I generally don't read a lot of short story collections or anthologies but this one was particularly up my alley. I love dark and weird fiction and this dredged up my prior interest in various mythologies. Pulling from a wide range of cultures and beliefs, this anthology unites readers under a common experience: fear. But also family, and struggle, and perseverence. These aren't your typical ghost stories around the fire. These are well fleshed out stories that will grip you and maybe you'll learn something new about a cultural belief you didn't know about.

I just couldn't get into the stories - but I think it's because I don't generally love short stories. I always find myself wanting more from them or feeling like I missed some important details.

A really enjoyable anthology from a perspective I've seen too little of. Lots of surprises, suspense and spookiness. I highly recommend this book.

3.5/4 stars

I was really excited when I was granted this on NetGalley. It took a bit longer than I'd like to get to it, and once I had, it was a tougher read than I expected. This is a collection full of indigenous horror writers, many you've likely heard of and many you have not.

As a collection highlighting Indigenous voices, this works really well because it is a such a huge breadth of styles ideas, many themes intersecting but each being unique. This is both the collections greatest strength and its greatest weakness. You are sure to leave this book with new authors who you'll be eager to read more, but there will also be plenty who likely aren't your cup of tea.

At least, that is the my experience. There are really high highs but also a lot of meh stories. It made it hard to push through the collection. That said, I think it is worth your time because there is certain to be a lot of good mixed in there, regardless of what your personal tastes will be. Hopefully, it'll leave you with plenty of new authors and books to read. I definitely did for me.

I am not usually a fan of short story collections but this was great! A lot of culture and ties between systemic abuse and horror. Some stories better than others but over a solid collection.

This is a wonderfully written and crafted collection of various Indigenous culture's legends. I never knew that so many various cultures had legends warning people not to whistle at night. This anthology is equal parts entertaining and informative and a perfect book for anyone interested in folklore.

Mysterious, spooky, creepy tales from some well-known and should-be-well-known indigenous authors were delightful bites. The variety of Indigenous cultures made for some common threads as well as some unique takes.

Recommending for acquisition for High School library.

I’m not usually a short story girl but couldn’t resist this line up! It was fun and unique, perfect for a story a day during spooky season!

The book is a collection of short stories tied to Indigenous folklore and beliefs. As an Indigenous woman I enjoyed seeing the variety of beliefs and the type of story telling used by the different authors. If you are a person who enjoys the art of story telling and are looking for some spooky stories, this is the book for you.

This collection of short stories was decent. The first few stories managed to hook me, but as I progressed, I slowly lost interest. About a third of the way through, I switched to the audiobook, hoping it would be easier to consume while gaming. But I found myself zoning out most of the time. I had high hopes for this collection, but it seems that short story anthologies may just not be my cup of tea. Most of the stories failed to hold my attention.

A fun read with a wide range of topics, approaches to story telling and more. Because of the nature of an anthology, I had a hard time getting into it but I still enjoyed the read. If you're a lover of clever, interesting short stories that feel different and diverse - highly recommend

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!

Never Whistle at Night is an excellent anthology full of high quality spooky stories. This is a great way to discover your next favourite (or dozen favourite) Indigenous authors but it also stands on its own as an exceptional series of stories.

Never Whistle at Night is a fun and fascinating look into lore through a fictionalized lens. The stories are spine chilling and combine culture and commentary in a delightful way. I also absolutely love the cover design, it is a stunning addition to a bookshelf.

Never Whistle at Night is a solid collection of unsettling fiction. It introduced me to some authors I’m eager to read more from. It shows horror from the perspectives of Indigenous people of different backgrounds and from a wide variety of kinds from realistic to fantastic. Highly recommended.

I struggle to give feedback for Never Whistle at Night as it’s a collection of stories by different authors. Some of them were very well done and others I wasn’t as much of a fan of.

If you are interested to learn more about Indigenous folklore I do highly recommend checking it out! I actually bought myself a hard copy version for my shelf.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

2⭐️ BUT ONLY BECAUSE THE BOOK WASN’T FOR ME PERSONALLY, not because it wasn’t well written. If you’re looking for something unsettling, this is for you.

