Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

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

43 reviews

sydapel's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

I mean, from the incredible cover to all the new indigenous authors I have to check out, this was so worth the two month library wait. I feel like I better how appreciate horror and dark fiction uncover the nuances of our racist and colonialist mindsets. There's also so much storytelling and context these stories add to a wide range of Indigenous cultures. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Racism, Rape, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

rorikae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.5

 ‘Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology’ edited by Shake Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr is a great anthology collecting horror short stories from a variety of Indigenous writers. The stories span the more fantastical to the horrors of everyday lived existence. Between exploring folklore horrors and the horrors of humanity, this anthology does a great job of showcasing not only a variety of writing talent but also a variety of what Indigenous writers find horrific. A few personal favorite stories from this collection include: 

-          White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse, which touches on the violence of white supremacy and the idea of ‘pure’ blood 

-          Navajos Don’t Wear Elk Teeth by Conley Lyons, which discusses feeling entitled to a person and seeing them as a commodity 

-          Quantum by Nick Media, which touches on the idea of blood quantum and the impacts of nurturing (or lack there of) on a child 

-          Scariest Story Every by Richard VanCamp, which discusses the importance of story and who gets to tell a story 

-          Collections by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, which delves into academia and how academia collects diverse students to tokenize and use them 

I enjoyed so many of these stories and this is just a selection of some of my favorites. This anthology has definitely added more authors to my TBR list and I’m excited to explore some of their other works. I highly recommend this anthology if you are interested in horror short stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

elephantsoups'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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

katieandkiri's review

adventurous 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? It's complicated

5.0

Forever changed by reading these incredible stories. They aren’t the kind to leave you. Truly a life changing experience reading this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Hate crime, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

Moderate: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Sexual assault, and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism

maryellen's review

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

annemaries_shelves's review

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

yinflower's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, Colonisation, and War

2treads's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The ways in which the authors came together to produce stories that draw directly from their past, present, colonial history, and cultural worldviews really made these stories great and chilling reads. As always, with every anthology, there are stories that really struck a nerve and linger at the back of the mind and others that were just OK. But all in all, this collection really embodies Indigenous people's culture, ritual, trauma, and beliefs.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Blood, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Violence, and Vomit

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