This book was great. I thought it had the rights amount of horror, suspense and even romance.
I like how each story is unique but there are elements that tie them all in. It shows that you can be under the same blue moon or during Halloween you and some random person in the world can be experiencing crazy stuff at the same exact time.
Lol.

I do wish my copy had a detailed list of the chapter title page numbers, it’s how I know how long I have to get through a chapter. Overall I really did enjoy the book and it introduced me to a bunch of new authors,

I am not a short story or anthology type of person and if I do read short story collections or anthologies I usually only enjoy one or two of the stories but I enjoyed this entire book! I loved how they all took place on Halloween it made it just that much more spooky, cozy and special. and the fact that it was centered around lgbtq+ characters. so if you like any of that or if you think you might I would say give this a try.

there is something just extra cool and extra harrowing about all these stories taking place under the same moon on the same halloween night. very galaxy brain of these editors. Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane was my very personal favorite - it really meant the entire world to me. and Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle is one i feel so thankful to have been able to read, and i know it will sit inside my heart forever. but here are my thoughts on all the stories in this collection, and i think so many people are gonna have a good time with this one, especially if you read this during spooky season.

━━♡ Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia by Vanessa Montalban ★★

“If you would've just waited for me to tell you I felt the same, if you would've never come here, I'd be yours. We'd be ours.”

i was obsessed with this sinking abandoned hotel setting, but sadly that was one of the few things i did like about this short story. i kept waiting for a different kind of revenge story to start because of the set up, but, sadly again, i was let down.

tw/cw: drinking, drugs, mention of bullying in past, brief mention of seizure in past (insinuating bc of overdose or excessive drug use), death

━━♡ The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron ★★★

“They were like beacons in an endless abyss of grief.”

this story has a few lines that made me tear up. this is a very sweet and spooky tale about a girl and her father celebrating halloween and honoring someone they lost. i feel like the author did such a good job conveying so many different emotions and feelings in the different scenes in this short work, i was really impressed.

tw/cw: loss of a parent in the past, grief

━━♡ A Brief Intermission by Sara Farizan ★★★

“Whenever someone talks about the "good old days," they forget to mention who it was "good" for.”

okay truly, drive in movies are just the perfect creepy setting, especially ones that are closed for halloween because of a generational secret being kept. i really liked both of our main characters in this one, and i liked seeing this secret unravel alongside them.

tw/cw: blood, gore, brief hospital setting, mention of fatal car crash in past, microaggressions, vomiting, animal death (rats)

━━♡ Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells ★★★

“Mrs. Choi thought Guested parties were white people nonsense or the work of the devil. Sometimes both.”

you all know a story about sibling love is always going to get me, and this being told in second person really amplified all the feelings. i will say, i just didn't enjoy the ending of this one, but the concept was really unique and smart, and the writing was very captivating - i would love to read more from this author.

tw/cw: very brief mention of parents divorcing + death of a parent, possession, depression depiction

━━♡ Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle by Kosoko Jackson ★★★★★

“There is no God here tonight. Only me, and I am vengeful.”

this short story is worth reading the entire anthology for alone. this was truly everything for me and, even though it pulled on everything inside my heart, the very vulnerable, real, + raw feelings were just so powerful to me. this is exactly what i want in horror, because, at the end of the day, humans are more horrifying than any paranormal creature could ever dream of being.

tw/cw: needle imagery, toxic friendship, codependency depiction, chronic pain mention, homophobia, homophobic slurs, blood, abuse, ouija board, very brief mention of domestic abuse + parental abuse + loss of a parent + murder in past with a side character. this story has a central focus on a gay hate crime / gay bashing - please use caution while reading and make sure you're in the right headspace

━━♡ The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting by Alex Brown ★★★

“Terrifying Bob won't even mess with the Jollibee, which makes me sad on his behalf.”

my favorite part of this was just how filipinos really do normalize ghosts + spirits hahaha. but i really loved the set up of this one, and i felt like it's really different than anything else in this collection. i loved these characters instantly too, and the sibling relationship made my heart so happy in so few pages. i just really didn't love the end of this one and it left me more confused than anything else. but i would happily read a full-length story with this crew + their new friend!

