Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

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

63 reviews

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

danimacuk's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Racism, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Confinement, Homophobia, Rape, Grief, and Abandonment

midsummernoodle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

I really enjoyed this anthology. Of course there were some stories I liked more than others (and some I did not understand), but overall I had a good time with it! 

If you have any triggers at all, you should look up CWs for the individual stories. There are some disturbing plots in this book. Pretty much every story has the potential to be upsetting, but that’s dark fiction for you. 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Cursing, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Genocide, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , War, and Classism

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

hyphae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

4.25 stars

As with every anthology, there are some personal hits and some personal 'okays'. There wasn't a bad story in this bunch, though!

The editors did a fantastic job compiling a set of stories that alternately scare, unsettle, disturb, or otherwise make you feel something. There's an emphasis on themes of colonialism and racism, grief, hauntings and spirits, identity and family, and the unexplainable (either to the reader, to an individual outside a particular culture's set of traditions and knowledges, or to the characters themselves). 

While some stories are more traditionally scary/disturbing, many land on the side of just unsettling or tense. I recommend readers go in without any expectations of mainstream horror or dark fiction to enhance your experience with the great storytelling found in this collection.

I truly enjoyed reading so many new to me authors (including some I've wanted to try for while) as well as revisiting some authors through their short stories. 

My favourites include:
Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller
White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse
Navajos don't wear elk teeth by Conley Lyons
Snakes are born in the dark - D.H. Trujillo
Scariest. Story. Ever. by Richard Van Camp
Human Eaters by Royce K. Young Wolf
Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger
Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
Limbs by Waubgeshig Rice

CW: rape (on-page rape of children at residential schools), murder, forced abortion, gore and body injuries, mental illness, drinking/alcohol abuse, colonialism, insects (ticks specifically), and more

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.5

Probably one of the strongest short story anthologies I’ve ever read! I have read a fair amount of horror at this point and am often hard to please, and I’d say like 1/3 of these stories made me say “oh no” out loud which is hard to do! Obviously, I enjoyed some much more than others, but I was very impressed by how much these stories complimented each other while also providing such diverse approaches to and perspectives on horror. Some were more thriller-y, some classic feeling slashers, some very grounded in folklore, others sharp social commentaries. My favorites were Kushtuka, Tick Talk, Night in the Chrysalis, Behind Collin’s Eyes, and Uncle Robert Rides the Lightning (and SGJ’s foreword, which probably doesn’t count as a story but really hyped me up for the collection so I’ll give it a shoutout, too). This anthology has introduced me to a lot of new authors I’m excited about, I had a great spooky time reading this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Abortion, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

laurareads87's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

I was very excited to read Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology, and it has absolutely lived up to expectations.  The collection is wide ranging, and diverse in terms of both the themes the stories explore and their styles, moods, and approaches to horror.  Inevitably, as with any anthology, I preferred some stories over others.  I was drawn to this collection as it contains several authors whose works I've previously enjoyed, and I finish it with quite a few authors who are new to me but whom I hope to read more from. 

Content warnings - there are a lot of them: Violence, murder, death, torture, sexual violence, rape, gun violence, domestic violence, child abuse, child neglect, injury detail, xenophobia, racism, colonialism, misogyny, sexism, sexual harassment, gore, body horror, animal cruelty, animal death, and probably more.  There is some very difficult to read content in this collection.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada & NetGalley for providing an ARC for me to review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

luckylulureads's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, and Injury/Injury detail

savvylit's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.5

This excellent collection features stories from twenty-six different indigenous authors from the so-called U.S. and Canada. The dark stories in Never Whistle at Night range from kinda weird to unsettling to downright disturbing. There's a tick that never stops growing larger, there's a werewolf, there's skinwalkers, there's undead folks, there's torture, there's possession, there's necromancy. Some of the scariest stories of all, though, are those that portray manifestations of trauma and genocide. There's one particular story - Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden - about a man's experience at a residential school that absolutely wrecked me.

Overall, I would highly recommend Never Whistle at Night to anyone who loves fiction that's bizarre and/or scary. These stories are perfectly bite-sized forays into the dark. (It's all around us, you know.)

Thanks to @netgalley and @vintageanchorbooks for the advanced reader copy of Never Whistle at Night in exchange for my honest review! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail