Never Whistle at Night
Compiled and edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Last Jr.

This collection of twenty-six short stories provides an interesting and different look at some issues I have never thought about. In reading through reviews of this work I found that some reviewers were able to relate to more of the stories than other readers and some readers were unable to relate much at all. Most went into reading believing the stories would be scary, horror stories, or put them on edge – some did, and some didn’t, in my opinion.

The stories that had the biggest impact on me were:
* KASHTUKA by Mathilda Zeller in which a young woman is pushed by her mother to go with someone she doesn’t want to be with to cook and help with a party. A ghost/scary story is told briefly and seems to allow a Kashtuka to materialize and kill a few people – the twist at the end was a grabber indeed.
* WHITE HILLS by Rebecca Roanhorse looks at what a woman might do to maintain a better quality of life than she was raised in. I hated Marissa’s mother-in-law and husband and really questioned the decision she made at the end of the story.
* SNAKES ARE REBORN IN THE DRAK by D.H. Trujillo’s story brought in a bit of magic and touch of horror while talking about respecting and honoring ancient wall/cave paintings.
* BEFORE I GO by Norris Black dealt with grief and loss and made me hope I never run into Mother Night.
* DEAD OWLS by Mona Susan Power is a cold story with ghostly encounters that I hope to never experience myself.
* NAVAJOS DON’T WEAR ELK TEETH by Conley Lyons was dark and disturbing with a main character I wanted to shake and tell to spend time with someone else…someone safer, less abusive, and better for him…that had a darker ending too.
* WINGLESS by Marcie R. Rendon dealt with two boys in a foster care situation no child should find themselves in. I cringe thinking about that story and hoped at the end they both found a brighter future somewhere somehow.

There were a LOT of stories and though I couldn’t relate to all of them, the stories above were the ones that stood out the most to me and will linger longer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group for the ARC – this is my honest review.

4 Stars

This anthology is a wonderful collection of emerging and established Indigenous authors, Dark, horrific, and thought-provoking, each story is individual but works well as a collection. Never Whistle at Night has introduced me to multiple authors that I want to read more from, and genuinely has no duds!

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Indigenous People's Day then by spreading the word about this fantastic anthology authored by an all-star list of Indigenous writers both well known and new-to-me. Never Whistle at Night is a collection of twenty-six indigenous dark fiction short stories ranging from supernatural to dark contemporary.

To say that I enjoyed this book is an understatement. I devoured this Horror Anthology which features Indigenous authors. There needs to be more collections like this out there. I enjoyed the take that each author had for their story and a lot of them had me rethinking so many things that I thought I knew regarding the subgenres in Horror.

What I enjoyed about this anthology is that the reader can read it multiple ways. You can choose to read it cover to cover in the order that is in the table to contents, or you can pick and choose. I choose that second option and loved every minute of it. This may be a dark fiction anthology, but it also brings into light other sociological topics such as gender roles, colonization, stereotypes, etc. Some of these stories may scare the crap out of you but all of them will get you thinking.

Absolutely loved this collection! There is a little something for everyone here and I have found some new authors and I look forward to reading more of their work!

These stories will stick in your mind and haunt you in the small hours. Incredibly creepy collection of tales from Indigenous authors. Some are contemporary twists on old tales, and some are new, modern, and all the more twisted for it.

“𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘶𝘱 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘶𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘴.”- 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝗮 𝗦𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿

I really love folklore and when I saw this Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology was coming out, I knew I would have to read it! I really enjoyed all the different types of monsters and creatures, and the history from a culture not my own.

There are 3 stories that stood out for me:

𝓚𝓾𝓼𝓱𝓽𝓾𝓴𝓪 by 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗮 𝗭𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿- a mom who wants her daughter to marry rich and a mistress of the underworld

𝓗𝓾𝓷𝓰𝓮𝓻 by 𝗣𝗵𝗼𝗲𝗻𝗶𝘅 𝗕𝗼𝘂𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂- A Wehtigo, an ancient creature that feeds on humans and takes over a body to hunt

𝓑𝓮𝓯𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓘 𝓖𝓸 by 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗸
“𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵, 𝘸𝘦𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘴𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘱𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯.”
A girls fiancé dies ofter falling off a cliff, and she goes back on the one year anniversary

I also enjoyed Quantum by Nick Medina, Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power and Eulogy for a Brother, Resurrected by Carson Faust. I did DNF some stories and thought some were “ok.” Overall I give the collection ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫.

