breathehopebooks's review

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Lost interest due to differing authorial writing styles. Plus i’m not usually a fan of this genre.

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talonsontypewriters's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0


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vixenreader's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

A smorgasbord of the best voices in Black Horror, there is a variety of stories that focus on a diverse set of fears. Even the stories that I was not entirely enthralled with were still  impressive. 

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booksthatburn's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

OUT THERE SCREAMING is an excellent collection of horror tales from a Black lens. Most of the stories are set in some version of the United States, and many deal either explicitly or implicitly with the distinctly American flavors of racism and anti-Blackness which are deeply imbedded in this country. Many of them come at it sideways, it's the water in which they swim but it's not the focus of their story, if its referenced at all. 

I love "Reckless Eyeballing" by N.K. Jemisin for its sharp characterization and disturbingly literal execution of a titular pun. It's a great choice for opening the anthology. The ending of "Eye & Tooth" by Rebecca Roanhorse genuinely surprised me, and was well-placed to adjust my expectations of how ideas of monstrosity might play out through the collection. I appreciate "Invasion of the Baby Snatchers" by Lesley Nneka Arimah because pregancy is a triggering topic for me and one of the few ways I can comfortably engage with it is through horror. "The Aesthete" by Justin C. Key uses the language of Art to present a different and horrific system of denial of personhood and autonomy, making an incisive social commentary without ever stepping out of the story's frame (as the best horror does). "Flicker" by L.D. Lewis is a very cool premise which uses the short story format to great effect (I love apocalyptic stories). "Your Happy Place" is brilliantly layered, topping its own baseline for horror through a recombination of slavery and capitalism, two things which are awful on their own but even worse together. 

The whole collection flows well, don't miss OUT THERE SCREAMING if you like horror. And, if horror isn't your thing, go find these excellent authors elsewhere, as many of them have published work in other genres. 

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