Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

37 reviews

sydapel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I mean, from the incredible cover to all the new indigenous authors I have to check out, this was so worth the two month library wait. I feel like I better how appreciate horror and dark fiction uncover the nuances of our racist and colonialist mindsets. There's also so much storytelling and context these stories add to a wide range of Indigenous cultures. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Alcoholism, Drug use, Rape, Murder, Racism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Physical abuse, Hate crime, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, and Violence

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

 ‘Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology’ edited by Shake Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr is a great anthology collecting horror short stories from a variety of Indigenous writers. The stories span the more fantastical to the horrors of everyday lived existence. Between exploring folklore horrors and the horrors of humanity, this anthology does a great job of showcasing not only a variety of writing talent but also a variety of what Indigenous writers find horrific. A few personal favorite stories from this collection include: 

-          White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse, which touches on the violence of white supremacy and the idea of ‘pure’ blood 

-          Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons, which discusses feeling entitled to a person and seeing them as a commodity 

-          Quantum by Nick Media, which touches on the idea of blood quantum and the impacts of nurturing (or lack there of) on a child 

-          Scariest Story Every by Richard VanCamp, which discusses the importance of story and who gets to tell a story 

-          Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, which delves into academia and how academia collects diverse students to tokenize and use them 

I enjoyed so many of these stories and this is just a selection of some of my favorites. This anthology has definitely added more authors to my TBR list and I’m excited to explore some of their other works. I highly recommend this anthology if you are interested in horror short stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Gore, Murder, Grief, Violence, Body horror, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, and Colonisation

klb77's review against another edition

Started as good spooky stories and social commentary that I THOROUGHLY enjoyed but then pretty immediately devolved into descriptions of rape, sexual coercion, a nonconsensual forced abortion, child abuse, child abandonment, and child torture. Be aware that there are also graphic needle and syringe scenes which affected me very physically. Those are not spooky stories and absolutely not what I signed up for. 



The fact that content like that is presented without content warnings at any point? or a general note at the beginning? They’re topics I can handle in small bites but not as surprises and not constantly and ideally not without justice. Maybe they get lighter or change but I’m not interested in finding out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcoholism, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Medical content, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Ableism, Sexual violence, Torture, Child death, Child abuse, Classism, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Religious bigotry, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, and Animal cruelty

warlocksarecool21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.75

This was a really interesting collection of Indigenous short stories. As with any anthology, it’s hard to rate because you personally like some more than others. I have a hard time with anything that’s super graphic/gory and has body horror, so any of the stories with those elements weren’t that good for me, and there were a number of them like that. However if that’s your thing in horror you might like those stories more. I particularly enjoyed the ones that were either ghost stories (especially Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power) and thrillers (“Collections” and “Navajo Don’t Wear Elk Teeth” really stood out to me). There were a few like “Heart Shaped Clock” and “Sundays” that I thought were really emotional or powerful but I don’t necessarily know what genre to put them in, as they didn’t fit any of the categories I listed above. Even though many of the stories weren’t for me, I really liked seeing different elements of Indigenous cultures and history and it’s worth a read just for that alone, even if you don’t like traditional horror that much. There’s a really broad range of stories here and I definitely found some new authors to explore. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Chronic illness, Classism, Miscarriage, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, and Cannibalism

yinflower's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Physical abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Colonisation, Murder, Medical trauma, Hate crime, Genocide, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide, Rape, and Gun violence

caseythereader's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

Thanks to Vintage Books for the free copy of this book.

- NEVER WHISTLE AT NIGHT is a collection of horror stories by Indigenous authors. The stories range from the supernatural to the psychological, and each left me chilled and unsettled.
- While many of these stories feature literal monsters, many are primarily about the horrors of humans and the many lasting nightmares of colonization.
- There are several well-known authors included here - Orange, Dimaline, Rice, Hobson, etc., and many that are new to me, including a few authors whose debuts are forthcoming. This is definitely a collection to check out if you want to see the future of Indigenous literature. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Confinement, Cursing, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Car accident, Classism, Colonisation, Genocide, Gore, and Gun violence

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Body horror, Gore, Racism, Gun violence, Torture, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Miscarriage, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, and Grief

Moderate: Cannibalism, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Fire/Fire injury, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical trauma, Alcohol, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Bullying, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Vomit, Genocide, Colonisation, Abortion, and Chronic illness

Minor: Excrement, Misogyny, Death of parent, Animal death, Self harm, War, Cancer, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Sexism, Infidelity, Drug use, Homophobia, and Alcoholism

Residential schools, MMIWG2S.