I was anxious to read this horror anthology the second I saw it announced. Several of the stories are written by authors I’ve read, and I absolutely love Halloween-themed tales. I enjoyed all of them, but of course I had my favorites.

The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron – I’ve read several books by this author, so I had a feeling her story would be at the top of my list. This one isn’t so much about the horror as it is a father and daughter celebrating a holiday loved by someone they lost. Still, there are some chilling moments.

Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle by Kosoko Jackson – This is a powerful revenge story that gave me lots of feels. Sometimes humans are the real monsters.

Hey There, Demons by Tara Sims – Another story I knew I’d like based on other books I’ve read by this author. I love a haunted house/poltergeist story, and this one comes with a bonus demon. It’s actually more sweet than spooky. Who knew demons could draw you out of your shell?

While this is a horror anthology, none of the stories are really terrifying so don’t let that prevent you from reading it. It’s a nice collection that sets the mood for Halloween.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

It's been a while since I've read short stories, but this was exactly what I needed to get into the mood for the Halloween season! Featuring a star-studded collection of authors, it was hard to pick a favorite story, but Tran, Liu, and Sim's stories stood out to me, in particular. I'm not a huge fan of horror, in general, but YA horror is my speed. These stories managed to balance atmospheric spookiness with genuine creepiness, and I LOVED it. I look forward to recommending this nonstop to lovers of YA hoping to get into the mood for spooky season, but especially those who don't generally read long-form stories or novels.

Entertaining collection of short stories. Most of these were new to me authors, so it was an interesting introduction to them. I really liked the diversity of the characters.
I'm just going to go through each story and give my reaction after finishing it.

Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia: This was creepy and disturbing, but a little underwhelming.
The Visitor: Mostly sad and a little heartbreaking.
A Brief Intermission: Reminded me of an old The Twilight Zone episode.
Guested: This one was kind of meh- it was confusing and I didn't feel like we got "enough".
Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle: This one made me cry- sad and depressing.
The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting: Cute, but too short for me! This was probably my favorite, I could have read a whole book with this feel.
Nine Stops: My only reaction after finishing- blah. Had potential but just didn't give me enough.
Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane: This one was pretty deep but not really scary or creepy.
Anna: Woowoo, spooky!
Hey There, Demons: Cute. A longer version would make for a good movie.
Save Me From Myself: Well, I don't want to spoil the story.
Knickknack: This was a little anticlimactic, but okay.

This collection has stories written by Vanessa Montalban; Kalynn Bayron; Rebecca Kim Wells; Kosoko Jackson; SMP Alex Brown; Trang Thanh Tran; Maya Gittelman; Em X. Liu; Shelly Page; Tara Sim; Ayida Shonibar; Ryan Douglas.

The collection opens with Vanessa Montalban's "Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia," where a Halloween party is being held in a hotel abandoned soon after it was built, the ground once sacred. If you think of the song "Hotel California" you might be prepared. From there, the hauntings and creatures are present, with a last minute twist to heighten the horrors. Not all of the characters are clueless victims, like in Alex Brown's "The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting," which I found absolutely adorable. Trang Thanh Tran wrote "Nine Stops," bringing me back to Queens and the crowded subways and the fears about the animals in the tunnels and what happens if someone is pushed.

My favorite story is Maya Gittelman's "Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane." The terror that the town has for the weird house and its vines leaves Leyla entranced, as the person everyone expects to see isn't who Leyla is. It's a beautiful and hopeful story in the midst of potential horror, and gave me shivers in a good way. A close second is "Anna" by Emily Page, taking us back to ghosts, ouija boards and the risk of possession. Overall, this is a fun collection of Halloween stories starring various queer people. Sometimes they win, sometimes they lose, but the reader gets the experience of it all.

In this anthology I found the thirteen queer black authors had written queer stories of different stories of horror. The stories explore Halloween night for how it can be more than pumpkins and frights. It is an amazing collection that has the scary experiences changes their lives forever. One of my favorite story in the anthology is “A Brief Intermission” where the owner (Harry)of the drive-in gets hurt badly enough that he ends up in the hospital. He tells his staff that he has to be at the drive-in tomorrow even though it is closed. On Halloween night, the drive-in is always closed. When he decides to let them do what he normally does, he explains what they must do exactly. Does the staff do it? Rusty does one thing he was not suppose to do. What happens to Rusty? I enjoyed it even though it wasn’t what I would say it’s not as scary as some of the other stories. I liked the surprise in the story. I found that the stories were all well written with their creepy, scary and horror filled themes. It’s a perfect book to read on Halloween (as well as any other time).

