ARC provided by Random House.
Release Date: October 3, 2023

Actual Rating: 3.5 ⭐

I'll be honest, I thought this was going to chill me or put me on the edge of my seat more than it actually did. I also think I went into this book expecting more fictional horror than realistic horror and I think that became my downfall for this anthology. If I had to choose my favorite stories from this anthology, they would have to be The Other One, Lasirèn, The Rider, Flicker, and Your Happy Place. Those stories just live in my brain rent free now especially Your Happy Place which is now going to be my nightmare fuel for the rest of the week because of how chilling it is. Overall, I rounded up my rating to 4 stars because for the majority of this book, I was having a great time reading this book. I think there will be many readers who enjoy this anthology and find some new favorite stories along the way!


👻 Reckless Eyeballing by N. K. Jemisin 3.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Talk of police brutality, mentions of drugs, brief sexism, assault recounted, alcohol, automotive accident recounted, very brief mentions of a heart attack, murder, blood

This was fine? I'm not a particular fan of reading stories about police officers or from a police officers perspective. It's just not my cup of tea. I did appreciate the themes of addressing police brutality and how eventually the wrong doings that come out of that eventually come to light. The ending, however, was really good and I enjoyed seeing how our main character just devolves.

👻 Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Smoking, gore, blood, murder, death, mentions loss of loved ones, very brief mentions of domestic abuse (in the past), fire, very brief mentions of needles, mentions poisoning

"And where there's light, there's also got to be some dark."


Ah, I really enjoyed this story! This was giving Supernatural and Ghostbusters vibes even though it's more monster hunters. There were a few things that were predictable in this short story and I definitely think this could have stood on it's own as a novella. I think what hindered me the most about this story was details. I needed more details just due to plain curiosity. Overall, I really enjoyed this and Roanhorse's writing is always a fun time to read.

👻 Wandering Devil by Cadwell Turnbull 3.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Abandonment, brief mentions of divorce, mentions of a spider, blood

"But he wanted to be better than she was. Only the truly evil would build a life they knew they would abandon."


This was another okay story. I did enjoy it and it was a fast read. I thought it was well written and the premise was interesting. However, there was just a point where I didn't care about the characters, the story, and the ending didn't make a lot of sense either. I wish this would have been a full novella instead of a short story in an anthology because all the missing details could have been added and this could have felt more finished.

👻 Invasion of the Baby Snatchers by Lesley Nneka Arimah ⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Medical talk, pregnancy, detailed childbirth, cult themes, death, very brief mentions of kidnapping/abduction, depictions of panic attacks, implied drugging

This is definitely not the story for me. I try to avoid reading books/stories that have heavy themes of childbirth, pregnancy, etc... whether it's paranormal or not. It just touches a nerve with me every time. The fact that it's heavily detailed around pregnancy and alien childbirth, no thank you. I did appreciate that this story gives a lot of Men in Black vibes. I thought that was done really well and it gave me some nostalgia. Overall, this particular story just wasn't for me.

👻 The Other One by Violet Allen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Smoking, blood, gore, talk of mental health, talk of mental illness, mentions hospitalization (in the past), very brief mentions of attempted suicide (in the past), talk of autophobia (fear of abandonment/being isolated), alcohol, violence, knife use

"And it strikes me, if I have his heart, then he has to love me, right? No matter what."


This got me! Oh, did this get me and strangely made me think of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart. That aside, there were so many pieces of this I really appreciated like the discussions around mental health and how people tend to view you if you were hospitalized for mental health reasons. The overall storyline was very captivating and intriguing to see how everything would play out. I really enjoyed this one and I'm definitely excited to see what this author does next.

👻 Lasirèn by Erin E. Adams ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Abandonment, loss of a sibling, grief, blood

I really loved this and I think it's such a beautiful take on mermaids/sirens. I also really loved the way this story almost feels like it has a Grimm Fairy Tales vibe to it just from the way it reads. Like a dark fairy tale, almost. It was just eerie and the sibling bonds were everything for me. I really enjoyed this one!

