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!

Plot- or character-driven? A mix Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The White Guy Dies First: A missing Film Director, never before seen films and the new Final Girl doesn't have to be a girl!
Finally an anthology that examines Hollywood's lack of gender diversity and cultural representation of both actors, and narratives in Horror films.
How hegemonic cisheteropatriarchy and capitalism have created a
Hollywood whitewashed standard in horror films in which racial and gender diversity can only exist within the confines of stereotypical tropes in a genre that is often characterized as progressive in representation. These authors are here to show us the stories we want to see where the 'black guy'doesn't die first - it's the white guys turn, the final girl can be any gender, and the villians aren't just queer, disabled or white men.. I love the audiobook, it was very welll narrated by a range of different people representative of the pov and narrator of each short story.

I was honestly not prepared for the perfection of this anthology. Every story in here was SO good. It's so rare I can find a anthology collection where every story was a 4-5 star. So many awesome horror/slasher tropes fill the pages. It's creepy, unsettling and gory as heck and I loved every single second of this book. I will 100% be buying a copy and re-reading it cause I cannot stop thinking about some of the stories. Literally the perfect book to pick up for Halloween!

The audiobook was really great! I loved all the narrators, they all did such a great job and really added to the vibe of the book!

Thank you so much Netgalley and the publishers for a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

The title mostly says it all: it's a horror anthology where the white guy dies first (or so it claims...there were a couple stories where I couldn't actually determine who was white and who died first?). It's definitely filled with stories about POC being the "final girl" or at least not the first to be killed off. But as with most anthologies, there were some real duds and some gems, and the duds far outweighed the gems here. The stars were mainly for Mark Oshiro, H.E. Edgmon, and Naseem Jamnia because their stories were by far the best. I think this stellar lineup of authors made my expectations way higher than they should have been, and I think this is a me thing because this happens to me a lot with anthologies. They just don't hit the same as some of these authors' full works do.

I thought this book was a great collection of scary stories where the trope of having the black guy dying first is flipped on its head, where The White Guys First. I thought the premise had hope, and I wasn't disappointed. I recommend this book for any horror film fanatic especially if you have had enough of the black guy dies first trope. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me a copy of the audiobook, in return for an honest review.

[alc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for providing an alc in exchange for an honest review.
The White Guy Dies First releases July 16, 2024

2.5

This anthology is comprised of 13 horror short stories, all written by bipoc authors.
The concept (and title) is brazenly bold, and while I enjoyed the first four stories, the rest that followed fell flat in terms of sticking to a more widespread theme that was cohesive. I found that the depictions of racism and microaggressions were pretty stereotypical, which ended up being underwhelming as a bipoc reader.

All Eyes on Me: queer awakening, circus clowns, mirror fun house.
Hedge: grief, loss of a parent, sibling dynamic, hedge maze.
The Golden Dragon: family restaurant, sibling dynamic, attempted SA, multi-pov, revenge ghost.
Best Served Cold: ancestral trauma, cannibalism.
The Protégé: magic, next door neighbour.
Docile Girls: school dance committee, slasher.
Gray Cove: podcast episode.
Everything’s Coming up Roses: journal entries, restraining order, serial killer.
Heaven: gated community, dystopian, did not feel YA or on theme with any of the other stories.
Break Through Our Skin: transgender/nonbinary, academic, archaeology.
Wasps: residential dispute.
Hell Is Other Demons: demon summoning.
The Road to Hell: ghosts, sentient haunted house.

Short story collections can be a bit of a crapshoot, but I liked if not loved nearly all of the stories in this collection. I also appreciated that there was a bit of a frame narrative that the stories fit into. The White Guy Dies First collects 13 horror stories, some of which span other genres like science fiction and fantasy, by Black, Indigenous, and person of color authors including a number of queer ones. Overall I thought it was a very strong collection and I'll list my favorites...

The Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake follows a Korean girl deserving of revenge.

Best Served Cold by HE Edgemon puts a creepy twist on the Indigenous Skinwalker mythology in a way that is gory and cinematic.

Gray Grove by Alexis Henderson explores the dark side of true crime podcasts.

Wasps by Mark Oshiro has predatory gentrifiers and dark monsters

Definitely worth a read! The audiobook is excellent and has a full cast. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

About a year or so ago I read the book The Black Guy Dies First, which was a really interesting exploration of of Black horror cinema. Now editor Terry J. Benton-Walker bring us a collection of 13 short horror stories that flips the script on that old trope. This is a wild collection of stories, some more disturbing than others, that explore all sorts of horrors. I love that this collection showcases diverse voices in horror, while not using diversity as just some kind of gimmick. Loved many of these stories. I liked the subtle unanswered mystery in ‘Hedge’, and absolutely loved the twisted brutality of ‘Best Served Cold’. No matter what type of horror you prefer, you’re sure to find a number of stories you’ll enjoy. The numerous narrators all delivered excellent performances. This one is definitely worth the time. I’d like to thank Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to an advanced copy of the audio version of The White Guy Dies First.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R5UG4UMIX7JFK/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_SRTC0204BT_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

*ARC Review*
I will be the first to admit I am not a horror person because I am a giant baby, however, this was so good and I’m glad I took a chance on it. This anthology covered horror across multiple mediums to provide social critiques which I think is a pillar of excellent horror. Each story had a unique voice and the overall theme of the anthology was so interesting. This has made me more curious about exploring horror in books.

I also would like to state that the multiple narrators is a huge selling point in this anthology, having a diverse narrator cast to read diverse stories is critical.