Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror by Jordan Peele, John Joseph Adams

8 reviews

p_ttyb_tch's review

challenging dark reflective fast-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

3.5

distinct lack of shivers going down my spine. i don't know if i would class many of these as horror, per se, but there's value to be gleaned from each story in their own way :) 

the star of the show by far was The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World by Nalo Hopkinson! god, but she shines. 🌟

honourable mentions:
Invasion of the Baby Snatchers by Lesley Nneka Arimah
Lasirèn by Erin E. Adams 
Flicker by L. D. Lewis 
A Grief of the Dead by Rion Amilcar Scott

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism

Moderate: Body horror, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, and Child abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Mass/school shootings

breathehopebooks's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Body horror

Moderate: Hate crime, Kidnapping, Murder, Self harm, Racism, Cannibalism, Child death, Car accident, and Blood

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Death, Hate crime, Blood, Car accident, Violence, Racism, Body horror, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Pregnancy, Child death, Racial slurs, Drug use, Cannibalism, Police brutality, Abandonment, Gun violence, Medical content, Slavery, Drug abuse, and Child abuse

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Rape, Homophobia, Suicide, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

vixenreader's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Gore, Child abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Racial slurs, Cursing, Grief, Colonisation, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Racism, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Pandemic/Epidemic, Abandonment, Cultural appropriation, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Sexism, Drug use, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Chronic illness, Vomit, Cannibalism, Bullying, Ableism, and Gun violence

Minor: Slavery, War, Deportation, Kidnapping, and Dementia

The trigger warnings are numerous and featured in specific stories.

kayceeisbookish's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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

4.25

A compelling and insightful anthology. It left me often with feelings of unease (in a good way that you want in horror style books) and a unique version of various fears that these authors have developed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Animal death, Blood, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Body horror, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Car accident, Confinement, Drug use, Genocide, Slavery, Alcoholism, Pregnancy, Colonisation, Misogyny, Police brutality, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Cursing, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Vomit, Cancer, Mental illness, and Grief

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

3.75

Even though I really should have finished this months ago, humongous, enormous thanks to Netgalley and Random House for my eARC! All opinions are my own. 

At first glance, this anthology is a hard hitter. I haven't seen an author list this insane since the Norton Anthology of English Lit in college (/j 😂) The authors list basically reads like a preview to my 2024 February Black History month TBR. And it was introduced by <i>Jordan Peele</i>, the creator of my favorite horror film of all time?! (If you're wondering, it's <i>Nope</i>.) So, of course, as with all things I am shiveringly excited for, it took me literal MONTHS to get to. 
Here, finally, is my review. 

Reckless Eyeballing - 4 stars
A Black cop is seeing eyes on cars where the driver has committed a crime (though, in many cases a "crime"). He also deals with his insecurities in the unhealthiest way possible. 
The ending made me literally gasp, "Holy shit," out loud. Also, I've now finally, finally read an N.K. Jemison! Very excited to read more by her. 

Eye & Tooth - 4.5 stars
Atticus and Zelda, the Eye and the Tooth. Two powerful siblings who make their living solving problems of the inhuman.
a;sdflkj;asdlfjasldkfj!!!!! OMG!!! I want them as a full novel. Please, please, please Rebecca Roanhorse, I am begging for a series. 🙏

Wandering Devil - 3 stars
Wandering's in Freddy's blood. First, he left to look for his mother. Then he stayed gone to wander. Could he really be considering settling down?
This one made me a little sad at first, and I'm not totally sold with the ending. I'm not necessarily <i>surprised</i> with how it ended, but I don't know if all the ends were woven in before we got there. 

Invasion of the Baby Snatchers - 5 stars
Alien. Babies. 
X-FILES WHOMST? BREAKING DAWN, IS THAT YOU? My literal worst fucking nightmare. I want to throw up. This is the optimal short story because it's the perfect bite. I don't want more, I don't want less. 

