When I got the notification of approval for this book, I'm beyond excitement! Like I'm all sold with the book title and the cover. Growing up in SEA and heard so many things about local folklore "Never Whistle at Night" really stole my curiosity. This book is a collection of several indigenous horror/thriller stories. With several authors working on this book, there are variety of narration styles. Some left me goosebumps and speechless and some left me angry.
Reading folklore/horror stories from different culture is always intriguing me. In the end I always end up researching the things I don't know, and it was so much fun learning about them. Definitely recommended if you want to read short horror stories.

This is probably the best anthology I've read to date. There are 26 stories written by Indigenous authors that range from hauntings, human monsters, the supernatural, etc. Some of these stories are more disturbing than others. I'd advise checking trigger warnings just in case.

I've been introduced to so many new to me authors. I'm definitely looking forward to reading their other work.

Some of my favorite stories were: Kushtuka, White Hills, Navajo Don't Wear Elk Teeth, Quantum, Hunger, Before I Go, Snakes Are Born in the Dark, The Prepper, Sundays, Collections, and Limbs.

The stories in this collection give food for thought. They're heartbreaking and disturbing (Sundays especially). There are stories in here that I'll think about for a long time.

None of the stories in the collection were terrible. Most received 4 stars and above from me. This is truly a great collection that I'd recommend to anyone. Especially those that enjoy dark fiction, horror, thrillers, Stephen Graham Jones (and want to be introduced to more Indigenous authors).

SGJ gave the perfect introduction for these stories. He gives you a taste of what you can expect. "There's scary stuff in stories, sure, there's stuff that keeps you up at night, there's stuff that makes you watch the darkness you're driving through that much closer. But there's hope, too. Just- some nights you have to wade through a lot of blood to get there. So, for these next few pages, let these writers take you by the hand, lead you into the darkness...".

Thank you to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the ARC.

Twenty-six authors deliver unique dark fiction tales in this anthology by and about Indigenous Americans. The stories vary in tone and content. Overtly horrific stories share a collection with sober meditations on the issues faced by Indigenous communities. Horror is subjective, and this anthology provides an opportunity for those outside of these cultures to experience existential terrors: the loss of culture and identity and the ability to live their lives according to the treasured beliefs and values intrinsic to their community. Fear is anything from the man-eating demon of nightmare legends stalking in the night, the avenger of your people who strikes fear in your abusers, an abusive lover or family member, the lack of hope that drives a person to drink or abuse drugs, the devastation wrote by forced assimilation and separation from one’s culture, the illogical and vicious hatred projected at you every day and the way that it destroys your life and soul, and being forced by the invading colonizers to erase everything that makes you who you are—your essential heritage and being.


The writing was extremely high caliber with all the stories While the stories are united by addressing the viewpoint of indigenous people, they are diverse in subject matter as each person is unique in what their experiences are. While Never Whisper at Night is not in any way an easy read, it is an important and valuable anthology using dark fiction and horror themes and tones to tell important stories about real people and real issues. I strongly recommend it to horror, dark fiction, and speculative fiction fans and readers interested in horror stories from the viewpoint of writers from marginalized cultures.

This collection is fantastic. I loved the variety of voices that the authors used, and was drawn in from the first story. I particularly liked the story about the foster kids and how they refused to be cogs in the machine of their foster parents' bullshit,

A great collection of stories. I recommend this one highly. Some hit harder than others, but not a single miss in the batch. A great set of American Native writers.

Never Whistle at Night is my favourite short story anthology of the year so far.

Each story is gorgeously written in a variety of styles, themes, and genres. Many stories address difficult and necessary topics such as colonization, residential school, abuse, and genocide.

But while the anthology challenges the reader, it’s also incredibly entertaining, visceral, and haunting. 

My personal favourite stories were:
- White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse
- The Ones Who Killed Us by Brandon Hobson
- Scariest. Story. Ever. by Richard Van Camp 
- The Scientist’s Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger
- Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala

I recommend this for anyone who enjoys dark literature, horror, and works by Indigenous authors.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for my review copy of this book.

This book captured my heart! A compelling narrative and rich characters made it an absolute joy. I wholeheartedly recommend it to fellow readers!

DNF @55% - You know, I never planned to DNF this. DNF an anthology always seemed pointless to me. However, this has been on my currently reading shelf for two months now, with it being untouched for over a month. I just have to be realistic with myself and just admit I’m probably never going to pick this back up. It’s not a bad anthology by all means, but the stories just didn’t work for me. It has felt like a slog to get through, and I can’t believe I still have a little less than halfway to go. There were some stories in here I really liked, and if I kept reading there might have been more but now we’ll never know.

An unsettling mix of short horror stories. Never Whistle at Night is a great read for horror fans and provides a unique mix of stories written by Native American Authors.

Never Whistle at Night is an amazing anthology, pulling together authors with a variety of styles. No two horror fans are going to like the same kind of scare and this anthology does a wonderful job of providing different kinds of scares for those readers. It also provides readers with an introduction to each author, whose other works they can dive into once they are finished with this book. I would recommend this book to all horror fans and those that think they are ready to give horror a try.

