I really enjoyed all the stories in this collection, but I’m so glad I listened to the audiobook vs just reading it. The narration was fantastic and totally made the book for me. The stories are unique and made me both cheer and shriek in equal amounts!

Special thanks to @torteen for my gifted copy‼️

After reading a couple mixed reviews on this one it was a must I read it for myself. The White Guy Dies First is a collection of 13 short horror stories surrounding fear and power. While I didn’t love every story I think as a whole the book is pretty decent. A few of the stories were meh but there were a few that actually made me want more and would make great Halloween movies.

𝕊𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝔽𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕:

* 5⭐️ All Eyes On Me by Faridah Abike-Iyimide- “It just a circus it was a place where people go to shed their demons, real and imagined.”
* 5⭐️ Hedge by Kalynn Bayron- “A place to be at one with nature.”
* 3.5⭐️ the Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake
* 5⭐️ Best Served Cold by H.E. Edgmon- “Human beings become monsters when they taste their own people’s flesh.
* 3.75⭐️ the Protégé by Lamar Giles
* 4⭐️ Docile Girls by Chloe G - “Docile girls, who didn’t have enough humanity to do terrible things, who only lived to please, caught in the middle of such a terrible incident.”
* 4⭐️ Gray Grove by Alexis Henderson
* 4⭐️ Everything’s Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson
* 3⭐️ Heaven by Adiba Jaigi
* 3⭐️ Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia
* 3⭐️ Wasps by Mark Oshiro
* 4⭐️ Hell is Other Demons by Karen Strong - “Humans are the real demons.”
* 3.5⭐️ the Road to Hell by Terry J Benton-Walker

Each story had a uniquely different feel when it came to the eerie, creepy and supernatural elements. We get a dark circus, house of mirrors, a haunted garden, missing father, a Japanese revenge ghost, cannibalism, a evil magician, high school murder, spirit box and a seance, a haunted slave plantation, the last city on earth, a sleepwalker, a demon possession, and a house from hell. It’s nowhere near scary so if that’s what you’re looking for this ain’t it but I highly recommend you add it to your TBR for spooky szn‼️

Whoa, what a diverse read this YA horror was! I loved how each story was unique and different. They all stood out on their own and now I wish I wrote notes as I listened. Some were a bit gruesome, but what horror book doesn't have that, right? It has clowns, slashers, cannibals, dark basements and more!
I really enjoyed the narration. There were several talented voices that kept me engaged till the very end. The narrators were Alejandro Antonio Ruiz, André Santana, Angel Pean, Joy Ofodu, Kausar Mohammed, and Nicky Endres. Together with the authors their narration was fantastic and addicting. If you're looking for a quick short story YA horror read where the white guy dies first, be sure to check this one out.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review* This was a good, entertaining compilation of stories for sure lol would recommend

I knew this was going to be good, but this collection took my breath away! Such compelling, chilling stories by a truly talented group of writers. It was amazing to read some favourite authors like Tiffany D. Jackson AND find some new authors I can’t wait to explore!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So good! Each story was an absolute 5/5. They were placed so well in the book and each was so well written.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, Tor Teen, and Terry J. Benton-Walker (editor) for the opportunity to read and listen to the audiobook of The White Guy Dies First in exchange for an honest review.
Audio Cast: Aejandro Antonio Ruiz; André Santana; Angel Pean; Joy Ofodu; Kausar Mohammed; Nicky Endres; Samara Naeymi; Terry J. Benton-Walker; Torian Brackett

This book is a collection of thirteen horror stories where, you guessed it, the white guy dies first! Each story will have an individual rating, a small blurb, its horror feature, and my thoughts on the story itself. The "Ghoulfriends Online Blog" serves as a sort of preface, while an epilogue follows all the stories at the end, offering a rounded-closure.

Ghoulfriends Online Blog
Rating: 5/5
Super short self-explanatory theme that seems to tie all the stories together through a foundational piece. It was only a few pages, yet packet a powerful punch in the 13 missing white guys and the potential of murder.

"All Eyes on Me" by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Killer Clowns
Helen wants to go to the circus with her new boyfriend, Asher. Though he isn't all she thought him to be, when she finds he has joined her in the fun house, horror strikes. Though full of clown fear and circus horror cliches, this was a fun one, with an eloquent writing style to perfectly execute the fear-factor.

