I am thrilled to be provided with ARC for Out There Screaming. It’s an edited collection of horror stories by some of the best horror writers of color. Each story has its own unique creepiness and deals with racism and how we deal or don’t deal with the realities of daily life as a person of color in this world. The stands outs were Tananarive Due, Rebecca Roanhorse and N.K. Jemisin. A great addition to the spooky season TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC in exchange for a honest review.

OUT THERE SCREAMING edited by Jordan Peele & John Joeseph Adams

Affiliate Link: https://bookshop.org/a/7576/9780593243794

Release Date: October 3rd, 2023

General Genre: An Anthology of New Black Horror

Sub-Genre/Themes: Supernatural, folklore & legend, social commentary, historical fiction, sci-fi & fantasy, magical realism, straight-up horror, creature-feature, and lots of genre-bending, speculative fiction.

Writing Style: Eclectic mix of voices working together as a curated representation of what modern horror storytelling has to offer

What You Need to Know: Don’t skip the foreword by editor, Jordan Peele (not that anyone would. Or I should say, I can’t imagine anyone would…but it’s profoundly important in understanding the vision for the anthology as a whole)


My Reading Experience:
“A place where you were stripped of all agency and left alone with your struggle. Where you could see life going on around you, but you were essentially a bystander–forgotten.”

“I view horror as catharsis through entertainment.”

“In this collection, nineteen brilliant Black authors give us their ‘Sunken Places’, their oubliettes”

After Peele’s introduction to these stories, I read each one of them with the context of the personal oubliette. I have starred the ones that stood out to me the most

RECKLESS EYEBALLING | N. K. Jemisin
[A cop sees eyes on cars
He’s a real asshole
People he pulls over films him
He’s abusive]

*EYE & TOOTH Rebecca Roanhorse (I loved her story in the Never Whistle at Night anthology)
[Cornfield
Creepy kid-hungry
Old blood
Monster hunters]

WANDERING DEVIL | Cadwell Turnbull
[This was about men who are devils on earth.
"You know, wanderers like us could fall right through the Earth and no one would know where to look. Or even bother.”]

INVASION OF THE BABY SNATCHERS | Lesley Nneka Arimah
[Alien invasion.
Pregnancy
Tried to be humane to the aliens
Now it “how about we just shoot them policy”
People/cults/join the alien race]

THE OTHER ONE | Violet Allen
[I don’t really understand this one. Oglethorpe. The photo of the human heart. ]

*LASIRÈN | Erin E. Adams (Jackal/Read, One of You-coming 2024)
[Haitian Creole
A lady in the water. Steals you if you listen
Their sister turned into a siren]

*THE RIDER| Tananarive Due (The Between, The Good House, Ghost Summer, The Wishing Pool)
[Freedom Rides
On a bus
Detour RECLAMATION SWAMP-reminded me of a couple of stories from Ghost Summer & The Wishing Pool with sundown town vibes. They always scare/disturb me]

THE AESTHETE | Justin C. Key
[The collector and the creator
Pieces of Art
Spectators/sex acts]

PRESSURE | Ezra Claytan Daniels

*DARK HOME Nnedi Okorafor (Remote Control/Read)
[-funeral
-dead father
-a ring
-a secret society
-father’s restaurant
-an entity to get the ring back]

FLICKER | L. D. Lewis
[-global phenomenon
-darkness
-home invasion
-no faces
-bleak
-no escape]

*THE MOST STRONGEST OBEAH WOMAN OF THE WORLD | Nalo Hopkinson (Falling in Love with Hominids- 101 Horror Books to Read Before You’re Murdered)
[-hunting a beast
-MC: Yenderil
-the devil fish changes her
-raw chicken
-tried to kill the fish devil but it grew stronger
-battle of wits & will
-folklore
-like the fish devil, her strongest nature was to get what she wanted, even if that meant pulling others out of their natural stations
-body horror]

THE NORWOOD TROUBLE | Maurice Broaddus ( I saw Maurice speak at the Merrimack Valley Book Festival and he impressed me so much)
[I loved the world building of Norwood and could read a whole book in this universe.
“Everything we needed was in Norwood. Family, friends, food. If there was anything anyone needed but didn’t have, someone in the community provided it. Everyone shared without thinking twice.”]