Night of the Living Queers is a great YA horror anthology exclusively featuring queer authors of color. I loved this! I have not read most of the authors and really loved their different styles. I do not think there was one story that I did not enjoy. While they were not all super scary they were spooky enough to keep me engaged without scaring the crap out of me. I can't wait to check out more by these authors.

I thoroughly enjoyed this anthology! Each story was so fun, unique, and spooky. Perfect for fall!

My three favorite were: Anna by Shelly Page, Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle by Kosoko Jackson, and Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells, but all of them were great!


Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia
I adored this one! The writing was just stunning and I couldn’t put it down. I LOVE a party setting and this just really did it for me! I’ve never read anything from this author before, so I’m really excited to read more!
5*

The Visitor
I wanted to love this, but for some reason I just didn’t. This is now the fourth thing I’ve read from this author and, while I always enjoy her concepts, I think I’ve just found I don’t love the writing itself.
3*

A Brief Intermission
This was lots of fun! It gave me Steve and Robin vibes from Stranger Things. I really enjoyed the friendship dynamic and the spookiness. The ghosts appearing in the drive in though, just wasn’t my favorite.
3.5*

Guested
I’ve got to be honest, I was nervous about the use of second person going into this. I’ve never read second before, but I absolutely loved this story! It was so immersive, fun, and unique! I can’t wait to read more from this author.
5*

Rocky Road with Caramel Drizzle
This story was beautiful and heart wrenching. I loved it. I don’t even have words. It’s filled with pain, sorrow, anger. Definitely a must read.
5*

The Three Phases of Ghost-Hunting
When I started this one, I was really excited. I loved the dynamic between Daisy and Iris and Daisy and her brother. It was humorous and fun. Unfortunately though, was a bit disappointed by the end. We didn’t get to see the plan to turn Bob into a cat and ultimately it felt like it was missing something for me. The first half was great, but the last half didn’t work for me.
3*

Nine Stops
This one was interesting. I really liked the depth to the main character and I enjoyed her voice. I also was really intrigued by the video she was watching in the story and couldn’t put it down. Something, though, just didn’t click for me. I ended up feeling like I wanted a bit more—more context, more detail to everything that was happening. It felt shorter than the others in this anthology and I wish there was more. It was lovely and beautifully written, just wasn’t quite for me for some reason.
2*

Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane
While I found this interesting and fun, the first person narrative was a bit distracting to me at times and wasn’t super for me. Overall, I did enjoy this one though.
4*

In You to Burn
I really wanted this like this one, but I found myself lost. The entire time I was very disoriented and I never quite found my footing. I wish I’d gotten a bit more information about the relationship between Luce and Harley before the party. I’m left unclear, Harley has fangs, is she a vampire? If found it interesting, but ultimately I was just confused and it didn’t quite work for me.
2.5*

Anna
When I started this I was immediately hooked. I loved Elise’s voice and the dynamic between her and Dani. I also was immediately drawn in by the intrigue of what might happen on Halloween night. Shelly Page’s writing is stunning! I could not put it down! I’ll definitely be checking out more books from her!
5*

Hey There, Demons
I loved this one! It was such a fun mixture of light and humorous but also spooky! Fabulous!
5*

Save Me from Myself
This story was so interested and unique! I loved the body swapping with such dire consequence!
4*

Knickknack
First off, I love a murder house and a good urban legend, so this story drew me in immediately! I really enjoyed the fast pace and the romance plot line. Great story!
4.5

Content warnings: suicidal ideation, parental death, kidnapping, mind control

I enjoyed the concept of this collection (though I was expecting more horror than we got). Unfortunately felt most stories fell victim to the pitfall of being a short story... in that they end abruptly and feel like only a piece of a larger novel so that you're left feeling like you're missing a lot.