👻 The Rider by Tananarive Due ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Trauma/PTSD, racism, implied anxiety & panic, scene of heart attack, brief mentions of blood, death/murder, violence recounted

"-it won't sleep again until it fulfills its purpose to protect innocents from harm."


Friends, I have goosebumps all over me, chills streaking down my back, and I can't tell if my anxiety or adrenaline has kicked into full force. Maybe both? Both, both is good. This was a wild story that revolves around the time of the 1961 Freedom Riders protests. The author did a fantastic job of taking history and horror, mixing it all together to create this story. This might be my favorite story of this anthology so far because I'm not okay, typical historic horror tends to be a miss for me yet this worked in all the right ways, and I'm very excited to see what this author does next.

👻 The Aesthete by Justin C. Key 2.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Loss of a loved one, very brief mentions of infertility, talk of cancer, blood, hallucinations, detailed medical talk, scene of drugging

Honestly, I didn't really care for this story. It felt like a fever dream and not in a good way, either. More like in the disorienting, confusing way. I feel like I have more questions than I do answers with this story and there were huge portions of this short story where I was skimming because I just had no reason to care about the characters or really anything happening. Mix that with the lack of clarification of who/what characters were, the world we're in (whether it's a futuristic world or just a world with robots), it just didn't work for me. I think there will be readers who like this story, but this was a big miss for me.

👻 Pressure by Ezra Claytan Daniels 3.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Anxiety, brief mentions of racial slurs, very brief mentions of a stroke, very brief mentions of infidelity/adultery, brief mentions of phasmophobia (fear of ghosts)

This was another okay story. I really wish this story was more of a novella because it felt like there were a lot of details that were missing. Not to mention the ending was a little confusing and there was no real indication of how we got to that point. I did enjoy the cat and the way the cat, Scamper provides the main character with comfort when dealing with their anxiety.

👻 Dark Home by Nnedi Okorafor ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Loss of a parent, depictions of grief, parent death recounted, very brief mentions of an automotive accident (in the past), very brief mentions of dead animals, blood

Not me soft and mushy in all the places of my heart especially the timing of reading this story after getting bad news. What an emotional rollercoaster of a story. I think the way grief is portrayed and the depictions of grief are so powerful in this story. I think many readers are going to feel this story deeply, in many ways. Beautifully written!

👻 Flicker by L. D. Lewis ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Mentions of automotive accidents, loss of a loved one, mentions gun use & gun fire, death, murder, blood, scene of emesis, grief

Matrix and glitch in the matrix lovers, this short story is for you! Also mix it with The Purge vibes and I think this will have readers invested. I know I was on the edge of my seat, just thinking, "This is a game of Sims gone wrong!" This was really good and the ending gave me chills!

👻 The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson 2.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Religion, loss of parents, grief, scene of drowning, brief mentions of a dead animals, very brief mentions of maggots, blood, gore, knife use, mentions of needles

The premise of this story was interesting, but it just didn't really work for me. I'm not sure if it was the writing or perhaps the setting, but this story was just a miss. There were a lot of parts I kept skimming because I didn't really few captivated by the story or connected to the main character. This just wasn't the story for me, friends.

👻 The Norwood Trouble by Maurice Broaddus 4.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Very brief mentions of slavery, brief mentions of war, religion, depictions of discrimination, scene of sexual misconduct, smoking, very brief mentions of lynching (hangings), death, graphic violence, gore

This was really good. I have goosebumps all over me from how this story concluded. I almost wish this was a full novella because I wanted to know so much more about Norwood and the orchard. This was fantastic though and I really enjoyed it!

👻 The Grief of the Dead by Rion Amilcar Scott 2.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Loss of a sibling recounted, suicidal ideation, grief, alcohol, gun use, mentions of slavery, blood, graphic death, heavy discussions of mass shootings, scene of strangulation

Honestly, there's not much I can say or even want to say on this story. I will say check your spoons and make sure you're in the right headspace because this story deals with a lot of suicidal ideation, it goes into heavy details of planning a mass shooting, and it may be a lot that may be triggering for readers. I think the theme of grief is very strong in this story and really emphasizes the different stages of grief. However, the writing style didn't really work for me and there were times where I struggled to stay captivated by the story. This story just wasn't the story for me, friends.