The Other One - 4 stars
Angela's just been broken up with by Ogelthorpe. (What a truly terrible name.)
The weirdest shit you can imagine ensues. 

Lasirèn - 2.75 stars
What do you do when your sister returns, but she's not your sister? 
I found the writing and the language used in this story to be beautiful, but they were more compelling than the actual plot. 

The Rider - 3.5 stars
Two sisters try to join the Freedom Riders in the fight against Jim Crow.
Loved the premise and some of the choices were really intriguing in this one, but I found the ending quite abrupt. 

The Asthete - 2.5 stars
Androids, called Art, live in a world where they are nothing more than entertainment, without the rights of many humans. 
I don't know about this one. Absolutely fascinating concepts, and I really applaud the author for the creation. But it contained a lot of language and concepts that really just get thrown at you. It's a bit unexpected and not as easy to digest in such a short amount of pages. 

Pressure - uhhh 2 stars?
You are the only Black person in your family. You are having a family reunion.
I LOVE second person narration. I think it's under-utilized and I want to see more of it. But I have no fucking clue what happened at the end of that story. 

Dark Home - 3 stars
Nwokolo's father has died. When she returns to the United States from Nigeria, spirits may have followed with her. 
I wish I loved Nnedi Okorafor's writing like so many other people seem to. Conceptually, her stories always hit the mark. But there's just something about the writing that never grabs me. This one was pretty good though! 

Flicker - 3.5 stars
The world is going black, a few seconds at a time...
I love a good optometry horror story. Oh, is that niche? TOO BAD because I wrote and published one too!

This is the kind of apocalypse story I like, where the whole concept of the apocalypse is so insane that it circles around to cool again. Like Bird Box vibes, but this time everything just disappears for a bit at a time.

 

The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World - 4.5 stars
Yenderil has been training to kill the Devil that lives in the blue hole. But she hasn't been training for this. 
WOAH this one is so weird and good!!! What a wild story. I love the way it's written, there's something so engaging about the stylistic format. 

The Norwood Trouble - 3.75 stars
Segregation is strong in Norwood. 
But damn the Black families that live there can kickass. 

A Grief of the Dead - 5 stars
Mahad's identical twin, Jamal, is dead. So why is he knocking at their sister's door?
This story fucked me UP in a good way. Wow. Also really, really, really heavy. Major CW on this one for gun violence, mass shootings, description of injuries, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts

A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree - 4 stars
Nothing good can come of a stretch of road called Dead Man's Curve.
👻👻👻👻

An American Fable - 3.5 stars
Noble Washington returns home from WWI, traveling by train to Chicago.
I love, love the mythology and magic behind this one.

Your Happy Place - 4 stars
The Process teaches those in the prison system new skills via AI learning and computer interfaces. 
as;dflkjasd;fl Wowza. Very important story. Definitely one to read paired with Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Y. Davis. The opening quote from the Constitution is spot on. 

Hide & Seek - 5 stars
a;fkldj I can't even summarize this story for you without spoilers. But I love P. Djèlí Clark so muchhhhhh. Body horror unmatched. 

Origin Story - 4 stars
A play, set during the Unified Theory of Whiteness seminar course. 
I don't think I'm capable of giving me feelings on this in two to three sentences. This one is a thinker. 

Final thoughts: I'm not usually a short story reader, because I find when there's just a really good premise, I tend to get too attached to the idea. I want <i>more</i> than just the snippet we see of any give concept (see: Eye & Tooth). On the other hand, Invasion of the Baby Snatchers is basically my perfect short story because if I had been given <i>any</i> more I would have had nightmares!
This collection was wonderful and inventive and really explored the bounds of what is horror, some in the more standard ways and others showing the way an everyday event can turn. I would highly recommend checking this one out! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Drug abuse, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Addiction, Sexual violence, Racism, Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexism, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, and Slavery

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gaslighting, and Self harm

Minor: Child death

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. 

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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.

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

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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.