A GRIEF OF THE DEAD | Rion Amilcar Scott
[I skipped this one. The suicidal ideation, intrusive thoughts, and planning a mass shooting were too much for my mental headspace at the time]

*A BIRD SINGS BY THE ETCHING TREE | Nicole D. Sconiers
[This one was super entertaining/compelling. Roadside killers playing a murderous game
-etching kills
-dead man’s curve
-masks]

AN AMERICAN FABLE | Chesya Burke
[-January 1918
-war
- “ White people’s moods dictated Black people’s lives.”
-racial violence, very disturbing
- “Mama de Agua, The Mother of Water”
- a man protecting a little girl, or her protecting him



YOUR HAPPY PLACE | Terence Taylor
[ - prisoners
The Process (radical prison reform)
slavery/ “brings jobs back to America”
Sort of “Matrix” vibe

*HIDE & SEEK | P. Djèlí Clark (one of my favorite books ever is, Ring Shout)
[ “This is Hide & Seek and it is not a game.”
Young kids with an addict mother
Weird people coming around
“Yeah, magic can be cool. But most times it’s not.”
Heartbreaking (reminds me of On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel) the child neglect
Terrifying ending]

ORIGIN STORY | Tochi Onyebuchi
[wrtten like a screenplay-almost too cringe to read
“Oppression is cool. Being oppressed. You get to claim a marginalization…”
Ugh, this was a tough read


Final Recommendation: I thoroughly enjoyed my journey through this anthology. I’m thankful for the explosion of diversity we’re seeing in modern horror. It’s a wonderful time to be a horror fiction fan. A must-have for any and all horror libraries. I loved reading new stories from my favorite authors here and my introduction to some new-to-me authors.

Comps: The Black Girl Survives in This One: Horror Stories edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell, Never Whistle At Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Rena Mason

Fabulously edited collection from Jordan Peele. There wasn’t a single story that I disliked. I’ll drop my story reviews in a bit, thank you netgalley!

this was everything I needed and more in a horror anthology and one put together by jordan peele? even BETTER. there were a few misses scattered in here but honestly, that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the stories. i’m not a big horror reader but after this i’ll definitely be branching out and picking up some more horror reads similar to these stories/by these same authors!

great book and loved the mystery through out the book. I loved the characters and how they grew through all of their adventures. I enjoyed this book and this author and will check them out again add them to my reading pile.

Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele
Pub date: October 3, 2023

I enjoyed every story in this anthology but Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse was my favorite! These monster hunters stumble upon someone with a secret agenda but they may have a secret of their own. Truly fantastic story.

There’s a lot of fantastic stories that I loved. A rogue cop who see’s evil eyes in others headlights, delivering his own justice but what will he see in his own? A woman breaks all the rules when she takes a token to remember her deceased father. There’s so many! Read or listen to this!

Highly recommend this eclectic collection of horror stories!

My thanks to Random House for this gifted copy

3.5 stars. I wanted to love this collection so much. Who doesn't love Jordan Peele? But this is an anthology, not his direct work. Some works shine brighter than others, and some left me just confused (these stories very well could be brilliant, but I personally don't get them). I do hope we get some kind of sequel so I can discover other black authors whose writing I resonate with!

This is a great collection of horror stories by Black authors. The stories range from futuristic to fantasy with plenty of other genres in between. I love short stories, I find it easy to keep on going and read one more story!

While I'm familiar with many of these authors, there are several that are new to me. I definitely added a few of their books to my wish list!

My favorite story was The Rider by Tenanarive Due. I'm familiar with this author but have not yet read any of her books. That will definitely change in the future! This story is about two sisters trying to meet up with the Freedom Riders during the civil rights movement. In just a few pages Due creates full personalities for these two sisters.

Like many reviewers, I saw Jordan Peele's name (along with other well-known authors) and instantly requested this eARC. While some stories dragged for me, most of them are strong, terrifying, and draw heavily on African mythology and culture for their horror and conventions. Standouts include N.K. Jemison's "Reckless Eyeballing," Rebecca Roanhorse's "Eye and Tooth," Nnedi Okorafor's "Dark Home," L.S. Lewis' "Flicker," and P. Djèlí Clark's "Hide and Seek."

