Never Whistle at Night

Never Whistle at Night

2023 • 352 pages

Ratings30

Average rating3.9

15

This book was good. It’s as simple as that. I read another horror anthology last year by BIPOC authors but found the stories to not be that horror focused and was worried this would be a repeat. I am so happy I read this! I enjoyed most of the stories but the ones I genuinely enjoyed and kept thinking about was:

  • Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller
  • White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse
  • Tick Talk by Cherie Dimaline
  • Snakes Are Born in the Dark by D. H. Trujillo
  • Before I Go by Norris Black
  • Behind Colin’s Eyes by Shane Hawk
  • Scariest. Story. Ever. by Richard Van Camp
  • The Longest Street in the World by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
  • The Prepper by Morgan Talty
  • Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
  • Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
  • Limbs by Waubgeshig Rice

This is not to say the rest are not worth reading. There are some great standouts in this collection that made me search for and place holds on these authors other books. Mostly from the stories above but also from other stories in the book. Other authors I look at were Marcie R. Rendon, Nick Medina, Tiffany Morris, and Mona Susan Power.

Most of the stories are actually horror focused but there are a few that focus more on the trauma of Indigenous people which in a way is a horror story. If you have already read this then you will notice that most of the stories, I liked above have a little body horror in it but that is not what makes them so good. There is an atmosphere to these stories that just embodies dark and dangerous.

I would recommend this book to others, and it will definitely be a re-read for me.

January 15, 2025