But, I do think this is a great collection of short stories to get teens into the mood of spooky season.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

Right off the back of deciding that maybe Anthologies weren't for me, along comes Night Of The Living Queers to make me question that decision. Some of my favourite authors have short stories in here that I thoroughly loved, and I found some new authors who I'll be following too!

The majority of the stories are very very good, and there's some outstanding ones in here that really make use of the short space while making me desperate for a full book - Welcome To The Hotel Paranoia, The Visitor and Hey There Demons in particular.

Not every story is great though - two stories use a second person narrative that I really dislike, and if I'm going to be honest the last story Knickknack was the weakest in the whole book. Nine Stops featured a brutal animal murder that I'd highly recommend skipping over if you need to.

I think after this I will continue looking for more anthologies, and try and remember that sometimes they can be as good as this one was! Horror clearly lends itself well to shorter stories, so I'll definitely be on the lookout for more of those.

Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight is a fun, spooky-time YA-Anthology full of great representation and diverse stories. This is the perfect collection to get you in the mood for Fall!!

Editors, Shelly Page and Alex Brown, did an incredible job bringing together a great assortment of authors to contribute to this collection. I loved how each story takes place on Halloween night, when there is a rare Blue Supermoon. It's thought this special occasion could open up our world more easily to all sorts of supernatural and creepy occurrences. It was fun to see how each of these authors took that prompt, that setting, if you will, and created something unique and engaging, all of their very own.

Anthologies can be tough sometimes, because it's rare to connect with each and every story equally, but for me, this was well-rounded and exciting enough to keep me hooked throughout. Of course some stories fit my personal tastes more than others, but I can absolutely see how every single Reader will be able to find something within this collection to enjoy and connect to.

I really enjoyed so many of these of stories and cherished how different they all were from each other. It never felt repetitive, or overdone. Some of the standouts for me were: The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron, A Brief Intermission by Sara Farizan, The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting by Alex Brown and Nine Stops by Trang Thanh Tran.

My favorite story overall was Anna by Shelly Page. This one just had everything I love to get myself geared up for a solid spooky season. It had a babysitter, twins, a Ouija board, an attic and a ghost. I mean, what is not to love about that!?

Finally, I will just say how much I appreciate the thought and care these editors and authors put into this collection. The vast and inclusive representation is so important and I feel like they all did a great job creating super fun and creepy stories, while also being mindful of the original intent of the collection.

I would absolutely recommend this anthology as a way to get yourself in the mood for the Spooky Season. It's the most wonderful time of the year and books that showcase that are my favorite kinds!

Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'd love to read more from every one of these authors!

I absolutely love NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS! Many of my creative writing students write horror stories, a fact that's grown significantly since the COVID pandemic. I can't wait for my fiction writing classes to start up again so we can use these short stories as example texts. The range and variety in NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS is excellent, which makes it ideal for teaching. My students will all have their own favorites; mine is Sara Farizan's story about the drive-in. It's excellent.

Just when you think you know what the twist is, you realize you have no idea.

Night of the Living Queers was such a fun read and perfect for spooky season. Short stories are perfect for reading at bedtime with the hope that your dreams will be just as spooky. Not to mention that short stories are excellent for reading to your favorite ghost, ghoul, or vampire.

I know I have said this before and will keep saying it: I dislike reviewing anthologies. Do I like reading them? Absolutely. But reviewing them is a different story, bringing me to Night of the Living Queers. I knew this was an anthology, but I still downloaded it.

I went back and forth on how to review Night of the Living Queers and decided to review it as I have past anthologies. I will give my opinion on the story and if I liked it or not.

Before I get into the review, I want to say this book would be perfect to read around Halloween. Also, a blue moon is featured in every single story, and all of the characters are lesbian, gay, trans, or queer.

So, without further ado, here are the stories in Night of the Living Queers:

Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia: This is an interesting story about a girl, Anabel, who is invited to a party at an abandoned bed & breakfast. When she gets there, things go from spooky to frightening. As I was reading this story, I got Hotel California vibes, even more so at the end of the story. While this wasn’t my favorite story, I didn’t dislike it.

The Visitor: This was another interesting but creepy story. Toya and her father have a ritual every Halloween. They decorate the house, watch scary movies, and grieve for Toya’s mother. The vibe of this story settles somewhere between creepy and heartbreaking. The end of the story was a big twist. I also couldn’t believe what Toya did, but I understood why. This story was one of my favorite stories.