tw/cw: talk of death + possession

━━♡ Nine Stops by Trang Thanh Tran ★★

“You can love something so hard that you hate it at the same time. Each shortcoming hurts more because you care. The city and my body are like that.”

ahhh, this one is going to be a bit hard to write feelings for just because this story is centered around one of those "if you dont do BLANK, then BLANK will happen" on the internet things - and i just loath those so much. but then it just got more and more gross and confusing, and added so much that just didn't need to be there, but felt like they were added because it was a halloween anthology. we got to see some heartfelt themes of grief and the helplessness you feel when you lose someone you love - and i loved that - but sadly everything else just overshadowed it for me.

tw/cw: asian hate crime, racism, loss of a loved one, grief depiction, graphic animal cruelty + death for a ritual, insect mention, blood

━━♡ Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane by Maya Gittleman ★★★★★

“The smell of sampaguita fills the air. It's coming from you, the magic that's always been you, that you've finally given yourself the ability to unlock.”

not only my favorite of the collection, but a brand new all time favorite short story. this was everything and so very powerful. i might be a little biased because i am fillipino (and i have a matching sampaguita tattoo with my cousin haha), but i think this story is truly just perfection, while being so deep in culture and so deep in heart. and i was weeping through the ending with a smile on my face. the author was so galaxy brain for this entire story, but the amount of hope it was able to evoke from me too. i really am speechless.

whatever this author does next, i will be in the publisher's emails begging for an arc, because these few pages truly made me feel not only seen, but like i am finding a brand new all time favorite author.

tw/cw: talk of loss of a parent in the past, mention of deaths, one sentence mention of whitening cream/treatment

━━♡ In You to Burn by Em X. Liu ★★

“Magic wasn't real, after all. There were better, more mundane ways to explain things.”

ah, i wish i would have loved this one more. i am not really sure what to say other than maybe the writing just wasn't for me. but the plot just seemed a little all over and i wasn't really sure where the story was going most of the time. it also felt very long to me.

tw/cw: fires, drinking, blood, death

━━♡ Anna by Shelly Page ★★★★

“I know that bone-deep loneliness that comes with being abandoned and the fear that it'll keep happening no matter what you do.”

okay i think this story was like exactly what i was expecting from this collection, and it just was really good and really halloween spooky. it was the paranormal scariest of them all for me, and i was really feeling the eeriness while reading (and while finishing). a good reminder why i love short story collections so much, because i am now very excited to read more from this author.

tw/cw: abandonment, child abuse in past, starvation, ouija board

━━♡ Hey There, Demons by Tara Sim ★★★★

“Halloween. One way or another, he was going to get rid of this poltergeist for good.”

oh this was just a good read all around, and so different in tone from the rest of the collection. and it just really made my heart overflow with happiness, while still being spooky. i know these are fictional characters, but i really wish them the best because they were able to get into my heart in so few pages!

tw/cw: ghost leaving scratches on children, blood, implied loss of a parent in past

━━♡ Save Me from Myself by Ayida Shonibar ★★★★

“Today, my outside resembles the way I feel within. ”

this really is the short story from this collection that is going to be the hardest (and most all over the place) to talk about. i loved this story, i loved what it was doing, i loved that i very easily could see how much this will mean to so many teens, especially queer bipoc teens, who i know are feeling these things, thinking these things, and seeing themselves like this main character. this is an important and powerful read, and was able to evoke so much emotion from me. but i just absolutely hated the end of this. i felt like it was for shock value and just felt terrible when the rest of this story was everything i could have hoped for for this collection. again, i feel like this is just a hard one to talk about, but it still is a bright, but heartbreaking, shining light in this collection for me.

tw/cw from author at start of this story: suicidal ideation, death
tw/cw that i found additionally: mention of parent abandonment, loss of a friend, loss of a parent, and... so many intrusive thoughts

━━♡ Knickknack by Ryan Douglass ★★★

“And...how do we find a sacrifice worthy of his Clownliness?”

truly, very few things in this life are scarier than clowns. and a clown who is a ghost and kidnaps and kills children? like, i was unsettled from start to end! i also really enjoyed the queer rep in this because i think its a very relatable "is this person maybe queer too" highschool experience, and i know a lot of people will be able to relate. this was spooky and sweet and i had a good time with it.

tw/cw: murder in past, death in past, kidnapping, brief one sentence mention of parent alcohol addiction and cheating of a parent, just not the best parents in general, brief mention on bullying in past, mention of 4chan, ouija board.

