Book Review: “Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror”

“Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror” (2023)

Genre: Horror, Fiction, Short Stories

Page Length: 386 pages (electronic review edition)

Synopsis:

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele’s anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid.

Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull.

Synopsis:

If you’ve been following my blog for a while then you know that I can be a bit picky about short story collections. They tend to be a hit or a miss for me and I’m glad to say, Out There Screaming, was surprising to me in the best of ways. As soon as I saw Jordan Peele (one of my favorite horror film directors) attached to the project, it got me excited to read the collection. While horror media is slowly becoming more diverse, it still has a long way to go. These chilling tales were so refreshing for me. The horror is told from a Black writer’s experience which is often overlooked in the mainstream media.

A few stories were duds but most of them were excellent and engaging reads. From tales of demonic blues player from Georgia to alien abductions, this collection offers a variety of types of stories from the weird sci-fi to downright horror, the collection varies in the intensity of terror and pulls from history, conspiracy theories, folktales, and more. No two tales are the same and each one offers something different. Many stories open up a larger discussion about race relations, the Civil Rights Movement, and ancestry just to name a few.

My favorite stories in the collection include:

• Reckless Eyeballing
• Your Happy Place
• Lasirèn
• The Rider
• Dark Home
• The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World

This is a fantastic collection of horror that is great for Spooky Season or if you want to read a novel that will send chills down your sprine. I was introcued to so many new-to-me authors and I’ll definitely be checking out their works in the future.

Final Verdict:

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.