A Brief Intermission: With this one, I figured out what the story was about within the first couple of pages. It wasn’t very scary, but it was very creepy. I couldn’t understand the end of the story, and I had to reread it a couple of times before a lightbulb went off. It was in the middle of my like scale.

Guested: This story was different from what I thought it would be, but I wasn’t expecting how it turned out!! Talk about a twist in the plotline. Being told in 2nd person added up the creepiness factor. When Nina got to the party, I knew something horrible would happen to her. This story was one of my favorite stories.

Rocky Road with Carmel Drizzle: This story broke my heart into a million pieces. I can’t get more into it except that Julian’s attackers got what was coming to them and then some. This story was my favorite story.

The Three Phases of Ghost-Hunting: This silly story focuses on two girls wanting to talk to Terrifying Bob, the ghost who haunts the food court at the local mall. I say silly because Terrifying Bob wasn’t that terrifying. I liked how it ended. This story was one of my favorite stories.

Nine Stops: Out of all the stories in this book, this one was the creepiest. It combined grief and opening spam links. It reminded me of The Ring but stopped short of being exactly like it. The author did a great job of scaring the crap out of me. It was one of my favorite stories.

Leyla Mendoza and the Las House on the Lane: This book was not scary. It is creepy in parts and unbelievably sad in others, but not creepy. It was also told in 2nd person. I did tear up during the scenes in the house and loved how it ended.

In You to Burn: This story was fantastic. Again, it was not precisely scary per se, but creepy. The author took their time explaining what was happening between Luce and Harley. Once it was explained, the author twisted the storyline. I loved it. Again, it’s a favorite story.

Anna: I wouldn’t say I liked this story. It was creepy, but I couldn’t get into it. And the ending was a little cliche.

Hey There, Demons: I was a little iffy with this story. It was not creepy or scary. Instead, it read more like a queer YA paranormal romance. The end was cute but had no scare factor.

Save Me from Myself: I liked this story but didn’t find it creepy. I was fascinated by the Indian lore (gods and goddesses). I also liked that Mona got to view herself from her crush’s perspective. The end was sad and not what I expected.

Knickknack: This story was a tribute to homicidal ghost clown stories. I loved reading it. Knickknack died horribly, and every year since, he takes a kid. I liked how the author just had fun with this story. The ending was typical but still fun.

I would recommend Night of the Living Queers to anyone over 21. There is language, violence, and no sexual situations.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and the various authors for allowing me to read and review Night of the Living Queers. All opinions stated in this review are mine.

This one was so much fun! I loved the spooky vibes and all the different stories featuring queer characters. It means a lot to see the representation in this one. I will definitely be revisiting these stories during spooky season again and again. I will also be looking to see what else these authors have written!

This is a YA anthology featuring stories set on Halloween night during a blue moon. The stories are centered around queer characters and are by queer authors.

This collection had a bit of everything. Some stories were sad, others were silly, some were sweet. These stories are perfect for getting in the Halloween spirit. I'd say all of the stories were enjoyable. My favorites were: The Visitor, A Brief Intermission, Rocky Road With Caramel Drizzle, The Three Phases of Ghost Hunting, Anna, Save Me From Myself, and Knickknack. I can see myself coming back to this collection for a re-read.

Although the stories share a theme (Halloween night during a blue moon) they range from being about ghosts, vampires, demons, death in general, etc. All of the stories blend elements of the supernatural with more human elements including homophobia, gender identity, grief, queer relationships, depression, etc. I think the authors did an excellent job of integrating the supernatural into stories about being queer. I really enjoyed the cozy spooky feel that most of these stories gave. As mentioned above, some of them are sad/disturbing so check trigger warnings before reading this.

I'd recommend this to anyone who loves Halloween and wants to explore different types of short stories. These are perfect for reading right before bed.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and the authors for the eARC.

I loved Night of the Living Queers, an anthology of young adult horror stories by queer writers of colour.

Every story in this anthology felt unique and I loved the different cultures, genders, and sexuality explored by the authors.  There’s something here for everyone, and the tone of the stories ranges from spooky and sad to sweet and funny.  

