This was insightful and completely original. It takes the reader on a journey that converts familiar tropes and makes them into something new. A couple stories are more memorable than others but all of them are solid and stand on their own. None are one or two star ratings.

Similarly to what a lot of other folks have said, I have struggled in the past to really engage with and enjoy anthologies. For the most part, I feel like it’s because I don’t get enough of the story and am left with more questions than I want.

The Black Girl Survives in This One, though…my attention was held. I was engaged in almost every single story as the authors wrote just enough to develop characters and build a plot while keeping the stories to short-story length.

The stories are mainly creepy with some body horror and medical horror. It’s a good mix that keeps each story unique.

I also need to take a moment for the cover of this work. A+.

As soon as I heard about this book, I was hella excited. Did I know who was going to be in it? No. Did I know if they would be actually scary? No. But I still NEEDED it. And yes I do mean Need.

Of course, as I say with all anthologies, there were some I really liked and some that I didn’t really care for. But for this one, I can honestly say there weren’t that many I wasn’t a fan of. Most of them were really good. Like the one from Justina Ireland and L.L. McKinney’s. Those were the ones I remembered from the top of my head. But the one that stood out the most was the one by Desiree S. Evans. I feel like I’m saying every author’s name lol But they really were good.

I do hate to say this, but there were some that I didn’t exactly care for. Like the one about the phone and the other about the epi pens. As someone with a peanut allergy, this wasn’t exactly fun? So I guess it’s medical horror, but like as someone with a peanut allergy, I could have used a content warning on this. My heart stopped. But I didn’t get too angry about them because it they were all short stories and i knew it wouldn’t hurt to DNF any. But I pushed through and read all of them.

As soon as I saw this book was a thing, I knew there was going to be no way that I DIDN’T read this. Literally all of these authors are amazing! And with some of them, like The Skittering Thing, even their titles were creepy lol And I loved that. If you’re a horror newbie or a weenie (as described by my friend who is not a horror fan) there’s also some things in here for you. There’s something for everyone and I hope this doesn’t deter you!

A YA anthology of horror stories centering Black girls who battle monsters, both human and supernatural, and who survive to the end‼️ 

Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death. Prepare to be terrified and left breathless by the pieces in this anthology.

This was a top tier collection of short stories that I could barely put down. The representation was everything‼️ Each author created a unique balance of emotions and unpredictability within their stories. We get mystery, suspense, supernatural elements, folklore retellings, ancestral inheritance, generational curses, terror and fear woven together to highlight a courageous Black character in the end. With any collection there are stories that will always standout amongst the rest.

Favorite short stories:

Ghost Light
The Screamers
Queeniums from Greenium!
Black Girl Nature Group
Local Color
The Black Strings

Overall, this was an amazing collection highly recommended. The pacing was fast, it was vivid and well-written. You’ll never experience a dull moment with this one. I always felt connected to the stories and the characters. Special thanks to the author & @flatironbooks for my advanced copy.

I generally struggle with liking a collection of short stories because some of the stories are better than others. However, as creepy as some of these were, I enjoyed them. I definitely cannot wait for others to read these great stories!

While I love the concept of this story collection, I feel like it falls pretty flat. I know it's a bit of a preconceived notion to come into a YA short story collection with the understanding that some of the stories are going to be good and some are going to be bad, but this is really exemplary of that assumption. Out of the 15, 3 were really phenomenal ('TMI', 'Black Pride', & 'Local Color'). All three were cohesive, had an incredible vibe, good pacing, good reveals/suspense/horror, and weren't too short or too long.

The rest of them were pretty much an even split between feeling like it was just a chapter/scene from a novel or the entire plot of a novel condensed to ~15 pages. On top of that, some had some pretty bad spelling/grammatical errors (most prevalent in 'Queeniums for Greenium!' and 'The Skittering Thing'). While that is understandable because I was reading the eARC, there seemed to be more than there normally would/should be. It implies that this book isn't really cared for in detail by the editorial team, and the publisher may be using this catchy and eye grabbing title to get people to pick it up (which is why I picked it up).

If it were more consistent, this definitely could've been a banger. I feel like if the authors developed their stories into full novels, all of them would be potentially list-worthy. But, as this book stands it's half-baked.

This book is a great collection of short stories that portray Black girls surviving horror stories. They’re so well written that they deserve their own extended stories

What I loved most about this book is that it's Blackity Black. It was the tone of the book. The mannerisms. The knowing. Something that didn't have to be explained because it's a part of our being. Dialogs didn't sound forced or out of place. Pop culture isn't heavily ridden in the text, so others can feel included or know what we discuss. This book was truly meant for us and all the horror geeks who want to see Black people survive in any situation. I also liked that each story wasn't a typical horror story. It wasn't drowned in anything political, slave-like, or have a racist agenda. Here, we get to enjoy what others find horrifying: Zombies, cults, ancient dwellings, ghosts, etc.

