Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

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

29 reviews

pigeonmellow's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

I’m hesitant to put a star rating, because I don’t want others to see a low-ish star rating and assume I thought Never Whistle at Night was bad. 

If you’re considering reading it, you’ll likely find something to enjoy!! It’s an anthology with over 20 short stories by as many authors, so you’re bound to find a story and an author you connect to. 

I enjoyed hearing all the different writing styles (I listened to the audiobook version), and especially loved the voice actor Sheldon Elter, who voiced several of the stories. Sheldon Elter brought the characters and action to life with his emotion and voices — and none of his skillful spice distracted from the heart of the story, only served it. Sheldon Elter — you rule! 

This book swerved for me towards the end. First, because I wasn’t aware when I picked it up that SA would be a major element in two stories (there was something that border-lined sexual violence in a third one, but it wasn’t viewed as a assault by the character who experienced it). Some readers can get through SA in their stories, but for me, it’s a trigger I can’t get past. Speaking of which: I completely skipped the second to last story (I think it was that one?) because, without warning, it opened with a first-person description of child SA in progress. I couldn’t do that one. 

Second — as someone with a mental illness, I’m always hesitant when it comes to horror stories that paint mentally ill people as monsters or mental illness as a supernatural evil. At best, it’s tired — at worst, it’s perpetuating a harmful stigma. So yeah — for me personally, it’s not enjoyable to find that the “horror” of the story is a character being mentally ill and not taking their medication. In this anthology, there was one story that disappointed me in that way. 

Lastly, I wasn’t ever creeped out by any of the stories, or on the edge of my seat with any of them — something I was looking forward to, as it was a horror anthology. Maybe that’s because I was listening to the audiobook version, and not reading in silence? 

Huge trigger warnings for colonization, racism, white supremacy, racial slurs, talk of genocide and all of that directed at Indigenous people. If that is something that is a trigger for you, just know that all of those topics come up in almost every story. As one would expect, likely, given that these are horror stories written by Indigenous people, about Indigenous characters from this real world, where all of these horrors make up the real past and present. 

Okay. ALL THAT BEING SAID: I did *really* love learning more about indigenous culture, and hearing about the fears, battles, resilience and triumphs of indigenous people. I am very interested in continuing to read my fav authors from this anthology! I learned a LOT I didn’t know before, and so much of the writing was so visceral, which I enjoyed immensely. This book has further motivated me to continue reading work by indigenous authors featuring indigenous characters and stories.

I want to note here, too, that horror stories deal with complicating and disturbing topics. So (apart from painting mental illness as an “evil”), I understand that my displeasure at some of these topics mostly means I’m a bit of a picky horror reader! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Cursing, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Racism

asurasantosha's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Rape, Child abuse, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Racism, Stalking, Abortion, Animal death, Cannibalism, Hate crime, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Blood, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, and Violence

scarrillo222's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? N/A

3.5

I appreciate the length of each short story. They were about 5 to 6 pages at max. Some of the stories I really enjoyed when it came to supernatural theme or more dark classic horror themes. Some of the stories did drag on a bit, but it was nice to be able to skip a story and not feel like you’re missing out on a major details since it is an anthology. By the time I finished reading the book, I did get a bit burnt out and decided not to read the last three short stories. In my opinion, the couple of short stories are the most interesting, and what really like pulled me into the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Animal death, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Body horror, Classism, Gore, and Blood

renwrites13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

very diverse, lots of diff types of horror. not just indigenous mythology, but also crime and other genres with a creepy twist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation, Genocide, Torture, Gore, Racism, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Murder, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Body horror

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Child death, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Alcohol, and Suicide

Minor: Gun violence, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Classism, Excrement, and Alcohol

shuttersham's review

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Cancer, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Racism, Sexual assault, Addiction, Mental illness, Gun violence, Grief, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia

cadence99's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

I really enjoyed this fantastic Anthology. Many stories were deeply disconcerting, and had me jumpy and on edge after some late night reading. Some of my favorites were White Hills, Scariest. Story. Ever. and Eulogy for A Brother, Resurrected (this one in particular was my favorite, and I look forward to reading more from the author!)- I’d highly recommend this to anyone looking for thoughtful, well crafted horror that packs a punch

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Ableism, Abandonment, Abortion, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Gore, Physical abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Miscarriage, Death of parent, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Addiction, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Violence, Racism, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Vomit

kristenbynoe's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Death, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Colonisation, Alcoholism, Rape, Murder, Gore, and Mental illness

lilyg2704's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

4.0

this is a really amazing collection of short stories from indigenous authors. overall really beautifully written and so interesting to read the stories one after another and get each author’s unique voice.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, and Colonisation

Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault

Minor: Addiction and Emotional abuse

i chose the most general warnings since there’s so many options. it’s def a heavy book at times and if u need more specific warnings feel free to ask! i the stories are so good tho.

theotherallie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Animal death, Mental illness, Blood, Body horror, Death, Gore, and Torture

Moderate: Colonisation, Grief, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Rape

sydapel's review against another edition

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

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