👻 A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree by Nicole D. Sconiers ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Automotive accidents, graphic deaths, blood, gore, violence

This story gives me all the vibes of two characters being stuck in purgatory. It was interesting to see the way the story unfold and I found myself hoping our main character would somehow make their way home. There was just this immense sadness, but also so much hope for our main character. This was just really good and the little touch of the cryptid hunters was such a great scene. Overall, I enjoyed this story a lot!

👻 An American Fable by Chesya Burke ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, brief mentions of war, racism, violence, alcohol, smoking, blood, very brief mentions loss of a parent (in the past)

I really enjoyed this especially as it got closer to the end of the story. Something about the ending really had me hooked and sad when it was over. The brief touches of newspaper titles was also interesting. I feel like it added a little extra something to the story. I do wish we like a little peek into the future with our main character, but this was great. I was fully captivated, waiting to see what would happen next.

👻 Your Happy Place by Terence Taylor ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Mentions of slavery, blood, discussions of incarceration, drugs, talk of drug addiction, very brief mentions of an overdose, children deaths recounted, loss of a loved one recounted, mentions of grief

Another story that makes me think of glitches in the matrix. This one was really unnerving and I think the reason why it unnerved me so much is due to how likely something like this could happen. When you think about prisons and the amount of power people in charge have in places, it really gets you thinking and wondering. So I chilled, very chilled to my core, but also sad. There were just some reveals that made my heart sink, but that's what makes this such a good story. Fantastically written and very much like it could be a Black Mirror episode.

👻 Hide & Seek by P. Djèlí Clark ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Blood, child neglect & abuse, drug dealing & drug addiction, mentions loss of a loved one (in the past), gun use, gore, loss of a parent recounted, smoking

If you've ever had a loved one who's battled addiction, I think this story is going to hit like a ton of bricks. This was so well-written and it feels like this was written from a place of knowing. It also gave me a little bit of nostalgia for the movie Hide and Seek. Both this story and that movie give off similar vibes and I was living for it. The only thing that didn't sit right with me was the jab about how Native/Indigenous people can't have blonde hair and blue eyes when that's not true. It's possible and does happen. This whole comment rubbed me the wrong way as a Native reader because it adds to the stereotypes of Native/Indigenous people looking all the same or looking the way Native/Indigenous people are constantly portray and fetishize in media. So that's why I rated this a four star instead of a five star.

👻 Origin Story by Tocji Onyebuchi 3.5 ⭐
Content/Trigger Warnings: Fire, brief talk of colonization, racism

It hurts me to say this, but I just didn't care about this story and with the way it's written, it just wasn't it for me. I did appreciate the themes of what one's purpose in life is and how our choices can impact the future. However, that all I could really appreciate about this story. I think many readers will like this one, but it missed the mark for me.


The quotes above were taken from an ARC and are subject to change upon publication.

All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.

Out There Screaming is a collection of stories that I knew was going to be incredible as soon as I learned about it. Pulling together some of the biggest powerhouses in literature today and edited by the incomparable Jordan Peele, this horror collection balances some scary themes with a mixture of realistic terror as well.

What follows are some of my real time thoughts after finishing each story.

Reckless Eyeballing
N K Jemisin
- What an incredible and I do mean incredible start to this collection. Right out of the gate, we have a story that mixes some fun and paranoia inducing horror with a corrupt system.
- Also the twist ending has me grinning from sheer terror!

Eye & Tooth
Rebecca Roanhorse
- Children of the Corn has never been more fun with this Supernatural-esque twist. Mixing the perfectly short amount of suspense, mystery, and gore. I'd love to read more about this world and this mythology!

Wandering Devil
Caldwell Turnbull
- Deals with the Devil will truly take you to some dark places and this story is a fun adventure into that trope! Fresh take and I really enjoyed it!

