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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
dark
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
Some hits, some misses, but glad they were short stories!
I'm only going to rate my favorite stories from this anthology because I follow quite a few of these authors on social media. My only complaint is that I wish some of the shorter stories were longer and some of the longer stories were shorter. That being said, this entire anthology is living proof that Black stories can exist without trauma porn. I could totally see many of these ideas expanded into full-length novellas. They were fun, entertaining, and creepy as hell.
–“Lights” by Kalynn Bayron
•My only wish was that this story was longer! The author did an excellent job of building up the suspense.
–“Be Not Afraid” by Ashia Monet ★★★★
•I enjoyed the prose the most. I was really excited for this one because I read the author's 2019 book, The Black Veins, and remembered feeling so swept away by the story. She really dropped these gems:
♥︎ “There are no survivors. Of course there aren’t. This is a massacre. This is a rapture.”
♥︎ “She is nowhere near full—she could devour universes and never be full…”
–“All My Best Friends Are Dead” by Liselle Sambury ★★★★
•This was giving Grady Hendrix in the BEST way.
♥︎ “What is a memory, other than a story that you tell yourself?”
–“The Teeth Come Out at Night” by Sami Ellis
•This involves teeth. Enough said.
–“I Love Your Eyes” by Joel Rochester ★★★★★
•I’ve followed this author on Youtube and social media for years. I know he’s working on a novel so I’ve been dying for a taste of his writing. Wow, this was a treat. He really knocked it out of the ballpark with the prose, atmosphere, characters, and plot. It definitely had Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibes. Also, I wrote down so many quotes I adored such as:
♥︎ “This was the man Adam truly was, the phantom beneath the mask.”
♥︎ “The manor walls pulled back into sinister smiles that rose from the crevices as they watched Frey struggle.”
♥︎ “For malice has no warmth, and it was intent on consuming Frey completely.”
♥︎ “Love corrupts us, turns us into these awful monsters. And you made me into your monster, Adam, and I don’t want to be that anymore. And I won’t be, once your soul is mine.”
♥︎ “Get fucked and have an awful afterlife.”
–“The Consumption of Vienna Rose” by Joelle Wellington
•Absolutely loving the sensory details and descriptions of a creepy house and an inheritance. I was living for the Gothic vibes.
•The nonbinary and queer rep was notable as well.
♥︎ “There is nothing more ladylike than blood play.”
♥︎ “You have discarded softer things.”
–“The Landscape of Broken Things” by Brent Lambert
•This was SO well-written and imaginative. It was also one of the longest stories in here.
•I enjoyed the way the author used the concept of time and clairvoyants.
•This crosses the teeniest bit into science fiction. I would do anything to read a full-length novel in this world. Horror mixed with time travel is not something I get to read often.
–“Mother, Daughter, and The Devil” by Donyae Coles
•RTC - This was one of the longest stories in here so I need a minute.
–“Papa Pearlie” by Ryan Douglass ★★★★
•Ryan, my friend. CREEPY DOLLS WITH SPIRITS. REALLY.
•I always felt like Ryan has the most overactive imagination on par with Key and Peele’s dark sense of humor.
•Also, that ending. Truly evil.
♥︎ “What is my life worth if it isn’t mine?”
♥︎ “You make these dolls and deposit lives into them that are reflections of what you want us to be, regardless of what we want.”
♥︎ “And so, when I became half-doll, my children, too, became tethered to the dolls.”
–“No Harm Done” by Circe Moskowitz ★★★★
•This one tugged on my heart strings. I have a soft spot for stories related to female friendships and sisters.
•I was not expecting THAT. Well, damn. Shit escalated.
•Also, this short story happens to include two of my biggest phobias:
♥︎ “I always had this sense, you know? A dark cloud over my whole life. I could never figure out why. Why did it feel like something was always missing, like there was this great big empty space?”
♥︎ “She has this elegance to her, an arcane softness that doesn’t belong in the world.”
–“Lights” by Kalynn Bayron
•My only wish was that this story was longer! The author did an excellent job of building up the suspense.