"Hedge" by Kalynn Bayron
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Nature's Revenge
Wesley and Brandon, with some other friends, seek to cause some mischievous fun by blowing up some fireworks. The designated location: the old topiary garden, being torn down by the city due to its horrifying history. This is your classic hedge maze scenario. Get lost in the maze and meet death. With the stories about people disappearing, save for their skin, the intrigue for the reader is guessing what could possibly be in the maze. A thoroughly enjoyable horror story where a night of playful fun takes a turn for the worst.

"The Golden Dragon" by Kendare Blake
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Paranormal
Sophie and Summer are Korean sisters whose family runs a Chinese restaurant, and yet they get mixed up for Japanese all the time. When Sophie's friends go to a Japanese garden, they emerge from an unexpected murder. There are a lot of stigma about Asian cultures all being the same, using this short story to really show the cultural differentiation among Asian countries. It shows how ignorant people can be. The characterization was excellent for a story that was only an hour long, and I enjoyed the grudge-monster aspect with an interesting twist at the end.

"Best Served Cold" by H.E. Edgmon
Rating: 4.5/5
Horror Feature: Cannibals
EJ hates his dark eyes. When he goes to a Powwow, he meets Isaac, who has gorgeous green eyes. But his friend might like Isaac, so the guy is off-limits. When EJ breaks down, Isaac pulls over to help him...or rather...help himself to some fresh meat. A perfectly mundane Native American teen-with-a-crush story with the meat-hook barn imagery and the cleaving grossness that comes with cannibalism. An obvious twist told in the most gruesome, grossly thrilling, and best of ways! I love Edgmon's craft and the flow of this story was just perfect.

"The Protege" by Lamar Giles
Rating: 2/5
Horror Feature: The Occult
Who wouldn't want to have some fun when the parents are away for the weekend? Though this allows for the creepy neighbor to come over. Something about a magician. Then a body part or something in a box? This story wasn't very well put together and doesn't resonate with me. Very unmemorable, a bit confusing, and rather boring.

"Docile Girls" by Chloe Gong
Rating: 5/5
Horror Feature: Slasher
Adelaide has to help decorate for the school dance. Her ex and his racist buddies are also there. When people start being sawed, chopped, and sliced open, the group turns on each other, never suspecting the true culprit. I liked the revenge aspect of this story. The writing style was eloquent and the descriptions of the deaths was just the right level of gruesome gore. This story is just so haunting in its innocent setting-turned murder spree.
"Gray Grove" by Alexis Henderson
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Southern Gothic
A haunted old plantation house where many slaves have dies, as well as the location of Kyle Adams' disappearance 40 years prior, is perfect for a seance. It becomes the perfect filming location for the "Girls and Ghosts" podcast, that is, until spooky turns to horrifying. This story is a nice Southern Gothic similar to films like Paranormal Activity or The Haunting. It has all the fun of entertainment-seeking, with the everything-goes-wrong horror aspect. It's a good short story.

"Everything's Coming Up Roses" by Tiffany D. Jackson
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Found Media
Lisa's love of gardening is heavily influenced by her grandmother. She lands her dream job at the Home Depot gardening section, where she can happily tend to flowers and get discounts on all her gardening needs, though her love of gardening may harbor an even deeper secret. The structure of this story is interesting because its told as more of a letter or journalistic style, so the first-person perspective has a little bit of a twist to the way it is read. I enjoyed the writing and structure, and found the creep factor to be something like "There is no such thing as an innocent gardener," or some such message. It was a fun story.

"Heaven" by Adiba Jaigirdar
Rating: 5/5
Horror Feature: Post-Apocalyptic Survival
An absolutely intriguing short story taking place in a post-apocalyptic world where global warming has caused a loss of land and an evolution of strange water monsters that kill humans and take them to the newfound depths below. While post-apocalyptic, the remaining human city of Heaven could be considered a dystopian society, as its remaining governing force harbors an array of secrets from the people, especially from those born into the post-world. An absolute gem of a short story.

"Break Through Our Skin" by Naseem Jamnia
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Body Horror
The main character is of Persian ancestry and sees themself as nonbinary. They consider their cultural traditions for male and female and try to find a blend that works for them. They are a student of archeology asked last-minute to help with a project. The professor is a conceited bigot of a white man who believes everything he knows about ancient Persian history is accurate, and his disregard for gender is obnoxious. Well...good thing The White Guys Dies First in this collection, am I right? This story demonstrates the lengths people may have to go to get a letter of recommendation to further their pursuits in a career of their liking, and the things people will tolerate to get what they want, when it shouldn't be that way. I enjoyed this story because it has so much to say about race, gender, culture, history, and adds a nice element of ancient magic to the mix. Definitely one of the more interesting stories in the collection that a contemporary audience will appreciate.