Invasion of the Baby Snatchers
Lesley Nneka Arimah
- I would like to petition Webster's to add hoofeses to the dictionary (just basic humorous commentary)
- Experimentation is a bit of a terrifying field when you really think about it. Especially if you sit down and really think about the cost of experimentation and failure in particular. Throw in human trials and this story might just tap into some underlying fears and you won't realize until it's too late.
The Other One
Violet Allen
- What's a little cosmic horror among friends? This was truly a fun and slightly humorous story (with some fun elements of horror strewn throughout)
- I really enjoyed the texts back and forth in this story - it told the story in a unique way!

Lasiren
Erin E. Adams
- This was great folk horror full of a terrifying mythology. I honestly would love a feature length novel in this world and think it would be wildly loved.

The Rider
Tananarive Due
- Literally probably going to be my favorite story in this entire collection. Set in 1961, this story is just amazing! Reminded me of Lovecraft Country in some ways! Check this out immediately!

The Aesthete
Justin C. Key
- This story follows a unique relationship between Art and those who create it. This was a science fiction jaunt that took me truly by surprise. Where this story starts does not give any idea as to where it will end. This was great!

Pressure
Ezra Clayton Daniels
- Call me a little cliche, but a switch from first or third person into second person always has a dramatic effect on me. It causes me to dive that much deeper into a story and that's exactly what happened with Pressure. Because if this switch, this story became claustrophobic. I felt trapped and unable to move as this story unfolded and came to its rather shocking conclusion.

Dark Home
Nnedi Okorafor
- Grief is one of my favorite themes sometimes in horror. It just translates such a deep connection to the story and I think Nnedi absolutely pulled me within the depths of the grief experienced by the character in this story.
- Also the imagery in this story deserves all the hype because it truly put this story on an entirely different level!
Flicker
LD Lewis
- This story is wildly creative and perhaps it's my upcoming optometry appointment, but this tapped into something very real and terrifying for me. Great story.
The Most Strongest Obeah Woman
Nalo Hopkinson
- This was really different, but such a strong entry in this collection. Not only is Nalo's writing voice so unique and strong, but their storytelling is just incredible. It's creative, it's different, it pulled on a lot of different inspirations and it's just great.

The Norwood Trouble
Maurice Broaddus
- The loss of culture and history over time is always such an interesting concept. This story plays on this in a dark fearful way. But this story was so interesting!

A Grief of the Dead
Rion Amilcar Scott
- Remember what I said about grief? Yeah it applies here and this MIGHT just be my favorite story of the collection.

A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree
Nicole D Sconiers
- AHHH WHY ARE THESE STORIES JUST SO GOOD! This story read in part like a classic Supernatural Episode. It's dark, but it's still fun in an exploratory ghost type of way.

An American Fable
Chesya Burke
- Dark, gory, and fun. This story will take your breath away! I can't say more without giving away what shook me to my core!

Your Happy Place
Terrence Taylor
- Black Mirror fans are going to love this story. It's so dark and it's so beyond messed up. (I also loved every second of it!!)

Hide & Seek
P. Djeli Clark
- The perfect (and I do mean PERFECT) blend of realistic horror with a dash of fantastical elements!

Origin Story
Tochi Onyebuchi
- Okay I'm a sucker for a differently told story and this is exactly that! This story is told like a play and these stage directions made visualizing this story that much richer! This has a strange ending but it was definitely a great concluding story!


These stories are hard hitting, fun, horrific, and honestly some of the greatest stories that I have read this year. (This is no surprise considering the star studded lineup that Peele has assembled with this collection). I found myself so enthralled within this collection that I jumped seamlessly from world to world and it felt natural. I think that speaks to the underlying themes that connected each story.

Run don't walk to grab your copy of this book. It's a guaranteed hit!

I'm not a big short stories person, but I was so excited to get this book and read it. It was really hard for me to get into and some of the stories I didn't fully understand. Some of the stories I read so quickly but others I really struggled with.

