Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

never whistle at night is an anthology of indigenous dark fiction, containing 26 stories from writers across a variety of tribes and areas. i dont read a lot of horror, so this was branching outside of my normal fiction genres, and reading bipoc horror is different than white horror because there are additional layers of horrors and things to fear for us.the stories in this collection tell tales of monsters, nightmares, bodies, bugs, of colonization and retribution. i didn’t give it a full five stars because i was hoping for a little more queer rep.

the story i enjoyed most was uncle robert rides the lightning by kate hart, about love and grief and ghosts. my other favorite stories were kushtuka by mathilda zeller, white hills by rebecca roanhorse, hunger by phoenix boudreau, human eaters by royce k. young wolf, and the scientist’s horror story by darcie little badger.

i want to thank whoever bought me this from my bookshop wishlist, it didnt come with a note!

TWs

general TW for colonization, death, murder, residential schools, and violence.

kushtuka: unwanted touching

white hills: forced abortion

navajo don't wear elk teeth: sex on page, unwanted rough sex

wingless: animal death, child abuse

quantum: child abuse/neglect

tick talk: misogyny, bugs

snakes are born in the dark: birth, destruction of petroglyphs, pus

before i let go: suicide

behind colin's eyes: body stuff (nails falling off, teeth falling out), mention of child labor

heart-shaped clock: drug use

scariest.story.ever: animal death, drugs

human eaters: mentions youth death

the prepper: elder neglect, mental break, self-harm

uncle robert rides the lightning: grief

sundays: child rape, pedophilia, suicide

eulogy for a brother, resurrected: homophobia

limbs: physical torture

photo review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C5CPl5hvClS/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==

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tainolibrary's review

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3.0

While some of the selections were exactly the kind of “ghost tales” inspired by (if not directly from) various Native cultures that I was anticipating, others fell short. They’re all well-written stories, don’t get me wrong, but some just felt out of place. I also don’t love the fact there weren’t any content warnings to be found in the book (I read a digital copy) and, yes, they’re very much needed.

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rubl_b's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

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pigeonmellow's review

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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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kellymacbrown's review against another edition

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Wasn’t what I was expected. Just crossed some personal lines for me. Made me uncomfortable in ways that seemed to have no real purpose. Definitely dark. Loved the first story.

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cadence99's review

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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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bex4dayz's review

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

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