"Wasps" by Mark Oshiro
Rating: 3.5/5
Horror Feature: Home Invasion
The home has been in the family forever, so when buyers want to take it over in a spruce-up-the-neighborhood project, there is reluctance. With sacrifice, perhaps the home will be saved? This one was decent. At first it felt like a haunted house story when discussing family and ancestry, but when the real danger became clear, the steps taken to save the family home are horrifyingly brutal.

"Hell is Other Demons" by Karen Strong
Rating: 3.5/5
Horror Feature: Demonic Possession
What could go wrong with a demon summoning? This one was interesting because the demon's name is redacted with white noise in the audiobook, which was a nice effect. This adds to the whole "names have power" trope with demon summoning. While Brett might have been the one to initiate, Evelyn has plans of her own. 

"The Road to Hell" by Terry J. Benton-Walker
Rating: 4/5
Horror Feature: Haunted House
An interesting end to the collections featuring something like your classic haunted house. The story is told from a second person perspective of the house addressing "you" the reader as one of the boys who just moved in. The family plans to renovate, and while the house seems please at times, it seems menacing at others. Turns out there is another inhabitant in the attic, one not-so-benign. I liked the perspective and found it a more unique way of telling a haunted house story to give it a more fresh feel. This one was pretty interesting.

Final Thoughts:
My favorite story was "Heaven" because of the post-apocalyptic world. The world building in such a short amount of time is incredible, and the more the reader learns about this world and the last human city, Heaven, the more it builds on intrigue. I especially love the secret researching of the newly evolved monsters due to global warming, and their twist later on. "Docile Girls" is a close second favorite, as I just loved the revenge aspect; the drive just felt so warranted. And the mystery behind the killings and the absolute onslaught, along with the writing style, is a lushly horrifying pleasure.
My least favorite story was "The Protege." The writing and main idea was just so convoluted and what was going on was very unmemorable. It didn't really feel frightening either.
I enjoyed the selected story choices for this collection as well as the structure in how they are presented. There are quite a few authors present who I read regularly, and I was also introduced to some new authors I found rather enjoyable. This collection is  one of the ultimate young adult reads for any teen horror fan.

This had great spooky vibes (some short stories more than others) and highlighted so many cultures. Definitely worth a read this fall!

I am pleasantly surprised with this audiobook. First, I did love that each story had its own narrator, it helped get in the scene better. Second, none of the stories is a dud, they are all great, of course, I liked a couple more than the others, but no story was boring or just meh. The whole book kept my attention throughout.

Thank you, NetGalley and McMillian Audio for the free audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of short stories was decently thrilling and enjoyable to listen to. I can’t say that I was on the edge of my seat while listening to this, but there were some stories that u definitely liked more than others and was more interested in than others. I think my overall favorite of the 13 was Golden Dragon with Everything’s Coming Up Roses a close second. I loved the way Golden Dragon ended, like an “it is what it is and I’m cool with it” badassery tone. I liked Everything’s Coming Up Roses because of the way it was written and the sheer insanity of the main character. An honorable mention goes to Docile Girls because it reminded me of a slasher film.

Overall, these are great for bite-sized listening and I’d recommend this to others!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me an ARC of this audiobook for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

LOVED the concept, but the stories were a pretty mixed bag for me. I think this would be a great intro for someone into YA horror though! Here are each of the stories and my spoiler-free feelings about them.

1. "All Eyes on Me" by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé - 3 stars
While nothing in here was really twisty or scary, the characters were quite likable.

2. Hedge by Kalynn Bayron - 2 stars
Really unsatisfied with everything about this one. Felt pointless.

3. The Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake - 4 stars
The voice acting here was my favorite out of all the stories. Good mean girls-esque vibe but like with ghosty stuff.

4. "Best Served Cold" by H.E. Edgmon - 5 stars
Super cool take on indigenous skinwalker tales. In a tie with "Break Through Our Skin" for my favorite of the bunch.

5. "The Protege" by Lamar Giles - 2 stars
Felt out of place in a horror collection, more thriller vibes for me, and not a really interesting thriller at that.

6. "Docile Girls" by Chloe Gong - 3 stars
A fun slasher story!

7. "Gray Grove" by Alexis Henderson - 4 stars
True crime podcast girlies will love this one, especially when they also like confronting racists.