Jordan Peele's mind has always intrigued me, beginning back in Key and Peele. I love his movies and simply knew that a collection of black horror anthologies would blow me away; especially when I saw the line up of authors. There were some stories I liked a lot more than others, but that's typical for a collection of stories, but I never thought any of them were plain bad. I don't think I'm necessarily the target audience for it, but the stories hold such truth and pain. This was phenomenal and Id love to either see another collection of stories or a full novel written by Peele himself.

Content Warnings: racism, body horror, death, murder, addiction, drug use, gore, violence, police brutality, confinement, death of a parent, alcoholism, child abuse, child death, profanity, gun violence, misogyny, suicidal thoughts, mass shooting, pregnancy, car accident

› Reckless Eyeballing by N.K. Jemisin
"Black female, approximately mid-thirties, alone. Driving a hundred-thousand-dollar Tesle? Yeah, Carl would've stopped her regardless."
Sometimes Carl sees eyes instead of headlights. The eyes even blink. He starts pulling over every car with eyes, trying to figure out what they mean.
My rating 3/5

"N(ora). K. Jemisin is a New York Times-bestselling author of speculative fiction short stories and novels, who lives and writes in Brooklyn, NY. In 2018, she became the first author to win three Best Novel Hugos in a row. She has also won a Nebula Award, two Locus Awards, and is a recipient of the MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship." https://nkjemisin.com/about/

› Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse
"First class ain't what it used to be so it's not like you're missing out."
Zelda and her brother Atticus have special talents that save people from horrors.
My rating 3/5

"Rebecca Roanhorse is a NYTimes Bestseller and a Nebula, Hugo and Locus Award-winning speculative fiction writer and the recipient of the 2018 Astounding (formerly Campbell) Award for Best New Writer. Her novels include TRAIL OF LIGHTNING, STORM OF LOCUSTS, STAR WARS: RESISTANCE REBORN, and RACE TO THE SUN." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15862877.Rebecca_Roanhorse


› Wandering Devil by Cadwell Turnbull
"When he was a kid, Freddy's grandmother would joke: 'It is like you have a face on the back of your head and feet that go both ways, the way you're always off somewhere as soon as you arrive.'"
Freddy led a life of running from the future.
My rating 3.5/5

"Cadwell Turnbull is the award-winning author of The Lesson and No Gods, No Monsters. His short fiction has appeared in The Verge, Lightspeed, Nightmare, Asimov’s Science Fiction and several anthologies, including The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 and The Year’s Best Science Fiction and Fantasy 2019. Turnbull grew up on St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands." https://cadwellturnbull.com/about/

› Invasion of the Baby Snatchers by Lesley Nneka Arimah
"Used to be, you could tell an alien pregnancy from a human one with your naked eye, back before they'd figured people out."
My rating: I enjoyed the story, but the ending went over my head 3/5

"Lesley Nneka Arimah was born in the UK and grew up wherever her father was stationed for work, which was sometimes Nigeria, sometimes not. Her work has received grants and awards from Commonwealth Writers, AWP, the Elizabeth George Foundation, the Jerome Foundation and others. She currently lives in Minneapolis." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14548993.Lesley_Nneka_Arimah

› The Other One by Violet Allen
"I smoke a cigarette on the roof and look up into the starless sky."
Angela sends a text to her ex-boyfriend Ogelthorpe and it turns ugly.
My rating: 5/5

"Violet Allen is a writer based in Chicago, Illinois. Her work has appeared in Lightspeed, Liminal Stories, Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Resist: Tales from a Future Worth Fighting Against, A People's Future of the United States, and elsewhere." https://www.worldswithoutend.com/author.asp?id=7211

› Lasirèn by Erin E. Adams
"When I try to wrap my lips around a story I'm not supposed to tell, it sours on my tongue."
Tragedy can come without warning.
My rating: 5/5

"Erin E. Adams is a first-generation Haitian American writer and theatre artist. She received her BA with honors in literary arts from Brown University, her MFA in acting from The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, and her MFA in dramatic writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21725767.Erin_E_Adams

› The Rider by Tananarive Due
"The silver-haired window clerk at the Tallahassee Greyhound station glared at Patricia Houston when she and her sister, Priscilla, pivoted to walk toward the shiny wooden benches in the Whites Only waiting area."
My rating: LOVED this one. 5/5

