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Reviews tagging 'Gore'
Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Jordan Peele, John Joseph Adams
19 reviews
the_vegan_bookworm's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.75
Like most anthologies, there were stories I liked a lot ("The Rider" and "Your Happy Place" being particular favourites) and ones I wasn't so keen on. Unfortunately, I felt a lot of the stories fell on a more under-developed end of the spectrum despite having really great premises. I also think I would have made changes to the order the stories were presented in, as some transitions from one story to another felt random instead of adding to the collection's overall narrative.
With this said, there is a great range of diversity in these stories and a lot that a horror fan would enjoy.
With this said, there is a great range of diversity in these stories and a lot that a horror fan would enjoy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Sexual content, Police brutality, Gore, Sexual assault, and Murder
rachelfayreads's review
challenging
dark
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Gore
booksthatburn's review
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Death, Racism, Blood, and Body horror
Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Infertility, Death of parent, Cursing, Sexism, Murder, Pregnancy, Body horror, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, Cancer, Animal death, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Confinement, Child death, Vomit, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Police brutality, Suicide, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Gun violence, Alcohol, and Drug abuse
Minor: Self harm, Stalking, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, War, Rape, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Cannibalism
“Reckless Eyeballing” - CW for cursing, misogyny, sexism, sexual content, sexual assault, blood, violence, racism, injury detail, police brutality, murder, death. Minor CW for ableist language, domestic abuse, self harm. “Eye & Tooth” - CW for cursing, blood, violence. Minor CW for ableist language, domestic abuse, cannibalism, murder, child death, death. “Wandering Devil” - CW for abandonment. “Invasion of the Baby Snatchers” - CW for pregnancy, body horror, death. “The Other One” - CW for blood, gore, body horror, violence. Minor CW for ableist language, sexual content, mental illness, forced institutionalization, cursing, drug use, stalking, self harm, suicide, death. “Lasirèn” - CW for kidnapping, violence. Minor CW for abandonment, pregnancy (brief mention). “The Rider” - CW for racism, blood, violence, death. Minor CW for police brutality, bus accident, rape (brief mention). “The Aesthete” - CW for sexual content, cursing, infertility, blood, kidnapping, medical content, medical trauma, cancer, suicide, parental death, child death, death “Pressure” - CW for racism, homophobia, racial slurs, cursing, fatphobia, blood, injury detail, animal death. “Dark Home” - CW for grief, cursing, sexism, misogyny, blood, parental death, death. “Flicker” - CW for vomit, blood, violence, gun violence, death. “The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World” - Graphic CW for blood, gore, body horror. CW for vomit, violence, medical trauma, animal death, child death, parental death, death. “The Norwood Trouble” - CW for cursing, racism, violence, gun violence. Minor CW for ableism, sexual assault, drug use, alcohol, slavery, parental death, death. “A Grief of the Dead” - CW for grief, sexual content, alcohol, blood, gore, violence, gun violence, injury detail, suicidal thoughts, slavery, murder, parental death, death. “A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree” - CW for racism, alcohol, blood, gore, violence, injury detail, car accident, murder, death. “An American Fable” - Graphic CW for racism, blood, violence, death. CW for injury detail, medical content. Minor CW for war. “Your Happy Place” - CW for blood, confinement, slavery, murder, child death, death. Minor CW for sexual content, drug use, drug abuse. “Hide & Seek” - CW for cursing, drug use, drug abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, blood, gore, body horror, parental death, death. Minor CW for excrement. “Origin Story” - CW for racism, sexism. Minor CW for fire, blood, gore, violence, animal death.kshertz's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Always hard to review a short story book! There was about 5-6 stories I absolutely loved and the rest were good too! It’s how I discover new authors though. NK Jemison was great as per usual and now I want to look up these other amazing authors. Very scary in very different poignant ways. Worth a read if you like the scary stuff!
