Reviews tagging 'Classism'

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

16 reviews

klb77's review

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.

---

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. 

---

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

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

---

Content Warnings

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

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

midsummernoodle's review

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. 🤷🏻‍♀️

---

Content Warnings

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

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

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

akizato's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Really great anthology, with some stories resonating with me harder than others. Note if you're reading the reviews before reading yourself: there are some triggering topics in some of the stories. I'll use a spoiler tag here if you want to remain unspoiled.

As well as the usual horror collection tropes like body horror and gore, there are a few stories with some on-page depiction of things like child rape (story title: Sundays- and this happens immediately at the start of the story), forced abortion (story title: White Hills), pretty graphic torture (story title: Limbs), and depiction of severe psychosis leading to murder (title: The Prepper, though it's told in a past tense by the person involved that makes it clear what the person is experiencing was not real).

Overall, I really liked it! My favourite stories were:
- Kushtuka by Mathilda Zeller (very strong opener!) 
- Hunger by Phoenix Boudreau
- Snakes Are Born in the Dark by DH Trujillo
- Scariest. Story. Ever by Richard Van Camp
- Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power
- Sundays by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
- The Scientist's Horror Story by Darcie Little Badger (too real as someone with a life sciences degree) 
- Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Rape, Child abuse, Gore, Miscarriage, Murder, Torture, Abortion, Body horror, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Vomit, Animal death, Classism, Colonisation, Terminal illness, and Toxic relationship

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. 

---

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