I so wish I could go back in time and give myself a copy of this anthology when I was a teen, I would have absolutely loved it.  The authors really capture how terrifying and full of possibilities the world is for a teenager. 

My personal favourite stories were:

Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia by Vanessa Montalban - I loved the spooky atmosphere of this one, about a party at an abandoned hotel that might not be completely abandoned

The Visitor by Kalynn Bayron - A wonderful little vampire story about grief; it’s full of dread, with a perfect ending

Guested by Rebecca Kim Wells - This was so creative and creepy, a very different take on possession, I’d love to read a novel with this concept

Leyla Mendoza and the Last House on the Lane by Maya Gittelman - Sweet and beautiful, the story of a trans boy who dares to enter the house of an evil wizard

Hey There, Demons by Tara Sim - A shy boy accidentally summons a demon; this is funny and adorable

Knickknack by Ryan Douglass - I was so excited to see a killer clown story in the anthology!  This was a great mix of creepy and laugh-out-loud funny

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for my review copy of this book.

A fantastic collection of thrillers, horror, and macabre stories from an amazing group of authors! This is a perfect introduction to these authors and definitely turned me on to some that I’ve not read yet.

Let me say, reading horror is a little iffy for me because I never feel truly immersed in it. But this collection of stories really had me uneased or actually scared at points!

Like any collection of stories, there are some that are little slower than others, but I think that most of these stories had me hooked by the ending if they did not have me in the first half. It really does not feel like you are reading 300 or so pages!

"Hello There, Demon" is my favorite story of the collection! I loved the setup and all the potential that the story could provide! I would love to see a whole book on Cody in the human world and all of his antics! I think "Nine Stops" was the story that unsettled me the most. I will not spoil it but the ending of that one? Whew! Gives me real Unfriended (2014) vibes.

Anyways! If you love horror and reading about a variety of lgbtq+ getting put into scary scenarios, I definitely recommend!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS: 13 TALES OF TERROR & DELIGHT, edited by Shelly Page and Alex Brown from @wednesdaybooks, is a YA collection of thirteen queer and creepy tales taking place on Halloween night, a night that changes the lives of the characters in these stories forever.

Told with just as much heart as they are dread, I found I enjoyed each of these unique stories. Usually, an anthology like this can be something of a mixed bag, but every single one of these stories stood out in their own way. Some of the stories that stood out in particular for me are Welcome to Hotel Paranoia, In You to Burn, and Save Me from Myself.

Taking many familiar horror tropes and remixing them with a queer bend, the authors in this anthology have created quite the original collection that is perfect to kick off your spooky season reading. From ghosts and ghoulies, to vampires and werewolves, the stories here remind us there is more to Halloween than candy and costumes.

Thank you to @netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me a free digital eARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Scheduled to post 9/5/23.

Oh my stars, did I love NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS. It’s everything I want and need in YA horror and I DEMAND so much more of it! Slices of stories that run the gamut, if you want something campy, you got it. Want something serious? It’s yours. Want something that falls somewhere in between? Yup, it’s in there. There is literally something for everyone here.

I can’t choose a favorite. They’re all so good. Although they did make me question whether there was some kind of second person POV renaissance occurring. Being able to count on one hand with fingers to spare the number of second person stories I’ve read (and I’m an English major with a creative writing minor, if anyone’s going to come across that, it’ll be someone in my shoes), and there were TWO in this book. TWO. While two of anything doesn’t make a pattern, second person is so rare that this certainly stood out to me.

Not going to lie, those were the hardest stories for me to read because of that. I enjoyed both of them immensely. But I was fighting my head the entire time as it kept wanting to say, ‘No I wouldn’t.’ Not sure if I would have the fortitude to hold out like that for a novel, but it was manageable for a couple short stories.

There are stories that fit into rather standard horror tropes, and those that break new ground. All much more diverse than horror of yore, which the genre desperately needs. The gays do not get buried in this book (clearly), and most people make it out alive (in some fashion). That doesn’t mean all the story endings are uplifting. This is horror, after all. But they’re certainly all satisfying.

If you’re looking for bite-sized chunks of creepy for the coming spooky season, you’ll find something to your liking in NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS.

4.5