Really enjoyed this horror anthology!! I thought it was well put together and I enjoyed getting to read some stories by authors I knew I enjoyed and getting to discover new authors! Really excited to revisit this anthology!

Anthology of Horror short stories by different authors.

Most of the stories are engaging and original - they could easily be a full book on itself. The short format though made some of them end too abruptly for my taste, and I would love to have read more of them.

Highly recommended short story anthology :)

As a horror anthology, it’s edited and curated by horror master Jordan Peele!!! Within these pages, I’ve read very eerie, scary, and uncomfortable short stories that often stuck with me or left me wanting more.

Authors like N.K Jemisin, Justin C. Key, and Nnedi Okorafor were some of the authors who penned stories in this!

There were two stories that stuck out immensely. The first story involved a police officer who saw eyes in the headlights of cars he ‘needed’ to pull over. The mechanical meets the institutional as we traverse through the mind of an abusive cop. The other story was about two siblings who attempt to help a woman and her family but encounter the supernatural in a racist town.

It has a little bit for everyone who is into horror and it’s just a quick read! I really recommend this one :)

5/5☆ as I expected.

There's so many subgenres of horror packed into this beautiful collection.

Some standouts for me were

Flicker - L.D. Lewis

A Grief Of The Dead - Rion Amilcar Scott

Hide and Seek - P. Djèlí Clark

And last but not least,

The Rider - Tananarive Due

I went into this collection being fairly certain I was going to fall in love with it, and I'm happy I was 100% proven right.

This book is loaded with star power but all tell some fascinating stories that intersect between dark fantasy and racial tension.

Probably one of my favorite reads of the year and an incredible way to find more black horror authors ! Highly recommend

Thank you for the arc

A collection of horror tales written by Black authors. Some have racism as a theme, while many do not. The stories were very gook there are only two I did not like. The stories were mostly not scary but they had plenty of atmosphere and weird or shocking endings. I loved the writing all around.

1. Reckless Eyeballing by NK Jemison - A crooked cop starts seeing the front headlights on some cars turn into real eyes. He sees this as a sign that the car's driver is a criminal. Entertaining with a great ending. (4/5)

2. Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse - Brother and sister monster hunters go to a rural farmhouse to search for a monster killing animals and now something bigger. A delightful story with great characters. (4/5)

3. Wandering Devil by Cadwell Turnbull - Freddy was a wandering man. He'd stop somewhere and stay awhile then suddenly move on again but this time he fell in love and couldn't decide whether to stop for good or not. Very engaging story, and we feel for Freddy. Then a strange ending. (4/5)

4. Invasion of the Baby Snatchers by Nneka Arimah - This starts off describing the alien invasion of impregnating people and then goes on to describe one particular case. It's another fine story with a creepy ending. (4/5)

5. The Other One by Violet Allen - A woman can't stop thinking about her ex of three weeks. He just up and told her he didn't love her one day. This was a little hard to understand and I don't get it. It left me feeling 'meh'. (3/5)

6. Lasiren by Erin E. Adams - A folk tale of a woman in the sea and a girl who goes missing. This was just so-so, readable but it didn't do anything for me. (3/5)

7. The Rider by Tananarive Due - Two young women get on a bus to Montgomery to join the Freedom Riders in 1961. Really good. The author turns a realistic story into a paranormal by adding a strange man/creature. (4/5)

8. The Aesthete by Justin C Key - it's never stated as such but an AI narrates this story about him meeting a woman AI and a special bond between. I enjoyed the story but found it confusing at times. An expanded version would be more satisfying (4/5)

9. Pressure by Ezra Claytan Daniels - Three cousins reunite at one of their mum's places. A series of events leads to a shocking end. Really good. (4/5)

10. Dark Home by Nnedi Okorafor - much longer than the other stories. A woman goes back to Nigeria to bury her father. There is a traditional send-off for him. When she returns to Arizona she brings something back with her. A completely satisfying story. Good characterization of the main character and an interesting plot. (4/5)

11. Flicker by LD Lewis - The lights go off for the world and no one can see a thing. This lasts 21 seconds and causes chaos. The world is ending. This was fantastic. So creepy. Great ending. My favorite so far. (5/5)

12. The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson - A girl who was orphaned by the giant beast who lives in the sea hole in the village goes in to kill it. Written like a folk tale, this story was good but didn't interest me much. (3/5)

13. The Norwood Trouble by Maurice Broaddus - This story reads as the horrors of man. Set after the Civil War in Indiana which is in the North but ruled by the South. It tells of racism and how it explodes one night. The story eventually turns supernatural or as the story says "preternatural". A harrowing tale as it's so real. (4/5)