–“Be Not Afraid” by Ashia Monet ★★★★
•I enjoyed the prose the most. I was really excited for this one because I read the author's 2019 book, The Black Veins, and remembered feeling so swept away by the story. She really dropped these gems:
♥︎ “There are no survivors. Of course there aren’t. This is a massacre. This is a rapture.”
♥︎ “She is nowhere near full—she could devour universes and never be full…”
–“All My Best Friends Are Dead” by Liselle Sambury ★★★★
•This was giving Grady Hendrix in the BEST way.
♥︎ “What is a memory, other than a story that you tell yourself?”
–“The Teeth Come Out at Night” by Sami Ellis
•This involves teeth. Enough said.
–“I Love Your Eyes” by Joel Rochester ★★★★★
•I’ve followed this author on Youtube and social media for years. I know he’s working on a novel so I’ve been dying for a taste of his writing. Wow, this was a treat. He really knocked it out of the ballpark with the prose, atmosphere, characters, and plot. It definitely had Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde vibes. Also, I wrote down so many quotes I adored such as:
♥︎ “This was the man Adam truly was, the phantom beneath the mask.”
♥︎ “The manor walls pulled back into sinister smiles that rose from the crevices as they watched Frey struggle.”
♥︎ “For malice has no warmth, and it was intent on consuming Frey completely.”
♥︎ “Love corrupts us, turns us into these awful monsters. And you made me into your monster, Adam, and I don’t want to be that anymore. And I won’t be, once your soul is mine.”
♥︎ “Get fucked and have an awful afterlife.”
–“The Consumption of Vienna Rose” by Joelle Wellington
•Absolutely loving the sensory details and descriptions of a creepy house and an inheritance. I was living for the Gothic vibes.
•The nonbinary and queer rep was notable as well.
♥︎ “There is nothing more ladylike than blood play.”
♥︎ “You have discarded softer things.”
–“The Landscape of Broken Things” by Brent Lambert
•This was SO well-written and imaginative. It was also one of the longest stories in here.
•I enjoyed the way the author used the concept of time and clairvoyants.
•This crosses the teeniest bit into science fiction. I would do anything to read a full-length novel in this world. Horror mixed with time travel is not something I get to read often.
–“Mother, Daughter, and The Devil” by Donyae Coles
•RTC - This was one of the longest stories in here so I need a minute.
–“Papa Pearlie” by Ryan Douglass ★★★★
•Ryan, my friend. CREEPY DOLLS WITH SPIRITS. REALLY.
•I always felt like Ryan has the most overactive imagination on par with Key and Peele’s dark sense of humor.
•Also, that ending. Truly evil.
♥︎ “What is my life worth if it isn’t mine?”
♥︎ “You make these dolls and deposit lives into them that are reflections of what you want us to be, regardless of what we want.”
♥︎ “And so, when I became half-doll, my children, too, became tethered to the dolls.”
–“No Harm Done” by Circe Moskowitz ★★★★
•This one tugged on my heart strings. I have a soft spot for stories related to female friendships and sisters.
•I was not expecting THAT. Well, damn. Shit escalated.
•Also, this short story happens to include two of my biggest phobias:
Spoiler
Body-swapping doppelgängers and zombies.♥︎ “I always had this sense, you know? A dark cloud over my whole life. I could never figure out why. Why did it feel like something was always missing, like there was this great big empty space?”
♥︎ “She has this elegance to her, an arcane softness that doesn’t belong in the world.”
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I wrote a whole review and then accidentally removed this book from my Storygraph data :( but I really enjoyed it!
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder
Minor: Homophobia
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
All of the stories were base level "good" I wasn't bored with any of them and I liked how horror was depicted in them. However almost all of them I think suffered from not quite being long enough. The shorter stories could have been a little bit more detailed and the longer ones could have been novellas, tho I would also say that about my favorite short stories from this collection, the two stories with teeth and the doll story simply because they drew me in to the point that I wanted to see more of the setting they created.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
fast-paced