"TANANARIVE DUE (tah-nah-nah-REEVE doo) is the award-winning author of The Wishing Pool & Other Stories and the upcoming The Reformatory...Her books include Ghost Summer: Stories, My Soul to Keep, and The Good House. She and her late mother, civil rights activist Patricia Stephens Due, co-authored Freedom in the Family. She and her husband live with their son, Jason." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/23417.Tananarive_Due

› The Aesthete by Justin C. Key
"I asked my Creator about the Collector after my freshman year of high school."
My rating: another ending that left me confused, but I loved the writing style. 4/5

"Justin C. Key...blended his passions for science and writing by penning short stories in middle school...His short stories have appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Crossed Genres, and KYSO Flash, as well as in the revolutionary children’s iPad application, FarFaria...Justin lives in Los Angeles with his wonderful wife, two sons, and daughter. Even as a full-time Psychiatrist, he finds ample time to write..." https://www.justinckey.com/about

› Pressure by Ezra Claytan Daniels
"Your ears still haven't popped since this morning's flight."
Written in the second person, this story is terrifying, unique and poignant.
My rating: 5/5

"Ezra Claytan Daniels is a writer and illustrator based in Los Angeles, CA...His graphic novel, Upgrade Soul, was the recipient of the 2017 Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics, nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album, and was named one of the best books of 2018 by Publishers Weekly, Vulture, The Library Journal, and Paste." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1405468.Ezra_Claytan_Daniels

› Dark Home by Nnedi Okorafor
"I couldn't let go. I didn't want to let go. It didn't matter how crazy shit got; I was ready to stop time if I could."
Sometimes you just need to let go.
My rating: 5/5

"Nnedi Okorafor is a New York Times Bestselling writer of science fiction and fantasy for both children and adults...Her many works include Who Fears Death...the award winning novella trilogy Binti...the Lodestar and ...LaGuardia ...and her most recent novella Remote Control...She lives with her daughter Anyaugo in Phoenix, AZ." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/588356.Nnedi_Okorafor

› Flicker by L.D. Lewis
"Kamara signed indecision while her brother flicked the lens options back and forth between blurry and slightly-less-blurry-sort-of."
What would you do if the sun randomly shuts off for 30 seconds?
My rating: Unique! 3.5/5

"L.D. Lewis (she/her) is an editor, publisher, and Shirley Jackson award-nominated writer of speculative fiction...She is the author of A Ruin of Shadows...and her published short fiction and poetry includes numerous appearances in online publications...She lives in Georgia on perpetual deadline, with her partner, two cats, a coffee habit, and an impressive LEGO build collection." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16295308.L_D_Lewis

› The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson
"From the minute Yenderil jumped into that brackish blue hole water, she started out on a journey that couldn't have no good end."
A girl hunts a sea monster.
My rating: Weird...it was okay. 3/5

"Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born writer and editor who lives in Canada. Her science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories often draw on Caribbean history and language, and its traditions of oral and written storytelling." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/27528.Nalo_Hopkinson

› The Norwood Trouble by Maurice Broaddus
"They thought that we were too young to understand, but children knew. We learned the lesson early, felt it down to our bones: Of all the tools of oppression, fear was the cruelest."
Elders are the wielders of tradition.
My rating: WOW. 5/5

"His books include the urban fantasy trilogy, The Knights of Breton Court, the steampunk works, Buffalo Soldier and Pimp My Airship, and the middle grade detective novels, The Usual Suspects and Unfadeable. His project, Sorcerers, is being adapted as a television show for AMC. As an editor, he’s worked on Dark Faith, Fireside Magazine, and Apex Magazine." https://mauricebroaddus.com/about/

› A Grief of the Dead by Rion Amilcar Scott
"Some days I wonder after my twin brother's body - at all the ways in which decomposition has deformed it."
Mahal mourns their twin brother Jamal.
My rating: Heart-breaking and disturbing. 3/5

"Rion Amilcar Scott is the author of the story collection, The World Doesn't Require You ... His work has been published in journals such as The Kenyon Review, Crab Orchard Review, and The Rumpus, among others. He lives in Annapolis, MD with his wife and two sons." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7796391.Rion_Amilcar_Scott

› A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree by Nicole D. Sconiers
"My father was a trucker for a steel mill and he taught me the rules of the road."
My Rating: unique point of view. 3/5

