by Sara Farizan
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This one was definitely unsettling! I loved the drive in movie theater setting. I really wasn’t expecting that ending! I do wish it had been a little longer though.

Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells
⭐️⭐️
Couldn’t really get into this. I loved the concept but I think it being told in second person really threw me off.

Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle by Kosoko Jackson
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Wow., this was a tough one. It was absolutely heartbreaking but so powerful. This story will stay with me for a long time. I cannot get this quote out of my head…
“I remember reading somewhere that it only takes one person to change the course of history. I wish someone had been brave enough when it mattered to be that someone for me.”

The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting by Alex Brown
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was so cute and kind of funny! I loved the sibling relationship…so relatable! This story makes me want to read more ghost hunting books!

Nine Stops by Trang Thanh Tran
⭐️⭐️
This didn’t really work for me. It was pretty gory and honestly it left me confused. I’m also not the biggest fan of the chain message thing.

Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane by Maya Gittelman
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved this! I was about living your truth and it made my heart so happy! It’s told in second person which actually really worked for me this time.

In You to Burn by Em X. Liu
⭐️⭐️
I don’t really have many thoughts on this. I didn’t hold my attention.

Anna by Shelly Page
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This reminded me of an opening scene for a Supernatural episode and I really liked it! It was the perfect amount of spooky.

Hey There, Demons by Tara Sim
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was adorable & funny! I wish it was a full length book.

Save Me from Myself by Ayida Shonibar
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was another tough one to read! I really enjoyed the writing but didn’t care for the ending. I appreciate the content warning that the author provided!

Knickknack
Ryan Douglass
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Clowns are creepy! The romance was adorable!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review. The following opinions are my own.

This collection of queer short stories was alright. I don't think one really stood out in particular to me. I would say maybe if they had more development and were longer they might have.

Great collection!! So very very creepy and full of so much fantastic rep. A must read for any queer horror fan. Will be featured on a future episode of Your Rainbow Reads podcast.

This was a really solid anthology, and a great introduction to a lot of newer/debut authors. While there were some stories that I enjoyed more or less than others, there weren’t any that felt like they didn’t belong, and I enjoyed seeing how each author interpreted the general theme of the book. Though this is a horror anthology, there’s a lot of different interpretations on horror, from the truly terrifying to the horror of life and the unreality as a response to that. Many of the stories felt like they could just be beginning, or as if the horror is in nothing truly being known. As a whole, I enjoyed reading this and I definitely recommend it to lovers of anything queer or horror!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS takes the horror genre and centers those that traditionally don’t get to be at the forefront, telling the stories of queer BIPOC in horror. Many of the stories did a really good job of weaving together queer experience with the actual horror, while others instead took a more traditional horror story and put a queer BIPOC character at the center. While I wish that some of them had gotten to develop more (some of the earlier stories felt as if the horror elements weren’t that fleshed out), I largely enjoyed all the concepts and the stories that came out of it.

While I enjoyed all the stories, a few personal favourites were GHOSTED by Rebecca Kim Wells, LEYLA MENDOZA AND THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LANE by Maya Gittelman (the exploration of trans identity I could swoon), and IN YOU TO BURN by Em X. Liu. The most horrifying for me were THE VISITOR by Kalynn Bayron and NINE STOPS by Trang Thanh Tran.

As far as anthologies go, this was a pretty good one in my opinion. I have no doubt I’ll be returning to some of these stories in the future, and reading other books by the authors within. Definitely worth reading!

I’m really glad I got the chance to read this collection of stories. They kept me interested and I liked how some had an ambiguous ending or left you to imagine that things were about to get so much worse. There were a couple stories I liked less than others but it didn’t take away from the overall appeal of the book. It definitely gave me Halloween vibes in the spring and will be a great fall/spooky season read.

This is what every young queer needs in their life. This book is pure gold and i loved every story! The stories all have unique perspectives and vivid imagery and characters that allow you to get lost in the words over and over until the next story begins. Loved it!

I’ve read some amazing books due to Alex Brown’s recommendations, so I jumped at the chance to read this early, and I’m glad I did. Anthologies can obviously be hit or miss, but I liked the majority of the stories here.

Thank you to Wednesday Books for the opportunity to review this ARC.

I’m a huge fan of short stories and anthologies so I moved this one up on my TBR and I am so glad I did! Although these stories were YA, I think so many adults would love them! I plan on reading this out loud with my partner during Halloween time because they were all so good and I know he would enjoy them as well. With short stories, I often find there are a few that I don’t like, but I absolutely loved/liked each of these stories.

I really enjoyed this anthology. I love that we are getting more queer stories. Each story was something very unique.

Nice anthology. Good characters and stories. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.