14. A Grief of the Dead by Rion Amilcar Scott - A man's twin brother died in a mass shooting, his parents in a CO2 accident, and his Uncle Charlie was carried off by screeches. His sister comes to see him saying the dead are visiting her. From here the story turns into something completely different. Good characterization and an intricate plot. I didn't find it creepy or atmospheric, though. Decent enough story. (3/5)

15. A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree by Nicole D Sconiers - Two ghosts, for want of a better word, haunt a stretch of highway called "Dead Man's Curve" playing a game of who can kill the most men. Not exactly creepy but I like the women's stories and their powers. (3/5)

16. An American Fable by Chesya Burke - Just after WWII a black soldier returns home to find that in the South blacks are not treated any better than before. On the train to Chicago, he stands up for the other blacks and things go from bad to strange for him. A bit of fantasy in here changes this from an historical tale to something otherworldly but it's just okay. (3/5)

17. Your Happy Place by Terence Taylor - Martin has a happy home life but is worried about his job. He's a prison guard working at an experimental facility where he keeps noticing odd things happening and he wants to find the answers. I loved this one. The first story with a science fiction edge. And very creepy when you think about it. ,(4/5)

18. Hide & Seek by P Djeli Clark - A boy's mother lies in bed her body changing, her breathing heavy. Then he tells the back story of magic in his family. I loved this one. The boy is almost 12 and reads as such; is an entertaining story with a frightening end. (4/5)

19. Origin Story by Tochi Onyebuchi - Written as a play. Political. I got the message but certainly did not consider it entertaining. (0/5)

This was a little underwhelming for me! While I did like few of the stories the others were weirdly out of place. This wasn’t giving. My favorite story is Eye & Tooth!

I struggled a lot reading this book!

Thank you NetGalley for sending the ARC to me

I should've taken Peele's penchant for sci-fi into consideration when I picked up this tome. It's not that I dislike sci-fi, it just would have made me change my expectations about the selections included in the story before I read them looking for less genred horror. There were a few stories I liked, but this anthology had less redeeming stories than similar anthologies I've picked up this year.

After reading this, it's easy to see why Jordan Peele was involved with the reboot of The Twilight Zone. Only here, he chose EVERY story and they are amazing. Some aren't as memorable as others which is ok, not all of them can be classics but that's also the fun of a anthology and this one is no different! Hope JP makes another one of these soon!

3.5 stars.
I was intrigued by this Jordan Peele-coedited collection as Jordan Peele has created his own compelling and unusual horror stories. I'm familiar with a number of this story collection's authors and like their work so it was a no-brainer that I'd want to read this anthology.

The stories comprised a number of elements, such as the US's Jim Crow years, to monster hunters, to zombies, and to alien invasion. There are complicated family relationships, dark humour, grief and violence, while all authors also incorporating social commentary. And there is horror, but more to do with social and cultural attitudes and actions arising from them.

A few of the stories didn't quite hit for me, but I could appreciate all of them. My favourites were:

-Eye & Tooth by Rebecca Roanhorse: 4 stars
-Wandering Devil by Caldwell Turnbull: 4 stars
-The Rider by Tananarive Due - 4 stars
-Dark Home by Nnedi Okorafor: 4 stars
-The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson: 4 stars
-The Norwood Trouble by Maurice Broaddus: 4 stars
-A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree by Nocole D. Sconiers: 4 stars
-Hide & Seek by P. Djèlí Clark: 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and to Random House Publishing Group - Random House for this ARC in exchange for my review.

Exploring “not only the terror of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation,” this was an outstanding collection wherein almost every story was so good that I wish it could have been expanded on for a full-novel experience. What I find interesting in these gatherings of tales across cultures, is seeing what it is that scares me (the end-of-the-world ones are particularly freaky) as opposed to something that while perhaps fascinating, doesn’t seem all that frightening–because it comes from a part of the world so wholly different from what I know. Even as I am writing those words, I realize that is some privileged white lady shit. I am not unaware. Three exceptionally memorable ones in that sort of personally-scary-for-me apocalyptic vein are Invasion of the Baby Snatchers, which is as outlandish and otherworldly as you might imagine, and both “Flicker” and “Pressure,” which begin as mundane little tales but are –absolutely– not.

Peele's anthology is everything you can hope for from a short story collection: not a dud in the bunch, and a whole new crop of authors to check out.

Spooktacular!

If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you know that I can be a it picky about short story collections . They tend to be be a hit or a miss for me and I’m glad to say, Out There Screaming, was surprising to me in the best of ways. As soon as I saw Jordan Peele (one of my favorite horror film directors) was attached to the project, it got me excited to read the collection. While horror media is slowly becoming more diverse, it still has a long way to go. These chilling tales was so refreshing for me. The horror is told from a Black writer’s experience which is often overlooked in the mainstream media.

