Unfortunately, this is a DNF for me at 42%, I have seen a lot of rave reviews for this book, and it definitely isn’t a bad book, it just isn’t for me. I did enjoy some of the stories in this one, but overall was not enjoying the book enough to continue.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Never Whistle At Night is an indigenous dark fiction anthology. I haven't read many anthologies so on that aspect I enjoyed that I could sit down and read one story and then pick it up later on for something completely different.

The content was as described, dark, but I thought each story was so well written, and well thought out. Some of them will stay with me for a long time, especially Quantum by Nick Medina. It absolutely horrified me, but made such a clear point with what it had to say.

As other reviews have mentioned there are a lot of triggers through this collection but it's hard to mention them all as each story contains something different.

It is a fantastic, and thought provoking read and I would definitely recommend it!

This story collection was SO much fun and so very spooky!

I read Shane Hawk's book, Anoka, years ago and really liked it. I was excited to start this collection of stories, knowing it was in his creative and talented hands.

My favorite story in this collection was White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse. Admittedly, I may be a bit biased, as I really enjoyed Roanhorse's Black Sun series.

Highly recommend for horror fans! :)

MY REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
👉 A star-studded anthology of indigenous dark fiction?!?!??!? So many of my favs are featured in this one… and so many new favs 👀
👉 Not all of these stories are horror (so you won't be TOO scared) but, woof, every single one sure was unsettling.
👉 If you need spooky reads for spooky season, this is THE book--And the perfect place to find spooky authors to check out after you're done.
👉 This might a contender for favorite book of the year!!

A fascinating and solid collection of short stories from indigenous authors. I really enjoyed the dark/horror themes within the stories and the basis in native folklore. I also greatly appreciate the mini author bio included at the end of each story, very helpful in introducing me to new authors! My personal favorites from this collection were: Quantum by Nick Medina, Snakes Are Born in the Dark by D.H. Trujillo, and The Prepper by Morgan Talty. I would highly recommend this!

Never Whistle at Night is an incredible anthology on every level, from the contributor list to the diversity of settings, times, and tribes represented, to optimistic endings and not. These pages are steeped in the pain of generational trauma, injustices past and present, yes, but they also offer rich folklore, loving family bonds, unique perspectives, and all channel the magic of telling a good story. While I wish I could note every line, every syllable that struck me, that would make my review longer than the book, so I will highlight some of the most memorable tales.

Rebecca Roanhorse's offering, "White Hills", is a nightmarish examination of the cost of assimilation in a society of bleach-blonde influencers and pricy HOAs.

In Conley Lyons' "Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth", young, queer Native Joe resists his living space, body and his very identity being colonized all over again.

Body horror is at its most satisfyingly horrific in D.H. Trujillo's "Snakes Are Born in the Dark", warning those who disrespect sacred spaces.

One of my favorites was "Before I Go" by Norris Black, a melancholy, romantic and cautionary tale of maintaining order and letting the dead leave us properly.

"Dead Owls" by Mona Susan Power is my absolute favorite, though, a grim reminder of the harm othering can cause. A young girl is pulled into a dark dreamscape, an intersection of American atrocities where the past can hurt you in more ways than one. A bittersweet end to this one really tugged at my heart.

Amber Blaeser-Wardzala takes the term "dark academia" to the next level in the chilling "Collections".

A stunning conclusion, "Limbs" by Waubgeshig Rice, employs amazing imagery and ends this collection with a satisfying display of environmental vengeance.

Equal parts unsettling and satisfying, this anthology was everything I hoped it would be, and more. There is incredible writing in here, every story coming vividly to life in my reader's mind.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Stephen Graham Jones' introduction, the late night storytelling tone of which was perfect to lure readers into the dark.

The cover is also absolutely gorgeous.

As with any anthology with multiple authors, I found that I enjoyed some stories more than others. That being said, I think this is one of the best anthologies that I have read. It was also a huge plus to read stories that were written by a wide variety of indigenous (North American) writers. It was also not surprising that nearly every story gave a nod (or more) to the atrocities perpetrated on the indigenous peoples of this continent by the European colonizers.