Never Whistle at Night :An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. features twenty-six stories written by indigenous authors. Surrealism and the supernatural, indigenous folklore, traditions, beliefs, racism, legacy and generational trauma are only a few of the themes that are explored in this collection of “dark” fiction. I wouldn’t describe the vibe of these stories as nightmare-inducing but more than a few will leave you feeling unsettled and pondering over what you just read. Do take your time with these stories as they are heavy reads despite the short length.

My ratings for the individual stories are as follows:

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


As with most anthologies, some of the stories were more impactful than others but overall, with strong writing, vivid imagery, and superb storytelling this is an impressive collection of stories that I would not hesitate to recommend to fans of indigenous fiction that tends towards darker themes. I also enjoyed the Foreword written by Stephen Graham Jones which gives us insight into the theme behind the collection.

Many of the authors whose works featured in this collection were new to me and I’m glad for the opportunity to have been introduced to their work. I look forward to reading more from these talented writers in the future.

Finally, I love the cover art!

Many thanks to Penguin Random House and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Never Whistle at Night is an anthology of short stories written by indigenous authors. The majority of the stories are horror, though some might be better described as magical realism or thrillers. All sorts of monsters stalk the pages of these stories - white men and wendigos, racist mother-in-laws and professors that collect trophies of "diverse" students. Like with all anthologies, I enjoyed some of these stories more than others. All in all, this was a fabulous, spooky collection - perfect for long winter nights. I love the realness of stories where the horror is oppression and this collection had a lot of that, sometimes with a mystical twist.

Highly recommended!

Thanks so much to Shane Hawk & Penguin Random House for this ARC through NetGalley! Never Whistle at Night is available now.

I really enjoyed NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT. I had a fantastic time reading a few stories a day from this collection, each very different from the one prior. I recognized a number of the authors, but there are quite a few new names to me that are adding to my 'authors to watch' list! The stories mix real life horror with the paranormal and fantastical, blending dark and creepy with a lot of great twists! Some stories called to me a bit more than others, but I enjoyed all of them in this collection.

Loved all the stories, so well written and such a spooky atmospheric vibe. I loved learning about indigenous culture and lore. Great anthology!

Never Whistle at Night has become one of my most favorite anthologies EVER. There’s so much packed into this, so many different topics and just about every sub-genre of horror you could ever want. I enjoyed the changes in tone between stories, it never felt monotonous to me. I highly recommend it and will be revisiting this one in the future. Thanks to Vintage Anchor Books for my eARC. Never Whistle at Night is available now.

An excellent anthology of dark fiction. I was expecting more science fiction and fantasy than horror, but was pleasantly surprised when most of the stories had some sort of horror element attached to them. Many of the stories verged on realism with supernatural storytelling aspects intertwined ever so slightly. Oftentimes, the characters use scary stories to cope with the horrors of everyday life (abuse, poverty, mental illness, racism). Other times, the supernatural is front and center. Stephen Graham Jones wrote a brilliant forward that left the reader in the right mindset to begin this anthology.

Some of my favorite stories are:
Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons
Snakes are Born in the Dark D.H. Trujillo
Scariest. Story. Ever.- Richard Van Camp
The Prepper by Morgan Talty
Sundays- David Heska Wanbli Weiden

This collection was such a treat! Each story was so distinct and reflected each author’s voice, yet contributed to a unified whole.
This book is perfect for to reading aloud around a fire on a chilly, dark night.

This collection of short stories had me absolutely engrossed. Each story is a wonderfully bite sized morsel of terror to be consumed rapidly and with abandon. I’d recommend this to anyone that loves a story with a dark fantasy twist and atmospheric vibes. I can’t wait to give this to my mother for Christmas!

Out of (I believe) 26 stories, I gave 13 of them a 4 star rating or above (5 stars x 6, 4.5 stars x 2, 4 stars x 5), and only 4 stories received anything below a 3 star rating. That's a pretty solid collection in my opinion. It's always difficult to rate collections, especially when they are written by many different authors with different writing styles. Obviously there will always be some stories you like more than others, but all in all this was really enjoyable, and it finally got me to read (and FINISH) a book again.

Never Whistle at Night by Shane Hawk is a captivating and thought-provoking collection of short stories that delves into the darkness that resides within the human psyche. Each story in this protagonist, Jack Pansay, is a complex and deeply flawed character whose descent into darkness is both tragic and compelling. Hawk's exploration of Pansay's ill-fated flirtation with Mrs Keith-Wessington is captivating, as he deftly captures the collection is a masterclass in storytelling, with Hawk's writing skillfully luring the reader into a mesmerizing realm where reality and the supernatural intertwine seamlessly.Hawk's atmospheric descriptions are vivid and evocative, creating an immersive reading experience that allows the reader to feel as if they are a part of the haunting worlds he has created. The protagonist, Jack Pansay, is a complex and deeply flawed character whose descent into darkness is both tragic and compelling. Hawk's exploration of Pansay's ill-fated flirtation with Mrs Keith-Wessington is captivating, as he deftly captures the emotional turmoil and ambiguity that accompanies forbidden love.