Never Whistle at Night

Although there are a lot of good stories in the collection, there are a number of boring ones that made it hard for me to finish, but I pushed through.

I enjoyed the stories that focused on creatures and folklore tales. I also enjoyed the stories that dealt with racism. I was pleased to see Cherie Dimaline in this collection. Her story was one of my favorites out of the collection.

All of the authors brought their A game when it comes to writing. Pacing is excellent, styles are cohesive. I would recommend people to read this collection because every story is written by an Indigenous author, which you don't see often in horror.

With this anthology featuring contributions by Cherie Dimaline, Darcie Little Badger, Tommy Orange, Rebecca Roanhorse, Morgan Talty and Waubgeshig Rice I couldn't help but have expectations that were absolutely sky high and still this collection managed to thoroughly impress me as well as introduce me to new (to me) literary voices to be excited about.

As you would expect from a multi-author anthology, Never Whistle at Night is a mixed bag of styles and approaches, but every story comes across a fully intentional in its structure and message, nothing seems half-baked even when the ending is abrupt. Each story demands that you sit with it and take your time to engage with it, which made for a surprisingly lengthy reading experience (at least it did so for me).

If you enjoy stories you have to sit with for a moment and stories without a clear ending, you'll find a lot to like here. There's some bizarre fiction and body horror elements in there too, a couple of the stories go into really, really, dark territory so don't let the beautiful cover fool you into thinking this is a mild collection.

Thank you to Penguin Random House and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title ahead of its release date.

A mixed bag. Some of the stories were meh, but the good ones were very, very good. Great writing, beautiful twists, powerful and memorable dilemmas.

Horror stories often involve supernatural elements. I tend to find those silly, and prefer the ones exploring plain old human nature. This collection includes both kinds of stories, and to my surprise, of the ones I loved, there was a tie (four-four) between supernatural and non.

Solid collection. Lots of hits, an equal amount of misses.

I picked up this book because of the title and premise. Never whistle at night is also a Javanese belief (superstition?) and I've always loved stories from indigenous populations.

That being said, here is a list of my faves from this anthology in no particular order:
- White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse (sooo insidious)
- Quantum by Nick Medina (highly disturbing)
- Behind Colin's Eyes by Shane Hawk (made me have a physical reaction while reading (but some of the dialogue is cringe))
- Scariest Story Ever by Richard Van Camp (wholesome)
- The Longest Street in the World by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (kinda funny in that dry way)
- Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning by Kate Hart (this one definitely being my FAVE)