I heard a joke the other day by an Irish comedian who said that people keep asking why Brexit took so long. The answer was, of course, because it always takes the English a hell of a long time to get out of anywhere they have colonized. There is probably not a continent on this planet that hasn't felt the effects of European colonizers.

Back to the book--some truly creepy stories gathered here! I read this through NetGalley but I am absolutely going to have to get a hard copy for my bookshelf. I really, really enjoyed it.

Never Whistle at Night is a collection of Indigenous dark fiction from twenty six authors including Darcie Little Badger, Tommy Orange, Rebecca Roanhorse as well as its editors Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr and is the perfect book as we head into spooky season. There is a huge variety in the types of stories being told, which means that there will almost certainly be something to appeal to every reader, and each of the stories is short enough to read in fifteen minutes or less, but I found so many that kept me thinking about them for much longer. Some of the stories in this book are among the most genuinely unsettling I have come across in all my years as a reader. As with any collection of stories, especially an anthology featuring so many different authors, some stories were more to my liking than others. The stories range from traditional horror with ghosts, zombies and were wolves as well as creatures like the Kushtuka, a shapeshifting creature that takes on the shape of someone you love to lure you away, to stories featuring the monstrous nature of humanity and the darkness that people can carry inside.
There were so many wonderful and thought provoking stories in the book that I could not possibly go through them all here but for me particular highlights included :
Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons which focused on a more human monster
Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau which felt really rooted in an oral storytelling tradition
Scariest Story Ever by Richard Van Camp which I liked because of its hopeful ending
Collections by Amber Blaeser- Wardzala , a story so strong in its visuals that I could see it being adapted for film or television.

The book is described as a " celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination" and I hope that many many people will pick it up and share in that celebration because this is a book that deserves to be shouted about from the rooftops.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I loved the premise of indigenous horror fiction. I haven't read too much of it and I’m not sure about the mythology, so seeing that in all different eyes is always fun. Seeing everyone’s different experiences is the best part of a multiple author collection. There’s not one one to do horror, and this collection knocks it out of the park I also love the different ranges of horror. While we get body horror and general discomfort in stories, they come with a deeper meaning. Whether you like horror, fantasy, or just darker fiction in general, I highly suggest this collection. There’s so many different authors and while I wasn’t familiar with most of them, I love seeing new names and learning who I should read next!

I absolutely loved every story in this anthology. They were nerve-wracking, beautiful, and horrifying. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to take a trip into the world of Indigenous horror.

This anthology of dark stories written by and including Indigenous people is great. The stories are creative and unsettling with unique elements of folklore, culture, and perspectives. I loved working my way through the work of the various authors.

The first two stories Kushtuka, a supernatural revenge type of story and White Hills, a terribly chilling short story, both stood out a lot to me. Other stories, like Quantum, provide insight into reservation culture through a horror tinged view and was both interesting and unsettling in delivery. I loved it.

This book has been one of my most anticipated on my TBR.
I'm eternally grateful for NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I genuinely stayed awake through the night last night to read this - the birds were chirping when I realized I needed to get ready for work.
This series of short-stories FAR EXCEEDED my expectations (and they were quite high to begin with); Each story was enveloping, dynamic, and enthralling. Each one was creepy in its own way, and provided a desperately needed peek into the legends of the indigenous culture that surrounds us.

I'd recommend this to ANYONE who enjoys spooky stories; and I'll be revisiting this collection frequently through the fall and winter months this year!!

This collection of short stories was an excellent reminder to never whistle at night. Every story was deeply unsettling in unique ways.

This book felt like sitting around the campfire with some of the best indigenous writers of our time. Each of the stories offered a new horrific vision of things that go bump in the night, and even some things you didn’t know you needed to be afraid of during the day. A few of these stories have lingered around me and leave a haunting haze. The stand outs for me were: Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth, Quantum, Snakes Are Born in the Dark, The Prepper, Collections and Limbs. This entire collection was expertly curated and featured heavily emotional stories, laced with a history of oppression and violence, as well as stories based on traditions and folklore. You can tell that every writer in this book took everything they had and put it into the stories they wrote. I enjoyed the full range of stories offered in this book so that you could go from a tale of body horror to a story that feels like a modern urban legend. I recommend this book for bite sized doses of spooky season fun.