I found this book incredibly unsettling - which was the point! And while I like a good thriller/horror, this one was just too unsettling for me. I think it was because many of the stories were so close to - or were - horrors that could and do happen in real life often, or at least were very close to real life situations. Somehow even the most outlandish things that happened in these stories felt so much like they could happen that I was both impressed and horrified! I prefer my darker reads to feel a bit more removed from reality - which is exactly what this compilation of stories was trying to do the opposite of. It evens talks about this in the opening, but I wanted to give it a go and see if it was something I’d like. So if you’re like me, know that this will unsettle you. But if you are looking for that feeling, this may be the book for you!

The low rating is simply to reflect my personal enjoyment of this book and to inform others that may feel they may have the same reaction. The writing was great and it tells you it was going to be unsettling in the opening, so five stars for nailing it in that regard!

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

- Beautiful cover art
- Powerful and diverse stories that i devoured.
- Each story was good in it's own right.
- So very well written.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this before publication.

What a fantastic collection of stories! I started this last year but it got sidelined for a cross-country move and job change and I had a hard time picking it back up again solely because of how excited I was to return, because my goofy brain was telling me that if I don't finish it, then it never ends!

I am a sucker for a themed collection of short stories, especially horror. Never Whistle at Night collects horror fiction with indiginous themes and written by indigineous authors. I don't think writers should be strictly limited to writing within their own experiences but collections like this show the importance of supporting writers who chose to do so, especially writers from minority groups traditionally under-represented or lacking in "mainstream popularity" (see: Capgras by Tommy Orange in this collection).

The horror in the featured stories aren't just monsters, spirits, or homicidal assholes - it's historical atrocities, racial tension, self-hate, microaggressions, theft of culture, erasure of history, assault, etc The stories vary between misanthropic, forlorn, and hostile for the most part as the writers share the generational trauma they or their friends, families, and loved ones have endured... which does make some of these stories hard to read. I don't know if it was intentional but I feel like most of the gut-wrenching ones are in the second half, if that better prepares more sensitive readers.

So, as a lover of anthologies and thus reader of many reviews of anthologies, I love it when reviewers highlight a few gems or duds. I swear I'm honest in saying this book has NO duds. Not a one. Each of these stories is a banger, truly, but here are a few of my faves:

Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller - the first story in the book, and it's a strong one set in the far north featuring a young woman who encounters a mythological creature while in another, different but just as terrifying, situation. (MMIWG - Missing and Murdered Indigineous Women and Girls day is May 5th but is a cause that we should all be thinking of year-round. https://lakotalaw.org/news/2020-05-01/mmiw-resource-guide)

Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons - about young man with questionable taste in other young men, this one gave me serious heebie jeebies and had me sitting in my seat wanting to yell at the MC!

Snakes Are Born in the Dark by D.H. Trujillo - a fantastic Goosebumps, a classic dumb-ass teens messing with shit they don't understand and shouldn't be messing with! Totally gross and totally fun lol

Night in the Chrysalis - a spooky haunted dollhouse story reminiscent of one of my favorite Are You Afraid of the Dark stories (take a guess which one lol). Also, just a fan of Tiffany Morris.

Scariest. Story. Ever. by Richard Van Camp - just a very satisfying read, and not in the way you'd expect.

Night Moves by Andrea L. Rogers - werewolves!! so fun, classic, love it

Capgras by Tommy Orange - about a writer lost in translation.

The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger - a decent scary story and then the actual scariest story ever. "Her friends didn't respond, instead choosing to drink." Me to, friends, me to.

Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala - Terrifying. Jordan Peele approved.

Time well spent! I am still sad that I've finished it tho :(

This is a hauntingly amazing collection of stories. I love when we get to read lore from someone's culture and the interpretations of those monsters. If you heard it, no you didn't. If you saw it, no you didn't. Walk quickly, don't run.

This is the book I wanted to love, tried telling myself I loved it every time I came across a better story, but in the end had to confess that it wasn't a success for me. Every once in a while there would be a story that piqued my interest or intrigued me, but those high points weren't high enough. The low points were so very low. The overall feeling of the collection was just meh. I wanted so much more, and I've read from some of these authors and felt so, so much more.