This review is very overdue but I read the anthology of short stories by indigenous writers, NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT edited by Shane Hawk last year and REALLY loved the majority of the stories in between these pages.

There are many themes throughout these stories but Folk Horror (Kustuka, Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth, Hunger, Snakes Are Born in the Dark, Night of the Chrysalis, Scariest Story Ever), Grief Horror (Sundays, The Prepper, The Ones Who Killed Us, Tick Talk) and Social Horror (White Hills, Wingless, Quantum), I would say are the most common subgenres/themes. I read some excellent stories by some favorite authors, but also discovered three exciting new voices to me including Matilda Zeller, Phoenix Boudreau, and Conley Jones all whose work I will be watching for in the future.

This is one of my favorite anthologies I have read to date and if you like horror and folklore, especially that from the indigenous diaspora, you should most definitely pick this one up!

Thank you to the author, @netgalley and the publishers, @vintageanchorbooks /@penguinrandomhouse for the e-ARC.

Do you often read anthologies or short stories? If so, do you have any favorites?

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I thought this book was overall pretty good! Like with all short story collections, some of the the stories are better or stick with you more. I enjoyed my time with this book. I sadly did not finish the book as I was trying to read it during a bad reading slump. It is on my list of books to finish this year as I know it will be one I like

this was just an okay read for me. maybe i'm not one for short story collection. i hate giving anything other than good reviews to books i get to approved for but none of the stories particularly stood out to me.

Harrowing. That's the best way I can describe this anthology. The lerfect intersection of cultural/generational trauma and horror.

It should come with heavy trigger/content warnings for sexual violence as well as physical violence.

An anthology of twenty-six stories by Indigenous authors that are each unique and deeply disturbing. I rarely read short stories, but I loved that this book introduced me to so many Indigenous authors and also deepened by appreciation for the art of storytelling.

My favorites from this collection included -
- Quantum by Nick Medina
- Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau
- The Ones Who Killed Us by Brandon Hobson
- Before I Go by Norris Black
- The Prepper by Morgan Talty
- Eulogy for a Brother, Resurrected by Carson Faust
- The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger
- Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala

Masterful, beautiful woven folklore that binds our conscious and behavior to..what if.. I loved this book. I can write so much more, but the surprises are right in the pages.

I knew it would happen one day… I would give an anthology five stars! Yes there are lessor stories in here; maybe three or four. However, the amazing stories more than make up for them. Especially when there are 28 stories included here!!
All kinds of horror are portrayed here. Clever concepts, folklore, myth, colonization, torture, gore, ghosts, monsters and so much more!

Normally I would have notes for each story in this collection but GR seems to be hiding them. So instead I’ll say, go buy this book!!! You will not be disappointed. :)

This book is not just good--the stories and content are essential reading for anyone who loves legends, folklore, history, or culture. That should be just about everyone, right? What I'm saying is that this book should be required reading. One of the best books of 2023, easily, and I'm happy to see it doing so well. I've featured this book in several book group discussions and on library displays, and I'll continue to do so until my whole city has read it.

Wow what a beautifully haunting collection of short stories. Highly recommend diving into this one with the doors locked and all the lights on.

Thank you Penguin Random House for and advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I'm working on a full review for Horror DNA. My time lapsed with my NetGalley copy, so I bought one so I can finish my review from my notes.

I enjoyed it a great deal.

Incredible dark fiction anthology that highlights indigenous authors. This work gave me 'Cursed Bunny' vibes, which was exactly what I was looking for in a fall read. The stories aren't gory, but they do leave you with a sense of unease.

The short story format of this work makes it easy to pick it up and read one or two at a time.

Overall, I recommend this book to people who like: dark fiction, short stories, and folklore.

'Never Whistle at Night' is a collection of stories written by indigenous writers. This anthology contains tales of myths, legends, surrealism, and horror - each writer telling stories in various narratives and styles. It is a work of dark fiction with some stories leaving me shocked and horrified whilst others made me disturbed for reasons I cannot explain. There is so much talent in this collection. Almost every story had me on the edge of my seat, intrigued as to what strange and magical thing would happen next! As with all short story collections, I preferred some tales over others but I feel anyone looking for something dark and unique will find something for them in this book!

Sometimes when you read short story collections there are a few that stand out and many that are subpar. Sometimes the stories blend together and are easy to forget. This is NOT the case with Never Whistle At Night. Every single story has stuck with me since finishing it. So many of them I wanted to stay with and read more of. The stories are creepy and horrific and traumatizing. And they all feature strong condemnations of colonialism. I adored this collection.