This is an artful horror anthology by black authors. The haunting stories will fill you with dread, terror, loathing and also make you think. My favorite stories were the Rider trust Tananarive Due to have characters jumping off the page. Flicker by L. D. Lewis was the existential horror I will think about for a long time. A grief of the dead by Rion Amilcar Scott was so dark I raced to the end to see what would happen. A Bird sings by the Etching Tree by Nicole D. Sconiers had the paranormal "I support women's wrongs" in the best way possible. Your happy place by Terence Taylor was so good I ran to Goodreads to see what else they had written so I could binge their backlog immediately. Overall so many different kinds of stories and different kinds of horror I had a great time reading this and would highly recommend it to others. Thank you Netgalley and Random House for this

Incredible read! I was extremely excited when I heard about this collection of short stories edited by Jordan Peele, and it did not disappoint. Every story brought a new type of horror and how it related to race, socio status, etc. Some more chilling than others, I think if you are a horror fan you are definitely going to enjoy this collection!

I'm so glad I read this, even though anthologies (especially horror) are way outside of my comfort zone. I've loved Jordan Peele's movies and was excited to see what he could do with a short story collection. I enjoyed his forward and the overall theme linking the stories together. Overall my enjoyment of the stories varied (some were 1 and 2 stars, many were 4 stars, one was 5 stars) but together they were thought-provoking, unsettling, and I'm interested in reading more from most of these authors. My favorites were Hide & Seek by P. Djeli Clark (5 stars), A Grief of the Dead by Rion Amilcar Scott (4 stars), Flicker by L.D. Lewis (4 stars), Pressure by Ezra Claytan Daniels (4 stars), and The Rider by Tananarive Due (4 stars). I'm excited for this to get into the hands of horror fans and readers more interested/experienced with anthologies! Thanks to NetGalley for the eARC.

Jordan Peele has brought together a twisty, frightening, and thought-provoking collection of horror stories in Out There Screaming. There are stories in this book that are genuinely creepy, stories that have the gory ick-factor that horror fans will enjoy, and stories that give major Black Mirror vibes. As with any short story collection, some of the stories are more engaging than others. Fans of Peele’s horror movies will likely enjoy this batch of short stories, too.

This ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

"The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation.

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele's anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and - like his spine-chilling films - its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world...and redefine what it means to be afraid.

Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull."

Perhaps what Jordan Peele should have done all along instead of The Twilight Zone reboot...

From top to bottom, this short story collection is excellent. The best voices in horror are included here, from Tanarive Due to N.K. Jemisin to Nnedi Okorafor. I particularly enjoyed Ezra Claytan Daniels' Pressure and Lesley Nneka Arimah's Invasion of the Baby Snatchers.

This is an incredibly strong collection of stories, and while they cover vastly different subjects and styles, nothing feels out of place. It's a book that you can easily dip into randomly or read from cover to cover. I was glad to read stories from authors I've read before, like P. Djeli Clark and Rebecca Roanhorse alongside authors who were new to me like L. D. Lewis. I really enjoyed this and look forward to seeking out more work from all of these authors.

A stacked anthology with a wide variety of stories across a number of horror sub-genres. Overall these were a mixed bag for me, with some more engaging to read than others. But would absolutely recommend for anyone looking to discover some talented voices in horror.

Thanks for the arc, NetGalley!

When I heard that Jordan Peele was releasing an anthology of Black horror from some of today’s most amazing and talented Black horror writers, “bursting with excitement” doesn’t begin to cover how I felt. Since “Get Out,” his involvement with other productions like “Lovecraft Country,” and the seminal role that Peele has had in putting Black horror on the map, it has been a far more interesting time with more opportunities for Black voices to be discovered and that yes, Black people not only like horror, and read it, and watch horror movies, but also Black people write some of the most amazing horror, period.

The authors included such as Tananarive Due, L.D. Lewis, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, Phenderson Djèlí Clark, and N.K. Jemisin are writers whose works I have been a huge fan of for many years.