I was a big fan of this collection of short stories. As with most anthologies, some of the stories worked better for me than others. I think YA readers will like this especially lovers of fantasy and great story telling.

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Anthologies are difficult to review, in my opinion. It’s a collection of authors that have different writing styles and some will for sure not be my cup of tea. However, I think the most subjective way to review would be to take the average of all of the stories.

Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia - 2 stars
I feel like not a whole lot happened and I was confused as to what was even going on.

The Visitor - 5 stars
I would read an entire book about this! What happened to lead up to this night? What happened after?

A Brief Intermission - 4 stars
Similar stories like this have been done before. I like the way this one was told but I have questions about Rusty.

Guested - 3 stars
This is told in second person POV. I’m not sure if I’ve ever read a story told in that perspective. If I have, it’s hasn’t happened often. This was an enjoyable read but I felt like something was missing. It felt like it needed something else.

Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle - 3
This story was a little darker than the title suggests. Overall, I thought it was enjoyable but can be tough to read for some.

The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting - 3 stars
This one actually creeped me out a bit in the middle but I was really disappointed with the ending.

Nine Stops - 2 stars
This one confused the hell out of me. I still don’t really understand what happened at the end. I had to go back and reread parts because I was confused and had no luck.

Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane - 3.5 stars
This was not a creepy or scary story. I would say this is a story that just takes place on Halloween. However, this story made me smile and feel good. There were one or two lines that really stuck out to me in a good way.

In You to Burn - 2 stars
This story was slow and didn’t keep my attention. It also felt all over the place, without giving anything away.

Anna - 3 stars
The beginning of this story started out really promising. As it continued, I liked it less but still thought it was an enjoyable read.

Hey There, Demons - 5 stars
This was such a fun story. I was unsure of it in the beginning but I enjoyed it more and more as it progressed and it just made me happy while reading. Absolutely loved this story.

Save Me From Myself - 4 stars
There were times when I was younger that I felt like I could really relate to this story. I think this was told in a really great way with the Halloween twist. Not really a fan of the romance but I did enjoy the story.

Knickknack - 3 stars
I thought this one was going to be the scariest and it didn’t really go anywhere. I was pretty let down with this one.

Even though I am only rating this 3 stars overall, I still enjoyed the theme of this book and I really hope more anthologies like this are released in the future. I would just love a truly terrifying set of stories.

Night of the Living Queers is a spooky YA horror anthology written by multiple talented queer authors of color putting their own spin on classic horror tropes and tales.

This phenomenal book has 13 amazing Tales of Terror & Delight for you to devour and enjoy. Well, I totally devoured and definitely enjoyed every minute of this spectacular adventure. And you will too.

!𝐖𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞!
These authors really came together and created a creative eerie collection.
Each story was creatively written and each character pulled me into their story.
Terrifying and exhilarating. The writing was exceptional.
I really enjoyed every second of this and was surprised at how quickly I tore through it trying to reach the ending and I hope to see more of this in the future.
Full of surprises, you’ll be glad you picked up this thrilling and unputdownable read.

NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS is an incredible YA horror anthology that digs into how Halloween can be more than just candies and frights, but a night where anything is possible. Each wonderfully written short story is told through the lens of a different BIPOC teen and the Halloween night that changes their lives forever.
ingenious, ominous, and queer, this collection brings fresh horror, character, and fun to young adult literature.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

"Night of the Living Queers," according to the publisher's description, is a Young Adult horror anthology that explores a night when anything is possible. It features queer authors of color who have put new spins on classic horror tropes. The book promises to explore how Halloween can be more than candies and frights.

First up, Vanessa Montalban offers "Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia" which takes place, of course, in a hotel -- two friends meet up, their painful history, The terrors unfold soon with a twist ending that sets the tone for the entire anthology.