Never Whistle at Night was FANTASTIC. I don't mean to yell, but I had such high hopes for this anthology and it really lived up to my expectations. As someone with minimal knowledge of indigenous folklore and stories, this captured my attention immediately. This is a stay up late, read until your eyes won't stay open book. I picked this up while I was quite busy, so I didn't get to read it nearly as quickly as I would have liked, but I guess that was to my benefit because I was able to enjoy and reflect on each story individually. I would love to see a second installment in a few years.

Read this and tell your friends about!

Average Overall Rating: ★ 3.5 / 5

If you're looking for the perfect spooky anthology this autumn season, look no further than this spectacular *yet horrific* collection. A TON of these stories sent endless shivers down my spine to the point where I was jumping at every creak or shuffle in my apartment.

✧ Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller ★ 4 / 5
✧ White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse ★ 4.5 / 5
✧ Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons ★ 5 / 5
✧ Wingless by Marie R. Rendon ★ 3.5 / 5
✧ Quantum by Nick Medina ★ 4 / 5
✧ Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau ★ 3 / 5
✧ Tick Talk by Cherie Dimaline ★ 4 / 5
✧ The Ones Who Killed Us by Brandon Hobson ★ 2 / 5
✧ Snakes Are Born in the Dark by D. H. Trujillo ★ 3.5 / 5
✧ Before I Go by Norris Black ★ 4.25 / 5
✧ Night in the Chrysalis by Tiffany Morris ★ 3.25 / 5
✧ Behind Colin's Eyes by Shane Hawk ★ 3 / 5
✧ Heart-Shaped Clock by Kelli Jo Ford ★ 2.75 / 5
✧ Scariest. Story. Ever. by Richard Van Camp ★ 4.5 / 5
✧ Human Eaters by Royce K. Young Wolf ★ 3.5 / 5
✧ The Longest Street in the World by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. ★ 2.5 / 5
✧ Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power ★ 4.25 / 5
✧ The Prepper by Morgan Talty ★ 2 / 5
✧ Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning by Kate Hart ★ 1.5 / 5
✧ Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden ★ 3.5 / 5
✧ Eulogy for a Brother, Resurrected by Carson Faust ★ 4.5 / 5
✧ Night Moves Andrea L. Rogers ★ 3.25 / 5
✧ Capgras by Tommy Orange ★ 3.75 / 5
✧ The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger ★ 3 / 5
✧ Collections by Amber Blaeser-Warzala ★ 4.25 / 5
✧ Limbs by Waubgeshig Rice ★ 3.5 / 5

I rated these stories with a variety of elements: horror, interest, writing style, and overall "enjoyement"—or as much enjoyment as one can have from a horror story. The higher ratings specifically left an impact on me to the point where I could not get them out of my head for hours, days. A lot of times the familial aspects of these stories like in Eulogy for a Brother, Resurrected left a particular ache in my heart, or ones like Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth made me physically gag and have to stop reading for the rest of that day. A lot of the three stars were stories where I wanted more from the story; it felt like it should've been a novel rather than a short story because I needed more time with the characters, world building, etc.

When I first saw this anthology available on Netgalley I JUMPED on it. Not only because I’m always down to read Indigenous stories, but because I grew up with my mother always telling me never to whistle at night because it would “invite the snakes” into the house. I’d scoffed at these silly South Asian superstitions as a kid but have learned to value them as an adult, and I was thrilled to learn that other Indigenous cultures also hold the same superstitions! As with all storytelling, sharing values and themes forge a deep sense of kinship between people and I felt the same with the stories in this anthology. The horror elements are both shocking and gruesome, and I loved how each region-specific story encompassed the local folklore. The stories are “unsettling” in both fright and might by centering colonial violence as the impetus for evil.

I’d recommend Never Whistle at Night for folks who value Indigenous perspectives, are comfortable with critical thinking, and would investigate things that go bump in the night.

NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT ANTHOLOGY
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Foreword by Stephen Graham Jones

Stories:

Kushtuka- Mathilda Zeller

White Hills- Rebecca Roanhorse

Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth- Conley Lyons

Wingless- Marcie R. Rendon

Quantum- Nick Medina

Hunger- Phoenix Boudreau

Tick Talk- Cherie Dimaline

The Ones Who Killed Us- Brandon Hobson

Snakes Are Born in the Dark- D. H. Trujillo

Before I Go- Norris Black

Night in the Chrysalis- Tiffany Morris

Behind Colin's Eyes- Shane Hawk

Heart-Shaped Clock- Kelli Jo Ford

Scariest. Story. Ever.- Richard Van Camp

Human Eaters- Royce K. Young Wolf

The Longest Street in the World- Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Dead Owls- Mona Susan Power

The Prepper- Morgan Talty

Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning- Kate Hart

Sundays- David Heska Wanbli Weiden

Eulogy for a Brother, Resurrected- Carson Faust

Night Moves- Andrea L. Rogers

Capgras- Tommy Orange

The Scientist's Horror Story- Darcie Little Badger

Collections- Amber Blaeser-Wardzala

Limbs- Waubgeshig Rice

Of course, Stephen Graham Jones kicks things off by telling us a story, but it’s not his story. It’s the framework of a tale told by Joeseph M. Marshall III with a Dr. Jones horror spin on it. Jones tells us,

“Generally speaking, Indians are pretty nervous about possession narratives, since those are more or less stories about a body being colonized, which we know a thing or two about…”

I never thought about demon possession from that perspective. Now that I know how Jones sees it–why possession horror is so terrifying for him and Indigenous peoples, it will stay with me for the rest of my life. That viewpoint. That context. Which is why anthologies like this one are so important. Horror is told collectively from voices different than my own. And at the end of his foreword is an invitation that I took seriously,

“So for these next pages, let these writers take you by the hand, lead you into the darkness at the heart of–let me put some quotation marks around it– “America”.”

And then a warning,

“Just don’t look back at your footprints,

Best to not look back at all, really.”

26 wildly varied tales from Indigenous North American authors dealing with a wide range of horror tropes and sociological themes. Colonization, gender roles, harmful stereotypes, and evolving generational perspectives are woven into modern stories of legend and lore, supernatural or paranormal activity, and plenty of creature features. There are triggers galore here so if you have a specific CW you want, just ask me.

I enjoyed that the TOC features storytellers I have read before, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Morgan Talty, Shane Hawk, Rebecca Roanhorse, and Nick Medina as well as new names–their stories serve as an introduction to their work. I found so many authors to add to my “to buy” list.

I’m not sure if the editors curated the order of the stories but my reading experience was affected by some of the more jarring transitions. The fluidity of tone was a bit of an issue. I developed reader fatigue jumping in and out of moods for each story. This can happen when the theme is very broad as opposed to a more specific theme, topic, or sub-genre.

At one point, there were three, heavy, emotionally taxing stories in a row and then a gory body horror tale. I remember thinking that was a rough transition. Emotionally, I wasn’t ready for that, so I did take a lot of breaks and picked up other books while reading one or two stories at a time. That’s my recommendation, just a few here and there.

Some of my favorite stories, Kushtuka- Mathilda Zeller, White Hills- Rebecca RoanhorseNavajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth- Conley Lyons, Wingless- Marcie R. Rendon, Quantum- Nick Medina, Hunger- Phoenix Boudreau, Tick Talk- Cherie Dimaline, Dead Owls- Mona Susan Power, Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning- Kate Hart, Sundays- David Heska Wanbli Weiden and Limbs- Waubgeshig Rice

Tough to review a collection so varied, though I love how another reviewer notes that while some of these stories were brief and most had open endings, they all feel intentional and full. For a dark fiction collection I did expect to be scared a little more often than I actually was while reading, but this anthology definitely delivers on the uncomfortable scale. Often told with mostly deft social commentary, <b>this collection runs the complete gamut of trigger / content warnings</b> and should be begun with that knowledge, imo. Overall so interesting and enlightening into many different beliefs of so many indigenous cultures, recommended for anyone who is interested in reading about the darker side of life, hard truths, and self examination.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley and Vintage Books / Penguin Random House for an eARC of this book. 🙏🏼</i>

I love a good anthology, and this one did not dissapoint! All of the stories were entertaining and kept me reading page after page. Multiple styles of writing and themes, which worked really well together. I was dissapointed when these stories were over because they were all so good. Perfect for the spooky time of year.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of Never Whistle at Night.