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A review by punkle_bob
Death in the Mouth: Original Horror by People of Color by Cassie Hart, Sloane Leong
challenging
dark
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
Horror gets kind of a schlocky reputation in 'literary' circles - to the extent that Horror as a genre is often erased in favour of Thriller, Suspense, and Dark Fantasy. I think this is a real shame, because to me good Horror is a pure exercise in literary metaphor - the subversion of mundane, gnawing anxieties into monsters that can be defeated (or that can't). It has much more to tell us than an endless parade of formulaic copagandist who-dunnits and armoured skeletons do.
Death in the Mouth is a brilliant example of this. Twenty-six original stories, twenty-seven original illustrations, all of them offering a unique insight and experience. From weird and touching ('What Hurts Henry Watanabe') to deeply insightful ('Drowned in Mindfulness'), beautifully alien ('Paradise'), and searingly realistic ('They Will Take Up Serpents'), these stories prise up the dull, scarred surface of the world and reveal the wriggling black undergrowth. It's an intense tour through a variety of vivid locations and perspectives, richly illustrated, some quick and sharp ('Balloon Girl), others slow and heavy with dread ('The Homebody'). By highlighting the voices of People of Colour in this anthology, editors Leong and Hart show us how quiet and dead the world is when these voices are stilled. It is a vibrant, unsettling, thought-provoking anthology.
Beware, these stories have (sometimes literal) teeth! There are also some minor sub-editing errors in the pre-release copy which I read (so these may be resolved on publishing) but nothing that affects readability.
For fans of: Toni Morrison, Caitlin R. Kiernan, James S.A. Corey, Rivers Solomon (their gorgeous short story 'Some of Us Are Grapefruit' is included in the anthology), Sayaka Murata, and short stories of all kinds!
Death in the Mouth is a brilliant example of this. Twenty-six original stories, twenty-seven original illustrations, all of them offering a unique insight and experience. From weird and touching ('What Hurts Henry Watanabe') to deeply insightful ('Drowned in Mindfulness'), beautifully alien ('Paradise'), and searingly realistic ('They Will Take Up Serpents'), these stories prise up the dull, scarred surface of the world and reveal the wriggling black undergrowth. It's an intense tour through a variety of vivid locations and perspectives, richly illustrated, some quick and sharp ('Balloon Girl), others slow and heavy with dread ('The Homebody'). By highlighting the voices of People of Colour in this anthology, editors Leong and Hart show us how quiet and dead the world is when these voices are stilled. It is a vibrant, unsettling, thought-provoking anthology.
Beware, these stories have (sometimes literal) teeth! There are also some minor sub-editing errors in the pre-release copy which I read (so these may be resolved on publishing) but nothing that affects readability.
For fans of: Toni Morrison, Caitlin R. Kiernan, James S.A. Corey, Rivers Solomon (their gorgeous short story 'Some of Us Are Grapefruit' is included in the anthology), Sayaka Murata, and short stories of all kinds!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood
Minor: Gore