For fans who love Stranger Things or the recent spate of teen horror on Netflix, Are You Afraid of the Dark the series, and the amazing First Bite (which I am still so pissed off about that cancellation), they will love the same energy here. It's definitely a great recommendation for readers wanting to know where to go after Goosebumps. It's fun, there are definitely funny moments, there's scary things, of course because it is a horror anthology after all, but it's immersive, and like unwrapping different candies on Halloween night that are excellent. Highly recommended, and it definitely will make sense for Halloween displays.

Some of my other favourite stories were "Guested" by Rebecca Kim Wells, "Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle" by Kosoko Jackson which takes the real-life element of racial terrors and uses it to increase the tension in uncomfortable ways for the protagonist. It's about revenge, demons, and so much more. I also loved "In You to Burn" by Em X. Liu. "Knickknack" by Ryan Douglass is also fantastic.

As well, I appreciated the content warnings that appeared at the start of each story because that's when I want to know. I want to know *before* I get into something rather than afterwards.

Overall, this anthology is also a fantastic introduction to authors doing speculative fiction in YA, queer authors of colour, whose books that teens and other readers should discover and seek out after reading this wonderful introduction to only a glimpse of the brilliance of their storytelling.

I have mixed feelings about this one. Some of the stories in this anthology were great and I would live to read more from that story or world. Sadly I really didn't like some other ones. I will say I am really harsh are short stories so this would probably be great for plenty of people but it just wasn't for me.

A review is to follow shortly. Thank you to netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the electronic advanced review copy in exchange for an honest review.

As a queer reader who loves all things Halloween, I knew this collection was for me before I even started it. Sara Farizan was the only contributor whose work I had read before (and, as always, she did not disappoint!) but I was excited to read the stories by the other authors as well. You do not often see queer characters in scary books, shows, and movies and BIPOC characters in this genre tend to be stereotyped, so I love this collection for totally shifting the narrative in so many excellent stories. While I love Halloween (and even got married on the spookiest night of the year), I am not a huge horror reader and only dabble; however, this collection is fitting for those who love spooky stuff but do not consistently gravitate toward the horror genre when selecting a book. Short story collections are always fun for me and this is a great one. I definitely want to get my hands on a physical copy to revisit it during spooky season. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I loved the idea of a queer centred anthology of spooky stories for Halloween time! I'd say that some of these stories scratched the itch and some made me roll my eyes.

That said, they are all YA and that's likely my disconnect. Each story was well written just not all to my personal taste.

Here are the thoughts per story.

1. Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia - This was okay it would have made for a really excellent movie short, and appreciated the moral of the story but wish a little more went into how the note came to be etc or why she was chosen.

2. The Visitor - expected more out of this one as it was written by Kaylynn Bayron, but it was kind of hokey, and the twist was meh..

3. A Brief Intermission - dig this one, was again slightly hokey to start but very much liked the ending.

4. Guested- This one was pretty creepy, but it was written in the second person and that's pretty tough to pull off.. think this one would make a really cool movie. The rich attend parties where you are "guested" (ie taken over by someone you'd like to be for a night) only.. sometimes the guest doesn't want to leave..

5. Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle oof that was a tough one. and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

6. The Three Phases of Ghost-Hunting - Nope. This one was incredibly lame, not remotely scary, not even interesting.

7. This one was messed up. Dealt with grief, loss, and depression. It was eerie, though I admit I'm a little confused by the ending.. not my fave, but not the worst.

8. Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane - This is another 2nd person perspective, but done better than the other. I really loved this story of a trans man's acceptance of themselves, with magic and time travel!

9. In You to Burn -I guess this one is based on the Chinese story of Nezha and the Fight with the Dragon King over his son, but make it women and a mild love story? wasn't familiar with the original, but this was excellent.

10. Anna-| liked this one! At first an eye roll with yet another Ouija board story, but this one was done well! Little kids make everything creepier.

11. Hey There, Demons - Okay this one was kind of funny/ cute!

12. Save Me from Myself - ooof this was a hard one! Like Freaky Friday but better, but that ending!😭

13. Knickknack - liked the love story in this one, but everything else was kind of lame.

Why wait for Halloween to read some spooky stories? ‘Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror Delight’ is a YA anthology featuring a rare blue moon Halloween night. All things paranormal haunt the variety of queer characters as they try to overcome, endure, or utilize the situation they are in.