8. "Everything's Coming Up Roses" by Tiffany D. Jackson - 3 stars
I love a good epistolary-style story with an unhinged narrator, but this one didn't strike any new chords for me.

9. "Heaven" by Adiba Jaigirdar - 3 stars
The underwater post-apocalyptic world was a cool concept, but could use some expansion and perhaps a feature in a sci-fi collection rather than a horror one.

10. "Break Through Our Skin" by Naseem Jamnia - 5 stars
EXCELLENT nonbinary/trans rep with a super cool ancient entity. Love love LOVE.

11. "Wasps" By Mark Oshiro - 3 stars
Wanted to like this one more than I did. Enjoyed the generational aspects of the story, but that was about it.

12. "Hell is Other Demons" by Karen Strong - 2 stars
Really hated the ear-jarring sound used in place of the demon's name in this audiobook. This one just didn't hook me.

13. "The Road to Hell" by Terry J. Benton-Walker - 4 stars
Super fun haunted house read from the perspective of the haunted house!!

Publication Date: July 16, 2024

The White Guy Dies First

This impressive collection of stories covers fears, myths, and characters from such a wide range it’s hard not to find one to enjoy.

Both its leading and end-cap stories resound in such a way to resonate on one’s mind that there’s no reason to attempt to forget it.

This short story collection, written by BIPOC authors, is exactly how I like my horror reads served up.

In bite-sized pieces.

(I can’t handle a whole book. My bladder can’t take it.)

This assemblage was fantastic. Dense, and disturbing, and mostly open-ended, leaving a tonne to the imagination. The narration was also spot-on.

Thanks to NetGalley, Tor Publishing Group, and Macmillan audio for this creeptastic ARC.

The White Guy Dies First was an excellent anthology collection of thrillers in audio form! I think this would be amazing as a book book to perhaps in a count down to Halloween! Each story was so different and creative!

I'm not a horror fan but I really liked most of these short stories, nice collection. I assume it was YA?

Anthologies are always so hard to review and rate because they’re all short stories. So lately I’ve been rating each individual story and then taking the average. For the most part it turns out to be accurate enough for me. As for reviewing, I just tell you a bit about those that I liked and those that I didn’t. That way you get an accurate look at the whole book.

This one starts off with a bang! And no I don’t mean the first story, I mean the message board that brings the anthology together. I’ve told y’all time and time again that I’m a sucker for books with text messages or social media, so this was no different. Add on to the fact that we see every genre of horror depicted in this, I was too excited! I was ready for this to wow me. And some of the stories definitely did! (Fair warning, they do get more gruesome and more gorey as the anthology goes on!)

The stories I liked were so damn good I had to sit with them for a minute. Like the one by Tiffany D. Jackson. (Of course I loved that one lol) I was a bit confused on where it was going, but when I got to the end, I was staring at the wall. In true TDJ fashion I was shook. I also loved the one by H.E. Edgmon. Yo, I stayed up a little longer to read the next story after that because that one kinda freaked me out. I am not scared of a lot of horror, but the subject of that one always freaks me out lol And of course I loved the one by Chloe Gong. I’ve never read anything by her, but this was my favorite sub-genre of horror and I LOVED it. It is gorey tho so tread carefully. But I mean, when isn’t a book/movie in one of those? And the one by Karen Strong and T.J. Benton-Walker were also good af. And I don’t usually like those sub-genres. I also really liked Alexis Henderson’s. I’ve never read anything by her before, so this was my wake-up call to do so! But my favorite of ALL of them? Definitely Kendare Blake’s. I called it and everything, but it was so good!

But as usual, there were also some I wasn’t a fan of. The one by Abida Jaigirdar was just weird. I wanted so much more from that one. I thought maybe it was just me because I’m not a huge fan of that sub-genre, but someone else who read it said they didn’t care for it either. The one by Lamar Giles and Mark Oshiro and Naseem Jamnia were all good, but not necessarily memorable. And in an anthology with all these big names, you gotta be more than just good. Because the others didn’t come to play! Kalynn Bayron and Faridah’s wasn’t bad, but I just didn’t feel like they were scary.

This was an interesting book and I really loved the way they pulled everything together. Definitely hoping there’s another one in the future because this one was fun. Some of them were weird, but some of them were really good! I hope y’all pick this up!

