I have read a lot of Native American writing this past year, and especially within the horror genre. I could not however get into these stories, they did not have a compelling plot or characters. There was nothing to draw you into the conflict in the story.

I loved these delicious short horror stories with some gleefully dark stories and awesome vibes that i loved.

Thank you for this arc!

I’ve been extremely into short horror stories for this spooky season and this just scratched an itch that I have had! It has 11 short creepy stories that I absolutely loved! I don’t want to spoil anything for the readers but this is great for all horror lovers!

(Rounded down from 4.5)

This tight, eclectic collection was great. The eleven stories have different interpretations of what makes a horror story, or what precisely is horrific, and they come together in a dark, moody collection that is filled with passion and heart. I genuinely enjoyed each of these stories, with the last three being particularly strong but none in the collection being bad, only a couple I would individually rate as 3 stars and the rest all above that.

With a collection that is centered around the identities of the authors, not the style or content or theme of the stories, it is always interesting to see what each pulls forward, how they engage the horrific through the lens of their identity. There is a good diversity, from sci-fi horror to survival horror to cosmic horror to imperialist-folk horror to the quiet horrors just found in the mundane. There are genres absent, like body horror, and some that I would have liked to see more from, like supernatural horror, but with a collection this small that isn’t unexpected, and the collection doesn’t really suffer for it as the selected stories work well together. The explore a wide range of indigenous experience and creativity, and never feel like they need to be simplified for a general audience. None of the stories hit me as really “scary,” but many were definitely dark, a few inspired me to check over my shoulder, and they all gave me something to think on. The penultimate story, especially, is the farthest away from any sort of traditional horror that you might expect—its setup is a very traditional horror but where it goes is someplace different. I was left with chills when I finished it, realizing the actual horror that was being exposed in the story was maybe the most damning and terrifying suggestion in the whole collection.

Any story, or collection, that makes me think, encourages me to expand my understanding of the world, in all its joys and horrors, and entertains me while doing it is a definite recommendation in my book.

I want to thank the editors and authors, the publisher Kegedonce Press, and NetGalley, who provided a complimentary eARC for review. I am leaving this review voluntarily.