"Nicole D. Sconiers is the author of Escape from Beckyville: Tales of Race, Hair and Rage...Her work has appeared in Nightmare magazine, Lightspeed magazine, ... and other publications. Her short stories were published in the anthologies Black from the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing, December Tales and Sycorax’s Daughters...She co-wrote the psychological thriller A Mother’s Intuition..." https://nicolesconiers.com/about/

› An American Fable by Chesya Burke
"Private First Class Noble Washington hadn't paid attention to the man behind the glass at the bus depot as he read the headlines from the newspaper stand."
My rating: heartfelt, emotional 3.5/5

"Dr. Chesya Burke is an Asst. Professor of English and U.S. Literatures and the director of Africana Studies at Stetson University. Having written and published over a hundred stories and articles within the genres of horror, science fiction, comics, and Afrofuturism, her academic research focuses primarily on the intersections of race, gender and genre." https://www.thechesyaburke.org/about-1

› Your Happy Place by Terence Taylor
"Martin woke from the smell of blood and pus."
My Rating: Wow. Hit me in the heart. Scary, disturbing, sad, angry. So many emotions. 5/5

"TERENCE TAYLOR is an award-winning children's television writer, whose work has appeared on PBS, Nickelodeon, and Disney, among many others. After a career of comforting young kids, he's now equally dedicated to scaring their parents. His short horror stories have been published in all three "Dark Dreams" horror/suspense anthologies. "BITE MARKS: A Vampire Testament" is his first novel. " https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1241978.Terence_Taylor

› Hide & Seek by P. Djèlí Clark
"Mama shakes and spasms, her willowy limbs twisting and jerking in a strange dance as her eyes flutter like butterfly wings."
Magic isn't always a good thing.
My rating: 5/5

"Phenderson Djéli Clark is the author of the novel A Master of Djinn, and the award-winning and Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon nominated author of the novellas Ring Shout, The Black God’s Drums and The Haunting of Tram Car 015. His short stories have appeared in online venues such as Tor.com, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in print anthologies including, Griots and Hidden Youth."https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15117586.P_Dj_l_Clark

› Origin Story by Tochi Onyebuchi
"Setting: Humanities Building classroom
Time: Thirty minutes before Ms. Geraldine Cunningham's Grand Unified Theory of Whiteness seminar"
My rating: 3/5

"Tochi Onyebuchi is the author of Beasts Made of Night, its sequel Crown of Thunder, War Girls, and Riot Baby, published by Tor.com in January 2020. He has graduated from Yale University, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Columbia Law School, and L’institut d’études politiques with a Masters degree in Global Business Law." https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7324271.Tochi_Onyebuchi

Overall Rating for the Collection ★★★★


Average Story Graph Rating 4.1

Average Goodreads Rating 4.04

› Final Thoughts
• Out There Screaming is a dark, tense, emotional, and unique horror story collection that feels purposefully cultivated. I loved how the stories had similar aspects. My favourites are The Other One, Lasirèn, The Rider, Pressure, Dark Home, The Norwood Trouble, Your Happy Place, and Hide & Seek. I can't wait to read more by these authors.

I knew I would love this one as soon as I saw the cover and saw Jordan Peele's name attached to it. With Us and Get Out being some of my favourite horror films, I knew that this book would be nothing short of a wild ride. Perfect for spooky season, awesome short horror stories. Highly recommend!

As a person that doesn’t typically read horror, this was such a fun, chilling, and thought-provoking read. Each story was so unique and really made me consider these things actually happening. Some of these stories even haunted me in my dreams. As a Latina woman, a lot of these themes and experiences are not normally experienced by me but there are some experienced that resonated with my life as a child of immigrants. Some of these stories we sad and made me angry, while others ended on a better note. I definitely spent a lot of time reflecting on each on of the stories and how incredible it was that someone could come up with them. My favorite one was Lasiren. They made me uncomfortable in ways that I did not think possible. Whether you normally read horror or not, these stories would be enjoyable to all!

Thank you to Penguin Random House, Jordan Peele, and all the authors for the arc and for letting me read this anthology of new Black Horror.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC.

OH I loved this. I have done a few horror short story collections this year but this one takes the cake. I had to not read some of these at night because Jordan Peele really got a great collection together.

