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

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Never Whistle At Night was a bone-chilling, somber, dangerous, and engaging compilation of Indigenous horror short stories.

Some were ferocious and deadly, others were folkloric and gothic, some spun the story around to illustrate the quiet horrors of real life, and others chose to end with a note of hope.

There were SO many interesting styles highlighted here. If you saw me add a lot of books to my TBR from the authors here at a dangerous pace … you’ll be doing that, too!! Pick this one up.

I am not totally clear on all of the decisions made on the order of stories - sometimes there were really jarring shifts, but on the other hand there were a few in a row that got jumbled together in my head because they were similar in tone & theme and quite sad.

But … wow. This was a great collection.

(These are some general CW, but other wonderful reviewers have laid them out story by story.) 

CW: racism, child abuse, death (child/parent), body horror, gore, rape, torture, cannibalism, pedophilia, colonization, xenophobia, religious bigotry, physical/emotional abuse, animal death, genocide, racism, hate crime, cultural appropriation, guns, grief, mental illness, forced institutionalization, psychosis, self harm, classism, sexism, miscarriage, alcoholism

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