My hope is that this anthology will do for the genre what the groundbreaking and amazing Sheree Renee Thomas did with both volumes of “Dark Matter” and what Brandon Massey did with the “Dark Dreams” series of anthologies that highlighted Tananarive Due, Wrath James White, and a number of other Black horror writers to a wider readership.

in ‘Reckless Eyeballing’ by N. K. Jemisin, readers will see a departure from imagined worlds of Jemisin’s science fiction novels and will start with a Black woman, midthirties, driving a 100,000-dollar expensive car. Dark-skinned. Though readers get this from the lens of the (probably) racist and (probably) white police officer who has stopped this Black woman, readers know that all too often, Driving While Black can become deadly and is one of the real horrors of day to day existence as a Black person in America in particular.

The thought process that this white officer goes through as he is speaking to the Black woman in the car is infuriating and sick. And although the encounter ends with the Black woman able to get out of it unharmed, there are definitely more dangerous forces at play. The police officer starts to encounter more cars that he thinks have special eyes, for lack of a better way to describe them. It’s definitely a horrifying story in more ways than one.

Next, Rebecca Roanhorse presents ‘Eye & Tooth,’ with a woman who is in an economy middle seat on an airplane, which is already nightmare-inducing enough. And you add to that the factor of the pandemic, and it’s just on a downhill spiral from there. Zelda and her brother have arrived somewhere they’ve been expected, and they’ve met a woman, Washington, who tells them that family members have told her about Zelda’s family, comprised of “root workers and hoodoo queens” and shares that her grandmother used to work with herbs, making tonics for the people in the parts where they live but not quite as big compared to the powers that Zelda’s family is reputed to have. It seems Washington has hired Zelda to help her with something. She’s found birds dead, and thought perhaps it could have been a barn cat, but it’s too big for a fox, and she insists there haven’t been cougars in this part of Texas for fifty years. It’s one of the most riveting stories of the anthology and will make readers glued to the pages to find out what happens next. This tale built up with amazingness that I don’t want to spoil. I loved it.

‘Wandering Devil’ by Cadwell Turnbull, one of my favourite writers, shares a story of Freddy whose family has a history with Pittsburgh. It soon shows ties to music in the horror aspects with Old Black Billy and his banjo, not unlike a Robert Johnson figure. It ends in a horrifying way.

‘Invasion of the Baby Snatchers’ by Lesley Nneka Arimah starts off with a narrator telling readers that one used to be able to tell an alien pregnancy from human just by looking, but then the aliens learned too much about how human bodies work to terrible results. People need genetic number codes to determine who a ‘real’ person is and not a clone, for lack of a better term. It’s a very unsettling sci-fi horror piece that readers won’t soon forget.

‘The Other One’ by Violet Allen uses text messages and people messing with one another to reveal the horrors here, not really sure who’s who, and a man, Oglethorpe, with the protagonist fighting for him, but the other voice insisting that he doesn’t love her. Everything comes with a price, even happiness.

As soon as I saw the title ‘Lasirèn’ by Erin E. Adams, I became excited because I know that Lasirèn is a figure from Haitian Vodou, another mermaid-like spirit. In this story, she has two younger sister, Lovelie and Marie. They live on an island. She says she’s forgotten all of her first language, Haitian Kreyol, but remembers the songs. The songs used to help put her to sleep. Their father left when Lasirèn was younger. Their mother raised them as a single mom. She instructs the girls never to trust a woman alone in the water. If they’re not careful, these women can snatch them. A dangerous riddle parts them from Marie, and what ensues is the sisters trying to get everyone back together.

‘The Rider’ by Tananarive Due starts in May 1961 at a Tallahassee (Florida) Greyhond bus station with Patricia and Priscilla, walking toward benches in the Whites Only waiting area. They’re on their way to join the Freedom Riders in Montgomery. Readers who are familiar with the incredible story of Due’s parents who fought against injustices and violence in the Civil Rights Era will recognize that Patricia of this story is modeled on her, which makes the story even more vibrant. A janitor at the station seems to have heard of them and seems concerned for their safety. Things get twisted with the mysterious introduction of the Rider. Another of the memorable tales of this anthology.