A few stories were duds but most of them were excellent and engaging reads. From a tales of demonic blues player from Georgia to alien abductions, this collection offers a variety of types of stories from the weirdly sci-fi to downright horror, the collection varies in the intensity of terror and pulls from history, conspiracy theories, folktales, and more. No two tales are the same and each one offers something different. Many stories open up a larger discussion about race relations, the Civil Rights Movement, and ancestry just to name a few.

My favorite stories in the collection include:

-Reckless Eyeballing
-Your Happy Place
-Lasirèn
-The Rider
-Dark Home

The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World
This is a fantastic collection of horror that is great for Spooky Season or if you want to read a novel that will send chills down your spine. I was introduced to so many new-to-me authors and I’ll definitely be checking out their works in the future

I enjoyed this short story collection! They were creepy, unique, and perfect for halloween. I’m excited to see what this author comes up with next.

This was obviously going to be a must-read for me: short stories, Jordan Peele, African American writers, and horror. Done!

I wanted to read something spooky for Halloween, and this anthology of short stories matched the vibe I was going for perfectly. There were a few stories that actually even left me feeling downright scared (which is hard to do, especially with this form of writing). I loved this slate of writers that the master filmmaker/writer Peele has assembled here. These writers are at the top of their game, so it was exciting to see their work all gathered in one place.

There’s a wide breadth of horror subjects here – everything from zombies and aliens to ghosts and monsters. But the aspect that makes this collection unique is that many of the stories contain elements of African American culture that aren’t often represented (including things like voodoo or ancient magic). I loved how the trope of the black person getting killed first in horror movies is completely flipped in these stories. I never knew quite where each story was headed, and this off-balance tone created a creepiness that truly lends itself to the horror genre.

Of course with any short story collection, there are going to be a few stories that just don’t hit. There weren’t many in this book, but there were a couple that didn’t land with me personally (which is probably the only thing preventing me from giving this five stars). Plus, I’m excited to check out several of these authors other works in the future.

My favorite stories included “Reckless Eyeballing” by N.K. Jemisin, “Eye and Tooth” by Rebecca Roanhorse, “The Rider” by Tananrive Due, “Pressure” by Ezra Claytan Daniels, “Flicker” by L.D. Lewis, and “Your Happy Place,” by Terence Taylor.

I can’t explain how happy I would be if Peele edited another anthology like this every Halloween!

Where some of these stories will land depends on an individual reader's taste in horror. I personally found about half very solid and half feeling rushed or compressed. The first and last stories were particular positive standouts.

Thank you @prhaudio and @penguinrandomhouse for the complimentary audiobook and ebook of this fabulous collection of short stories.

Out There Screaming is a horror anthology edited by Jordan Peele (Key and Peele, Get Out, Nope), and it’s packed with stories from black authors about black horror. I’ve only read the first four, but it was enough for me to want to share it with you, especially as a last minute Halloween purchase or borrow.

I plan to read these stories over time, and I very much look forward to it. I especially love the supernatural stories that highlight the true horrors of humanity, reminding us that all people are human and not objects.

Horror fans will definitely want this collection!

Anthologies are tricky beasts--I've very rarely read one in which I loved each story equally (or, frankly, in which I didn't find myself wanting to skip a few entries). In OUT THERE SCREAMING, Jordan Peele comes as close as I've ever seen to an all-hits-no-skips array of Black horror, spanning centuries and exploring multiple facets of the genre. The collection starts with an NK Jemison story that feels like a Twilight Zone episode and ends with a conceptual bang by Tochi Onyebuchi. In between, the stories range from dystopian science fiction to magical realism steeped in African mythologies to ghost stories to gothic creepers. This is horror in a classic sense--full of dread and eeriness--rather than SAW-style blood and guts, and the collection definitely skews toward social horror (unsurprising, since Peele is orchestrating!). A fantastic way to test out some of the best writers in horror, sci fi, and fantasy today--don't sleep on this one!

Thanks Netgalley for this opportunity!
I really enjoyed some of these stories. The collection Jordan Peele put together is really fantastic and very diverse. I particularly was drawn to those that had an incredibly spooky or sci-fi nature to them. The one with the demon girl is excellent, and I particularly liked the ones about 'creators' and human art, and the one about the lights going out. Those I thought all had some deep rooted, really good anecdotes behind the creepiness.
But I can't give this more than three stars because some of the other stories, particularly the longer ones, were really dull. I think they just didn't suit me. But the nice thing about an anthology of stories is I could skip ahead through the ones that just weren't bringing it home.