Well, I will start by saying that horror is definitely outside my normal reading purview. That be said, this was definitely well thought out compilation of tales and I found good writing and plot development despite being new to the genre. My favorites include Lasiren, The Anesthete, Dark Home, Flicker, The Norwood Trouble, A Grief of the Dead, A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree. However, the one that I think was the best was Your Happy Place which was truly disturbing and well written. Only one story was did I DNF, but I will not taint others perceptions by specifying which one. Overall, I can see the intrigue in this volume of tales and the inclusion on some well known authors definitely heightened even my expectation.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity this opportunity to step outside my comfort zone.

Jordan Peele is an absolute genius and this collection of short stories, though not written by him, speaks to his prowess in the horror genre.

Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele, is an anthology of short horror stories by Black authors. The collection includes a diverse range of stories, from traditional ghost stories to science fiction horror to stories that explore the intersection of race and horror.

One of the things that makes Out There Screaming so special is the quality of the writing. Each story is well-crafted and suspenseful, and the authors do a masterful job of creating characters that you care about, even though you know they are in danger.

Another thing that makes this anthology so stand-out is the unique perspective that each author brings to their story. These stories are not just scary, they are also thought-provoking and challenging. They explore themes of racism, social injustice, and trauma in a way that is both disturbing and illuminating.

Some of my favorite stories in the collection include:

"Reckless Eyeballing" by N.K. Jemisin: A police officer gets his comeuppance for pulling over innocent Black people.
"The Wandering Devil" by Cadwell Turnbull: A man finds a place to call home, but he is haunted by a terrifying apparition.
"The Rider" by Tananarive Due: Two Freedom Riders are joined on their bus by a strange being who may spell their doom.
"The Norwood Trouble" by Maurice Broaddus: A Reconstruction-era community calls upon higher powers to bring justice to a lynch mob.
"Dark Home" by Nnedi Okorafor: A woman returns to her childhood home to find it haunted by something ancient and evil.
Overall, Out There Screaming is an excellent collection of horror stories that is sure to please fans of the genre. It is also a must-read for anyone who is interested in reading stories that explore the intersection of race and horror.

Anyone who’s enjoyed Jordan Peele’s movies, Get Out, Us and Nope will love this collection of horror stories assembled by Peele. He gives various horror writers a stage to showcase their work, and the end product is multi-faceted and addictive. I can easily see any of these becoming Peele’s next blockbuster film.
Thanks to Random House Publishing Group- Random House for an ARC in exchange for my honest review. The publishing date was October 3, 2023.

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

Jordan peele is one of my favorite horror writers in the world, so I was very excited for this collection. I was super impressed with the lineup and was ready for it! These stories all deal with the black experience with a supernatural element to it. I enjoyed seeing the different avenues the stories took. There were lessons and metaphors in everything and the horror was spooky and subtle.

My favorite stories were:
Eye and tooth- Rebecca Roanhorse
Pressure- Ezra Clayton daniels
Flicker- L.D.Lewis
The Norwood trouble- Maurice broaddus
A grief of the dead- rion amilcar Scott
A bird sings by the etching tree- Nicole D. Scoiners
Hide & seek- P. Djèlí Clark

Every story was powerful in their own way. I had a lot of fun reading this collection and I’m excited for more from these authors!

The stories I enjoyed the most:
- "Reckless Eyeballing by NK Jemisin
- "Eye & Tooth" by Rebecca Roanhorse
- "Lasiren" by Erin E. Adams
- "The Rider" by Tananarive Due
- "The Norwood Trouble" by Maurice Broaddus
- "A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree" by Nicole D. Sconiers
- "Your Happy Place" by Terence Taylor
- "Origin Story" by Tochi Onyebuchi

This horror collection touches on so many subgenres, themes, and tropes - science fiction, social horror, monster hunting, body horror, and more. Horrors of the imagination and drawn from the realities of anti-Black racist societies abound. I appreciated the balance of well-established authors with new-to-me authors whose future work I'll be keeping an eye out for.

I don’t have anything to say that isn’t positive. A perfect collection of short stories by brilliant Black authors like the Queen of Horror- Tananarive Due, compiled by Jordan Peele. Horror fans should rejoice- I certainly did.

This is perfection, and should be celebrated.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Random House for allowing me to read this fabulous collection. My opinions are my own.