Astonishing! Breathtaking! Downright scary! These stories are everything you could ask for in a horror anthology. Each one is unique in its own way—not only because of their topics but also their perspectives and writing styles. I found myself not wanting to put these stories down, and the audiobook only added to the spookiness of it all. I loved so many of these authors before I began this collection and will definitely be checking out the novels of the authors I did not know. I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are looking for liberating yet terrifying stories, look no further. Know that yes, the White Guy Dies First, but it does not mean he also dies last.

My favorites in the book were "All Eyes on Me," "The Protege," and "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

Just as the title states, The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power features thirteen horror stories written by a diverse set of authors and each story contains a common element: the white guy is the first victim. I really enjoyed this anthology! It was a lot of fun and featured various horror subgenres and tropes such as clowns, cannibalism, slashers, post-apocalyptic, and haunted houses to name a few. I enjoyed some stories more than others, but the standouts for me were: All Eyes On Me by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, Docile Girls by Chloe Gong, Everything’s Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson (probably my favorite), and Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia. Some of the stories I wish could’ve been longer (Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson) while others I think would have benefited if it were a longer story (Heaven by Adiba Jaigirdar). All of the stories were entertaining though, in my opinion, and the narrators for each were really great! The only audio feature that I did not like at all was during Hell Is Other Demons by Karen Strong, and it wasn’t the writer or narrator but rather the choice to creepily bleep out the name every time it was said, it almost had me wanting to dnf that story entirely.

Factoring all of the stories together, 4 stars out of 5!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The White Guy Dies First: 13 Scary Stories of Fear and Power by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé; Kalynn Bayron; Kendare Blake; H.E. Edgmon; Lamar Giles; Chloe Gong; Alexis Henderson; Tiffany D. Jackson; Adiba Jaigirdar; Naseem Jamnia; Karen Strong; Mark Oshiro; Terry J. Benton-Walker. My comments are an independent, honest review.

Overall I am giving this book 4 Stars. I feel like it is a good average of each story individually. There were some GREAT stories, some good stories and some okay stories. Each story was very different from each other where the only thing they had in common was that a white person dies first. Sometimes no one is safe and sometimes the BIPOC people are the only safe one's and sometimes you get a white final girl AND a POC final girl. Each story being so different keeps you on your toes. The audio book was great having each story narrated by a different person as well which really lends a hand to the overall feel of each one. I think the narrators did great!

A huge thank you to McMillan Audio and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audio book.

My break down of ratings for each story are as follows:
1. All Eyes On Me: Fariday Abike-Iyimide - 4.5
2. Hench: Kalynn Bayron - 5
3. The Golden Dragon: Kendare Blake - 3.5
4. Best Served Cold: H.E. Edgmon - 3
5. The Protégé: Lamar Giles - 3
6. Dossal Girls: Chloe Gong - 5
7. Grey Grove: Alexis Henderson - 4
8. Everything's Coming Up Roses: Tiffany D Jackson - 4.5
9. Heaven: Adiba Jaigirdar - 3.5
10. Break Through Our Skin: Naseem Jamnia - 4
11. Wasps: Mark Oshiro - 4
12. Hell Has Other Demons: Karen Strong - 3.5
13. The Road to Hell: Terry J Benton-Walker - 4

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy.

I love a themed collection of short stories, am basically a sucker for them, and I tend to be a little biased towards them, which may be the case for this collection. I had to contemplate my rating because I read similarly themed collections recently that were absolutely fantastic (Never Whistle at Night and All These Sunken Souls), and I felt like this collection didn't quite reach my expectations for it.

My favorites from The White Guy Dies First:

The Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake - feels so much like a 90s teen horror movie, but with a j-horror spin. I'm a fan of Blake though, especially when she goes horror. I think this could be a fun novel by her.

Best Served Cold by H.E. Edgmon - my favorite of all of them, this one packs a real punch. I actually read it twice, so good and creepy.

Gray Grove by Alexis Henderson - found footage and cosmic horror are always my vibes, and I loved this take on both

Everything's Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson - Jackson is a home-run hitter when it comes to writing. Like she's becoming one of my favorites. Her character work is just fantastic, and this is an excellent example of what she's best at. Plus it's the most fun of all the stories, imo I did this one twice too haha

The rest of the stories are good still, if maybe predictable or forgettable, but the standouts are sure to stick with you. As always I'm impressed overall and always excited to have found more new writers to explore! I loved the mix of newer talent and established writers.

I did get the audiobook galley as well, and each story is read by a different narrator, with proper representation - LOVED this. I don't think there were any bad narrators in the bunch either. As I said, I even "re-read" a few!