‘Pressure’ by Ezra Claytan Daniels deals with a protagonist who also starts off on a plane, going back to their hometown and their aunt’s house. The protagonist is mixed race of African descent and has stayed in touch with their cousin, Katy, who is gay. Their other cousin, Andrew, called the protagonist the N-word years ago. Neither of them is looking forward to seeing Andrew again. Things head in an interesting direction with the horrors being more visceral and direct.

Nalo Hopkinson is one of my writing idols, whose work I have admired for so many years. I was very excited that she has a story in this anthology. It’s called ‘The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World,’ and I’ve read about the Jamaican traditions involved with Obeah and spiritualism. There’s an obeah man who has taught the protagonist, Yenderil, to make a fish devil die. The story is vivid, memorable, suspenseful, and fascinating. Everything has consequences, as the story shows, and new beginnings come in many forms.

CW for sexual assault: I’ve also loved and admired the works of Maurice Broaddus for a long time. Here, he presents his tale, ‘The Norwood Trouble,’ and it starts with a young child, Flora, being chided by her father for going to a more dangerous library branch in an area that’s not safe. Her father was enslaved before he became a soldier. His people came from Kentucky and fought in the Civil War. They joined the U.S. Colored Troops, as Flora recounts, and the survivors of the 28th Regiment founded Norwood, a free town within the city. She goes to school at Colored School Number 5, to Lovely Lane church, and plays with her neighbours. The town reverend speaks about the protection of their people, and that the enemy is coming. Flora’s dad is willing to risk his soul for his people. He carries on some hooodoo practices, like wearing a Mercury dime around his neck. They also have a group, the Elders of the Night, or Iyami Aje. They’re surrounded by Night Riders territory, which sounds reminiscent of the Klan, and as it turns out, the reverend’s family fled to Indianapolis in 1871 because of Klan activities.

This group seems to be preparing for something that the reader hopes will not result in the Rosewood Massacre or Tulsa, which all signs point to. I don’t want to spoil the story for readers so what I’ll end with is that it’s one of the most crucial and amazing stories in a stellar anthology.

CW for suicidality and violent death: ‘A Grief of the Dead’ by Rion Amilcar Scott starts off with a protagonist who has lost their twin brother to death. The story then goes in interesting jumps between past and present. It will break your heart.

Another of my favourite authors, Chesya Burke, has a story in here called ‘An American Fable,’ which starts with a news report of a Black man chained to a tree and burned outside of Charleston, and how the South is unable to put a stop to so many Black residents leaving. This is 1918. It’s a tale of one of the Great Migrations periods where Black people from predominantely Southern states migrated to the North, or in some cases out west to places like California. A number of these people went to New York and Chicago, as is the case here. The story is years before Emmett Till’s case in 1955, but the reader who has known anything about racialized violence against Black people both in the antebellum era and Reconstruction that followed the Civil War as well as the turn of the 20th century knows that violence and lynchings were far too common, that Jim Crow laws made for Colored sections and Whites Only sections, especially on transportation like trains. Our protagonist, Noble, also knows all of this and lives it every day. He notices a little Black girl sitting alone in this train car. Her eyes were blue, which is unusual, particularly as she is a dark-skinned Black child. This was January and she was not wearing a coat or hat. She is also wearing a blue dress.

Things get worse when the people on board the Colored train notice that white people outside are ‘starting up,’ and ready to start trouble. The conductor and a group of whites come to the train to tell everyone to leave. No one moved despite the order. The whites just tell them that the other cars are full and that they need this one so they’re forcing the Black people off. Someone hurls Noble off the train at which points several white men kick him and beat him up. He thinks he is going to die. But he does not. Something surprising happens. The ties to African mythological figures made this fascinating, a beautiful counterbalance to the real-life horrors of the white men gathered outside the house Noble goes to. Noble is told by the women in the cottage he is led to that he has to take specific actions that I won’t spoil. They involve bloodlines and gifts. The things that happen are amazing and I loved this story.

I’ve also been a huge fan of Phenderson Djèlí Clark for many years, and since ‘Ring Shout’ have longed to read more of his work. ‘Hide & Seek’ is a good story here that his fans will enjoy.