Fifteen chilling and thought-provoking stories place Black girls front and center as heroes and survivors who slay monsters, battle spirits, and face down death.

I usually don’t read anthologies. But this one is a must read! It was refreshing to read a positive portrayal of black women in horror stories because they’re usually one of the first ones to go. This anthology made me want to explore these wildly talented authors in more depth!

My favorites out of all the stories were:

• Harvesters by L.L McKinney
• Ghost Light by Erin E. Adams
• The Brides of Devil’s Bayou by Desiree S. Evans
• The Screamers by Daka Hermon

When this anthology is released on 4/2, I highly recommend picking this one up! Thank you to @flatiron_books for reaching out to me and for the opportunity!

Yes for one heck of a collection of trope subversions! I love THE BLACK GIRL SURVIVES IN THIS ONE anthology and am so excited to finally be able to share it with my creative writing students. They are going to love it as much as I do. The stories in this collection are very strong and offer so much to readers. There's something for everyone here in terms of style and types of horrors. Highly recommend!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This collection of horror stories in which Black Girls make it the end was something I didn’t know I needed to read. The dedication and foreword spoke to me followed by the strong first story the Harvesters had me completely enamored with this book. With each authors unique style of storytelling there is definitely something to satisfy all of your horror needs. Overall I truly enjoyed this one. Each story had me excited to turn the page to see what happened.

Here are a few of my favorites:
•Harvesters by LL McKinney
•The Skittering Thing by Monica Brashears
•Black Girl Nature Group by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite
•Welcome Back to the Cosmos by Kourtney Nash

Let me start by saying that going into an anthology, there are some stories you’ll enjoy and some you won’t. With that being said, this collection featured such a mixed bag of different types of horrors and stories everyone will find something to enjoy. The Black Girl Survives in This One ensnared me almost immediately so I wanted to give love to some of my favorites.

I’d be remiss to not give a shoutout to both Desiree and Saraciea’s stories as they were so much fun. Desiree’s was focused on breaking a family curse while Saraceia’s was a unique and fun take on the classic graveyard zombie trope. Both catered to different audiences but showed just how vastly different yet fun the collection is.

Another I really enjoyed was Harvesters by L.L. McKinney which focused on two friends at a house party that are just trying to make it home. This one doesn’t know how you might expect and it ended up being incredibly spooky. Then there was Ghost Light by Erin E. Adams which follows a young theater production manager as she’s dealing with some unexpected ghostly happenings.

Some more unique ones I couldn’t stop reading were Queeniums for Greeniums by Brittney Morris which felt like the MLM horror story I’ve been dying for. Then there was The Black Strings by Vincent Tirado which was a unique type of horror that had an interesting ending, to say the least. Of the entire collection, I’m most intrigued to read more from Monica Brashears.

If you’re interested in this one at all, I think you should give it a try. You might end up finding a new author to try. Plus all of these stories play into different types of horror but in the end, we all know the Black girl survives.

In The Black Girl Survives In This One by multiple authors I want to say the Harvesters and welcome back to the Cosmus which are the first and second story or worth buying this book for I loved these two stories they were entertaining and although the others were as well some of them sadly fell back on the same old white people are racist trope which doesn’t make me angry and makes me feel bad that in this day and age we’re still pointing out the obvious and not exploring the talent God gave us. They had some really good stories in here and although the ones I named before are my favorite some others I want to mention or Cemetery dance party, local color, and before I forget and I can’t believe it took me this long to mention it black strings is the most clever story in the book there was another story about the shape shifter well there was more than one about the shape shifter but it was the one towards the end and I feel so bad I can’t remember the name because I absolutely thought that was a brilliant story as well there were some that just confuse me and some I just didn’t like but most of the stories were so good and a few more really really good so I definitely recommend this book for those like me who love short story collections because I know sometimes when getting a short story collection a couple of stories will be great or passable in the rest are just… Well stories but in this book I don’t believe anyone will be disappointed it’s really a great great group of stories for the most part. I want to thank the publisher and Net Gally for my free Ark copies please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review

What a fantastic anthology of horror stories. I think I enjoyed every single one of them, which doesn't always happen in anthologies. I hope to see any of these authors do full horror books again/for the first time.