By the end of each story, I wanted more! The way queerness was introduced and how well thought-out the plots were despite the short length, left an impression on me. I mean how many other stories have you read where a demon has to choose their pronouns? The endings of every story leaves you wanting a sequel or the story equivalent of an end credit scene.

There is a wide variety of LGBTQ+ and cultural representation that needs to be present in more literature. The inclusion of queer elements are introduced subtly (depending on the story of course) and naturally. Maybe it’s because this anthology is composed by queer authors of colour, but I’ve rarely seen such thorough and imaginative queer moments in horror literature. So reserve this anthology for your Fall reading shelf and be prepared for some spooky tales that will follow you in your dreams.

While all the stories had their spooky scary moments, my absolute favorites were the stories by Kosoko Jackson and Kalynn Bayron for different reason since they handle the queerness of their stories in opposite ways. I cannot wait to revisit this collection when the weather starts feeling like full-moon-on-halloween cool. This is a must read collection.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Night of the Living Queers is a short story anthology collection centering on LGBTQ+ characters on the night of a rare blue moon. It successfully delivers chilling stories that are perfect for a quick Halloween read that isn't too scary. Each of the stories is unique, and some are even a little heartfelt, touching on the topics of young love, growing up, and embracing queerness.

While I personally am not a huge fan of short story collections, I would still recommend Night of the Living Queers to anyone looking to add to their spooky season TBR list.

I received this book for free for an honest review.

Ooo queer love! What great fun this book was! Thank you.

3.5

Like with most short story collections, this was a mixed bag. In general, I found several of the stories forgettable, whether that be because I found something missing from the story or because the tone felt off to me. While this is a Halloween/horror themed collection, I found some of the stories more cozy and heartwarming and just so happened to take place on Halloween.

My favorites were: Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane by Maya Gittelman and Hey There, Demons by Tara Sim. While both of these fell on the more cozy end, I found them to be the more successful short stories to my taste. In Leyla there’s a haunted house with some sci-fi elements and Hey There has a demon who wants to experience humanity.

Honorable mentions:
Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells
A Brief Intermission by Sara Farizan
Save Me From Myself by Ayida Shonibar

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for granting me access to this fantastically frightening anthology! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Do you enjoy a good scare? Then check out Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight! Thirteen queer authors of color have written thirteen short stories starring queer teens of color in magical and frightful mayhem that all takes place on Halloween during a blue moon. Thinking about going into a haunted house for a party? Think again! You want to babysit on Halloween? Better hide the ouija board from the kids!

One of my favorite stories was “Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane” by Maya Gittelman where a teen comes face to face with a magical figure (rumored to have a taste for kidnapping and death) who lives in a seemingly abandoned house. My second favorite story was “Knickknack” by Ryan Douglass and it’s about a teen who must rescue his younger brother from the ghost of a kidnapping clown and is assisted by his crush and several kids in his neighborhood.

There’s a lot of variety in this anthology’s storytelling ranging from new takes on vampires and ghost stories to technological hauntings. Some stories have terrifying conclusions where our main characters don’t make it and others have happy endings. There’s also variety in terms of the races, genders, religious beliefs, and sexualities of our authors and main characters of the stories. This is an excellent collection and we need more like this so queer kids of color can see themselves in scary story survivors (especially considering how characters of color and queer characters are often the first to die in scary stories).

I highly recommend this story collection to horror fans.

5 out of 5 stars!

A fantastic collection of dark, compelling and twisted stories. There is a delight in the examination of monsters, real and imagined. These talented writers entice the reader into a world where queerness is at the forefront, scratching against a background of extraordinary experiences. A highly recommended collection.

Hello, fellow queer here and I gotta say I loved this book. Man am I giving so many positive reviews today. But I just read so many good books lately. I came into this book not knowing what to expect but damn did I come out loving it. It was a good time and I am so happy to have been able to read this ARC.

I am OBSESSED with this anthology. It's so wonderful to have these spooky stories with LGBTQIA+ characters at the center. I especially loved Alex Brown's story. A must reed for horror lovers.