Shane Hawk

An excellent anthology of "dark fiction" by indigenous authors, Never Whistle at Night collects 27 short stories ranging from supernatural to man-made horrors. Whether it's Wendigos and poltergeists, or racism and other remnants of colonial oppression; horror fans of all stripes will find something here to keep them up at night and looking over their shoulder. Just don't soothe yourself by whistling if you find yourself alone in the dark. And remember, sometimes dead is better...

Picket Fence be Damned

When searching for the ideal photograph of a domestic terrorist, it is doubtful that a matriarch represents such an image.

Glitter is more than microplastic in disguise. Like McMansions, its superficial flash has the potential to shift attention away from what may be less glamorous. At first glance, life in White Hills perfectly aligns with all that Marissa, the featured protagonist, hoped to manifest.

Accomplished by way of hypergamy, she is unaware that status show more exchange is an invisible and more prevalent form of discrimination. Isolated from her humble beginnings and bored with shopping and endless trips to the salon, Marissa struggles with making meaningful connections but is excited to learn that she is pregnant.

Anxiety reminds her that being a childless couple was mutually agreed upon, yet she eagerly ambushes her husband, Andrew, at the local (good ole boys) club. A sports venue staffed with scantily clad waitresses, it is dark and becomes more unwelcoming after she allows her nationality to slip.

A blistering critique of inherent evil, this character-driven tale of a trophy wife examines the threshold of desire and sacrifice. Readers are placed in the lead bumper car and bounced between assimilation and imposter syndrome until it is evident that the latter is the focused effect of the former.

Written by Rebecca Roanhorse, a dual-race woman of Black and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo descent, as part of the Never Whistle at Night Anthology, this tightly packed piece uses tension to subtly suggest that domestic violence is an offshoot of generational brutality and one aspect of colonization inherent in Western DNA.

An allegorical tale of the horror that resides at home, it asks readers to contemplate the logic surrounding societal beliefs that marital unions between Caucasian men and minority women are a form of self-harm.

Fans of Native American folklore will appreciate the depth of details. Readers faced with the daily challenges of vacillating between belonging and failure to belong may question whether cultural identity can be erased. Others may learn that relinquishing control is not the lesser of lack of control.

Rating 5 of 5 stars show less

This is a small collection of short stories (a couple of which are flash microfiction) in the horror genre. Stories include changelings, spider infestations, werewolves and other chilling things. The author is a member of the Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma, but he set these stories among the Lakota and Dakota people of the Twin Cities' suburb of Anoka, Minnesota. This is partly due to Anoka's reputation as the "Halloween Capital of the World" and partly because the name of the town is show more from the Dakota word for "on both sides of the river." The stories reflect the "both sides" theme of duality found in indigenous people's identity within the United States as well as the duality of the horrific creatures. Like all the best horror, the scary tropes metaphorically tie in with grief, loss, depression, anxiety, and other struggles of humanity. And the story "Imitate," about a kid with a monster under the bed, is just dang creepy! show less

The thing I love about anthologies like this is that no matter what you like—what subgenres, themes, or writing styles—there's something that'll appeal, and this anthology really does have a little bit of everything: body horror, creature features, paranormal, crime, psychological horror, human monsters, historical pieces, and stories that brush up against cosmic horror and sci-fi. The prose styles are also wonderfully varied and really well paced. I appreciate the narrative restraint in show more a lot of them, too. It can be tempting to over-explain things in horror, but subtlety is often the line between "fine" and "genuinely effective," and the unanswered questions are what make the horror linger. The best pieces in this anthology are the ones that leave a gap of the unknown for the mind to start making its own connections.

Out of the twenty-one stories, the overwhelming majority were four to five stars, and two of them made me reach for the tissues in the middle of reading (full-on chills and tears, no shame). There were a couple of really lovely romance subplots, a lot of fun dialogue, beautiful trope subversions, and truly well-executed twists. Not every story is going to hit for every reader, but that's okay, because there's plenty that will, and I think most horror readers will find something to love here. Plus, I found a bunch of new authors to follow, which is great for me even if it's bad for my TBR stack. show less