This is a solid YA horror anthology. I had fun reading this collection of short stories.. each one unque and few creepier than others. Every story had underlining messages and themes and that's whst I love best in most well written horror. Expically horror written in the short story format sometimes is the strongest. Few of them came through and I will stick with me for a while.
I mostly enjoyed these stories :
▪︎ Welcome Back To The Cosmos [I'd love to see this written little longer]
▪︎ The Brides of Devils Bayou
▪︎ Queeniums for Greenium
▪︎ Black Strings
▪︎ Foxhunt
But one thing I felt was that something felt lacking something felt missing perhaps go slightly further ? Little bit more darker?
I can't put my finger on it and stories fell flat and one I think I miss the whole point.
Overall it was one hell of a ride.

I'm always heartened to see more diverse perspectives and voices being elevated in horror, so when I saw that there was a new YA horror anthology that showcased Black women authors, appropriately titled "The Black Girl Survives in This One", I knew that I wanted to read it. And overall I was pretty happy with this anthology. My favorite stories included "Ghost Light", "The Brides of Devil's Bayou", and "The Skittering Thing", which really worked for me for different reasons. I will say that at the end of the day the usual (for me) pitfalls of YA horror did peek through on a few of the stories (telling rahter than showing, hamfisted commentary, the need to spell things out for a teenage audience), but as a whole I enjoyed the stories here, and I really liked how they centered Black girls, as that just isn't seen as much as it should be in the horror genre.

THE BLACK GIRL SUVIVES IN THIS ONE is a fun horror collection! If you have horror fans in your life who are teens and patrons at your library, get this in their hands.

Wow! This book was one of my top 2 most anticipated books of 2024 and it DELIVERED!

I was hooked from just the dedication and foreword and I stayed hooked the entire time! I sped through this book! It was so fast paced, both the individual stories and the collection as a whole. I loved that the stories were on the longer side (20+ pages) because it really gave them time to develop. There were stories that were creepy, some that were fun, and some that were straight up horrifying! There were also mentions of Black history throughout the stories and I feel like they did a great job of saying enough about them to teach teens some history, but they still kept overall fun horror feel of the collection! But, I can see those mentions making teens interested enough to do their own research on those topics.

Some of my favorite stories were The Skittering Thing by Monica Brashears, The Brides of Devil’s Bayou by Desiree S. Evans, Black Girl Nature Group by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite, and Harvesters by L. L. McKinney! But I enjoyed every single story except for one. Queeniums for Greenium! by Brittney Morris was the only story I didn’t enjoy. I found both the main character and the story as a whole to be very condescending and judgmental to people who live a different lifestyle than them. The story made it seem as if natural & spiritual healing (herbalism, crystals, reiki, etc.) is inherently stupid & the people who believe in it are not only stupid, but evil. That path is obviously not for everyone, especially disabled people, but it’s not stupid. I did not appreciate the condescension from that story. But, other than that, every other story was great!

This collection is amazing for both teenage and adult horror lovers! I’d love to see it get adapted one day as a series with each story having its own episode! I have so many thoughts about the collection as a whole and the individual stories, so I will definitely be talking about this book on my YouTube channel (Book Tribe) soon!

Individual story ratings:

📚 Harvesters by L. L. McKinney: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

📚 Welcome Back to the Cosmos by Kortney Nash: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 Ghost Light by Erin E. Adams: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 The Brides of Devil’s Bayou by Desiree S. Evans: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 TMI by Zakiya Dalilah Harris: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (TW: racism)

📚 Black Pride by Justina Ireland: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (TW: racism)

📚 The Screamers by Daka Hermon: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (TW: grief, death of a family member)

📚 Queeniums for Greenium! By Brittney Morris: ⭐️⭐️ (TW: fat phobia)

📚 Inheritance by Camara Aaron: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

📚 Black Girl Nature Group by Maika Moulite & Maritza Moulite: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (TW: death of a family member, racism)

📚 Cemetery Dance Party by Saraciea J. Fennell: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 The Skittering Thing by Monica Brashears: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 The Black Strings by Vincent Tirado: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (TW: death of parents)

📚 Local Color by Eden Royce: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚 Foxhunt by Charlotte Nicole Davis: ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

Thank you so much to Flatiron Books for this arc! All opinions are my own.

The Black Girl Survives In This One is a YA horror anthology co -edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennell. I was interested in this one from the title alone. As we know the joke goes that Black people never survive in horror movies. So when picking this up I was excited because I knew that the Black girl would survive!

I am usually not a fan of short story collections but I am very into this one. The tropes that are presented within each story are great because the authors make them original because you never know what you will get.

My favorite story has been Ghost Light by Erin E. Adams. It is a poltergeist story and the main character finds out what happens when you disrespect theatre traditions.