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Ableism, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Abandonment, Drug use, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
zombiezami's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.0
As with most anthologies, there's a range of quality in the collected stories. Some were amazing and haunting, others were just ok, and a handful seemed not to understand the assignment (i.e. they were very clearly not horror.).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gaslighting, Body horror, Blood, Murder, Grief, Death, Animal death, Gore, Violence, Cursing, and Confinement
Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexual content, Police brutality, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Addiction
localnikita's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Drug abuse, Gore, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual harassment
onthesamepage's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The combination of an anthology curated by Jordan Peele and including a handful of authors I've loved reading from before made picking this up a no-brainer. There's an intro by Peele that explains the premise behind the anthology, which is basically meant to be like the Sunken Place in Get Out, i.e. a manifestation of the authors' personal horrors. I was really intrigued by this, since I felt like I was getting to peek into the authors' brains. I admittedly don't read much horror, but most of the stories felt on the tame side and lean more "vaguely disturbing" rather than outright "oh god what did I just read".
I do want to mention a couple of standouts, though.
Reckless Eyeballing by N.K. Jemisin (5⭐)
This was such a banger of a short story. It was unsettling and disgusting and I loved every second of it.
Flicker by L.D. Lewis (5⭐)
I loved the premise and the execution of this, and thought it was really creepy to boot.
Hide & Seek by P. Djeli Clark (5⭐)
I loved the slow build-up and how gradually we got to the meat of the story in this one.
The combination of an anthology curated by Jordan Peele and including a handful of authors I've loved reading from before made picking this up a no-brainer. There's an intro by Peele that explains the premise behind the anthology, which is basically meant to be like the Sunken Place in Get Out, i.e. a manifestation of the authors' personal horrors. I was really intrigued by this, since I felt like I was getting to peek into the authors' brains. I admittedly don't read much horror, but most of the stories felt on the tame side and lean more "vaguely disturbing" rather than outright "oh god what did I just read".
I do want to mention a couple of standouts, though.
Reckless Eyeballing by N.K. Jemisin (5⭐)
This was such a banger of a short story. It was unsettling and disgusting and I loved every second of it.
Flicker by L.D. Lewis (5⭐)
I loved the premise and the execution of this, and thought it was really creepy to boot.
Hide & Seek by P. Djeli Clark (5⭐)
I loved the slow build-up and how gradually we got to the meat of the story in this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Murder, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Addiction, and Child abuse
Minor: Homophobia
ilusomochi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is the first ARC I was approved for on NetGalley and what an honor it was to read these perfectly crafted horror stories.
Reading horror is much like watching it. Some stories are good and some are bad. Out There Screaming may be my favorite collection of horror stories to date.
Luckily, this Anthology was chock full of fantastic writing. There was not a single story that I did not like. Now, the caveat of horror is that the good stories make you feel an amalgam of disturbed feelings. I was spooked, uncomfortable, sad, and sometimes hopeless, especially when the stories tied in realistic themes of problems we face in reality. But that is why I loved reading this anthology so much. I like when literature evokes strong feelings. Whether you are a seasoned horror lit enthusiast, just getting into the genre, or are curious, this is the perfect fall read to dive into. Knowing that Jordan Peele had a hand in editing, makes the experience that much more special.
Thank you Random House and NetGalley for entrusting me with a set of masterpieces. I will be sure to look for other writings of these authors.
Reading horror is much like watching it. Some stories are good and some are bad. Out There Screaming may be my favorite collection of horror stories to date.
Luckily, this Anthology was chock full of fantastic writing. There was not a single story that I did not like. Now, the caveat of horror is that the good stories make you feel an amalgam of disturbed feelings. I was spooked, uncomfortable, sad, and sometimes hopeless, especially when the stories tied in realistic themes of problems we face in reality. But that is why I loved reading this anthology so much. I like when literature evokes strong feelings. Whether you are a seasoned horror lit enthusiast, just getting into the genre, or are curious, this is the perfect fall read to dive into. Knowing that Jordan Peele had a hand in editing, makes the experience that much more special.
Thank you Random House and NetGalley for entrusting me with a set of masterpieces. I will be sure to look for other writings of these authors.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Death, Racism, and Slavery
Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Racism, Addiction, Slavery, Sexual assault, Grief, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Gun violence, Excrement, Colonisation, and Suicide
eternallyicarian's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Misogyny, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, and Violence
different content warnings for different stories, i am not sure what to tag as moderate/minor/explicit so they're getting explicit, better safe than sorry i guess.
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