The final story, ‘Origin Story’ by Tochi Onyebuchi takes a departure from the short story narrative form and presents a screenplay and is also memorable.

Overall, I recommend the anthology in the strongest terms, and it’s not only going to be a great addition to the bookshelves of horror fans for Halloween timing but also in general as a testament to what Black horror can do.

There isn't much I can say about this collection that the editor and participants don't imply themselves. This was such a great collection of perfectly paced short horror. The Piece of Art one is going to stick with me for awhile, I can tell. Some stories lean specifically in to horror tied to their representation, be it racial, sexual, or gendered, and some are more like classic horror tropes but seen through new eyes. They felt like small Twilight Zone or Tales from the Darkside episodes and I can't suggest highly enough that if you can get your hands on this before spooky season, you should.

3 stars
This was a good average shot story collection. As always w these collections there are good and bad, hence the 3 star average rating.
Jordan Peele does have a good eye for horror though and I would go as far as to say this is a pretty solid collection of mixed horror, so there will be something for all horror fans here.

I could not wait to jump into this Black horror collection! It absolutely did not disappoint and made the perfect pre-Halloween read! Through and through, it was a rad horror anthology put together by one of the greats himself, Jordan Peele. There was a little bit of everything for everyone: supernatural, cosmic, psychological, body horror, sci-fi, etc. Besides conventional horror elements and themes, these narratives are deeply rooted in facets of the Black experience, introducing a fresh and profound dimension to each story.

The standouts for me were Lasirèn by Erin E. Adams, The Rider by Tananarive Due, The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson, and Eye and Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse. Most of these writers were new to me, and they took me on such an incredible journey. I look forward to reading more of their work.

I was sad that Jordan Peele’s introduction was missing from the ARC, but this is one I'll definitely be purchasing a hard copy of, so I look forward to reading it in the future. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

4.5/5

Release Date: October 3, 2023

Easily the best anthology I’ve ever read! If you’re a fan of horror and/or Jordan Peele, this is a must-read for October.

Anthologies are difficult to rate, but almost every story in this collection was captivating, chilling, and had me wanting more. As with Peele’s movies, the type of horror varied with each story; some were more traditional, while others were more reminiscent of Black Mirror. All the stories are also written by Black authors and feature Black MCs, so there are a lot of social horror elements as well.

I am not usually one for short stories but this anthology piece curated by Jordan Peele was just what I needed to get out of a reading slump. These stories are smartly written with thought-provoking horror. I loved that all of these stories had a level of thrill and suspense while also giving the readers a deeper message to consider. One of my favorite reads so far this year!

If you've seen Peele's movies and enjoyed them you'll love these stories. They circle current social justice issues, especially those dealing with race, and they all have unique twists you never see coming. And, of course, there are some chilling scenes.

4.5 stars rounded up. This was a very highly anticipated read and did not disappoint. I’ve been extremely into anthologies and short stories recently, and this one is definitely up there in my favorites list.

There are so many incredible authors in this collections which unique writing styles and storytelling. You’re bound to love something, if not most, in this collection. The stories range in subgenres, but are largely suspense and horror. There’s also a lot of heavy topics covered, so check TW if needed. Amongst the variety, I do think there was a heavy focus on racism, trauma, and grief - so it’s not the lightest reading. The stories are also quite lengthy at times; you’re probably not going to breeze through this as it’s rather large for an anthology. But!! It is still definitely worth your time. I loved all of the stories; there wasn’t one that I wanted to skip or felt like it was dragging.

This is a fantastic collection that should definitely be on your radar for fall/spooky season this year!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the eARC. Opinions are my own and freely given.

I enjoyed this! As soon as I saw Jordan Peele edited this I needed to read it asap! These short stories were all so different. Some were spooky. Some really made you think. I think my favorite story was Dark Home. Some of these I got creeped out while reading home alone 😂. It was perfect! I would love to see more of this.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, NetGalley, and the authors for this ARC!
Publication date: 10/03/23 ☺️

*will review via Tik Tok closer to publication date!

I absolutely loved reading this book. I was completely drawn into the topic and could not stop reading it.