I would say that these stories are not necessarily scary but they are extremely creepy and eerie. So, if you are a fan of horror and creepy vibes I would recommend you to add this to your TBR

Thank you so much to @flatiron books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. TBGSTO is out 4/2

Anthologies are so fun. I love finding new authors through short stories. Sometimes they can be a real mixed bag as well with a few good ones and a few not so great but this anthology was STRONG. I loved the premise as the title tells us that the Black girl survives. Which sometimes lessened the tension a little bit but each story brought a lot to the table. All of the main final girls were strong, smart and easy to root for.

My favorite stories were The Harvesters, Ghost Light and TMI But honestly I enjoyed all of them.

Thanks to Netgalley and Flat Iron Books for an eARC.

3.5/5 ✨
BIPOC Authors. Anthology.

The Black Girl Survives in This One is an anthology of 15 YA horror short stories about black female MC’s by black female/nonbinary authors.

Harvesters (7.5/10✨) is about a girl who when a house party gets out of hand finds herself lost in a haunted field. I enjoyed the dialogue and concept in this one as well as the ending.

Welcome Back to the Cosmos (7/10 ✨) follows a girl who works in deep space as a surveyor; except, people in space have been going missing. I loved the ending of this one. Vibes-wise, the story definitely reminded me of Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes.

Ghost Light (7/10 ✨) is about a high school theater production stage manager who finds herself haunted by a ghost when the play goes wrong. I enjoyed the main character and liked the anxious, eerie vibes of this one.

The Brides of Devils Bayou (6/10 ✨) follows a girl who has feared a multigenerational curse on her family her entire life and returns home to confront it. I loved the premise of this one, but wanted a little more out it.

TMI (9.5/10 ✨) is about a scholarship girl at an elite school who when a famous scholarship alumni visits, finds herself plagued with thoughts that aren’t her own. The concept for this one was so creative and fun, and I loved the order in which this story was told.

Black Pride (9/10 ✨) follows a girl who visits a cabin in the woods with her friends near a lake where some kids have been disappearing. This one felt reminiscent of summer with some fun woodsy vibes, interesting characters, and a nice, twisty ending.

The Screamers (6/10 ✨) is about a girl who has recently lost her brother and moves with her family to a new house with a sordid past. The premise of this one was fun, though not original, and it was nice and atmospheric.

Queeniums for Greenium! (6.5/10 ✨) follows a girl who goes with her sister to a wellness retreat and gets more than she bargained for. The ending of this one was very satisfying, and the story as a whole was reminiscent of Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang.

Inheritance (9/10 ✨) is follows a girl at her first high school party who’s trying to forget an awful summer that can’t seem to let her go. Inheritance was super nostalgic with a creative premise and a gratifying ending.

Black Girl Nature Group (7.5/10 ✨) is about a girl who’s unsurprisingly a part of a black girl nature group that when she attends an overnight group trip in the woods, finds herself at the mercy of people who feed off black suffering. I thought this one had a lot of important themes and a relatable MC.

Cemetery Dance Party (8/10 ✨) follows a horror connoisseur who throws her year’s senior party in a graveyard with a few skeleton’s in the closet. The premise of this one was gold! I enjoyed the nonstop tension and the eerie vibes.

The Skittering Thing (4.5/10 ✨) is follows a girl who decides to celebrate her birthday with the new girl in town and quickly realizes what might be a game to her could be lethal. I had mixed feelings about this one. I think I was mostly left feeling unsure what message I was supposed to take away from it.

Black Strings (4.5/10 ✨) is about a girl who can see imminent death, who at a music competition she and her sister’s band are entered in, senses the imminent death of nearly everyone around her. The premise was so promising, but the end of this one definitely left me confused and disappointed.

Local Color (4/10 ✨) follows a girl who finds a treasure map that she thinks can help her find her missing parents. This story missed on plot, horror, and character for me. I didn’t hate it, but this story just didn’t resonate for me.

Foxhunt (7.5/10 ✨) is about a girl at a new, predominantly white high school who gets pulled into a tradition involving a game in the woods. The MC of Foxhunt was extremely relatable, and the story had great anxiety rep.

Overall, this was an engaging and cohesive horror anthology. My favorite stories were TMI, Black Pride, and Inheritance because of their engaging themes, immersive stories, and impactful endings. The stories I struggled the most with were the ones that left me feeling like I’d missed something pivotal. I’d recommend The Black Girl Survives in This One to anyone who loves horror with tons of rep, impactful and ambiguous endings, creative twists, and immaculate creepy vibes.

Much thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of this book for my honest review.