This was a genuine surprise to find out about, in the best kind of way. Jordan Peele curating an anthology of black horror, just in time for spooky season? Hell yes. Names you probably know (NK Jemisin, Nalo Hopkinson, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tananarive Due) along with several you might not, and every single one a banger? This has been a genuine joy to read over the last few nights, and I cannot recommend picking it up when it lands on shelves enough. Get it as a spooky treat for the season, and enjoy the ride. (I'm a particular fan of Justin Key's "The Aesthete", Tochi Onyebuchi's "Origin Story" and NK Jemisin's "Reckless Eyeballing" off the top of my head.)

I would trust Jordan Peele with my life, quite frankly. What a thoughtfully curated list of authors for this anthology! each one brings something unique to the table, and I thoroughly enjoyed my reading of this. A few stories didn't particularly grab my interest and resulted in me skimming here and there, but for the most part, I was very engaged in this!!

This was a wonderful collection of short stories by some insanely talented writers. The stories cover a wide range of topics and tropes so there is something for everyone. Some of my personal favourites were flicker and your happy place. I also absolutely loved aesthete and wish there was a full length novel just on this story.
Highly recommend!

4⭐️

Anthologies for me are always ones that are tough to do an overall rating. With the sheer number of short stories there seems to always be ones that really stand out and others that don't work personally for me. This was the case for this book but overall I did enjoy my time.

First I really appreciated the forward written by Jordan Peele and the explanation for the themes of these stories. I found the whole explanation of the oubliette to be incredibly fascinating and horrifying at the same time.

Some of my favorite stories from this anthology were

Eye & Tooth - Rebecca Roanhorsa
The Other One - Caldwell Turnbull
Lasiren - Erin E Adams
Flicker - LD Lewis
Hide & Seek - P. Djeli Clark
Origin Story - Tochi Onyebuchi

One my favorites things that comes out of reading anthologies like these is that it helps me identify new authors I'd love to check out further. I look forward to reading more from P. Djeli Clark.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this advanced reader copy. My review is voluntarily my own.

I will be posting my review to my Instagram page the.floofs.booknook and retail sites close or on publication.

Anthologies are hard to rate because not all stories will usually work for me and that was especially the case with this one. Some stories that really stood out include:

Reckless Eyeball (N.K. Jemisin)
Eye & Tooth (Rebecca Roanhorse)
The Other One (Violet Allen)
The Norwood Trouble (Maurice Broaddus)
A Grief of the Dead (Rion Amilcar Scott)
An American Fable (Cheysa Burke)
Your Happy Place (Terence Taylor)
Hide & Seek (P.Djeli Clark)

These stories had the perfect amount of horror, most of them were the right length and I understood the messaging the authors were trying to convey. The rest of the stories in this anthology didn't work for me because they were either confusing, the stories were to long or they didn't have enough horror. I did like how all these stories touched on different topics and included social commentary on things such as racism, segregation, grief, suicide and prison reform. Overall, I'm happy I was able to check this one out and was introduced to authors I might not have read from otherwise.

Admittedly I saw "edited by Jordan Peele" on the cover and immediately requested this book. I mean I also love horror, so it was also that. This is probably because I work in entertainment and it's Jordan Peele, but I can imagine so many of these stories as TV shows and movies.

The eerie, spooky vibes were so perfect. And I didn't find the stories to include horror and gore just for the sake of it. They all had some deeper message or story beyond "this is a scary story" with really solid characters. At the same time, the stories didn't feel either too on-the-nose or preachy when touching on the deeper themes and fitting themselves into the context of our society.

The writing was solid for the most part, although there were a few stories I skipped over because the writing bothered me. As it happens every time I read a short story collection, I did not love them all but overall I really enjoyed this!

An anthology mixed with all the genres! A powerful list of stories.
Edited by Jordan Peele and a must read.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

LOL that the actual intro from Jordan Peele was missing/TK in the proofs. But the book started out strong with a contribution by the exquisite NK Jemisin. There are so many greats in this book— NK Jemisin, of course, as well as Nnedi Okorafor (whose books I’ve just been tearing through this year), Rebecca Roanhorse, and Tananarive Due. What more could you ask for in spooky season?

Some of the stories were excellent, all were interesting. I’m not always a fan of short stories but this collection was great.

My family is a group of die hard Jordan Peele fans! We watch and rewatch all the Key and Peele skits, we love Jordan Peele’s movies. So when I saw that he had edited a short story collection of horror I said, “pick me, pick me”! This anthology is full of creepy, haunting, scary and even some cringe worthy stories that are perfect for any time of year but especially for “spooky season”. Thank you Netgalley, Random House Publishing and the authors for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on October 3, 2023

I have been a huge fan of Jordan Peele over the years, so decided to give this book a shot. Overall I really enjoyed this read. I have never read an anthology before, so was pleasantly surprised and how well written each short story was. I would definitely recommend this read to anyone who likes SF and Horror.

"Out There Screaming" is a groundbreaking anthology of Black horror, curated by Jordan Peele and John Joseph Adams. It's a spine-tingling journey that not only explores supernatural terrors but also confronts the haunting realities of injustice.

Featuring contributions from renowned authors like N. K. Jemisin, Rebecca Roanhorse, Tananarive Due, Nnedi Okorafor, and more, this collection offers a diverse array of gripping tales. Each story is meticulously crafted, drawing readers into worlds filled with fear and unease.

"Out There Screaming" redefines horror, challenging our assumptions and pushing boundaries. It's a master class in storytelling, showcasing the genre's power to both terrify and enlighten. This anthology is a vital addition to literature, celebrating marginalized voices and their ability to captivate, terrify, and enlighten. A must-read that deserves widespread recognition.

So, so, so honored to receive an advance copy of this anthology!! I’m a huge fan of Jordan Peele and his brilliant mind and now the way he champions other Black artists and authors. This anthology was at turns funny, extremely dark, horrifying, and meaningful-and entertaining the whole way through. I loved 11 out of 19 stories, but the entire volume impressed me so much. I learned quite a bit from this volume-although all of the stories are fictional, there was much that was rooted in history. From more fantastical stories to the realistic, there’s something for everyone in this collection. I found myself annotating and tabbing like crazy & there are so many authors included whose work I can’t wait to read more of. I only finished it this afternoon, and plan to write a more detailed review on my bookstagram, but I just had to review this one for NetGalley as well prior to the Pub date.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher and authors for the chance to read this one. Truly an honor.

This was an interesting anthology series and a great read for those who enjoy horror. However, with the variety, there were some stories that were great and some that were just alright. I enjoyed how all of the stories did not go together because it was easy to pick up and put down.

Overall a really good anthology, definitely would recommend to any horror lovers out there (screaming)

Reckless Eyeballing (NK Jemisin) (5) – A great start with just enough body horror to be fun, and an insanely unreliable narrator. Eyeball imagery my beloved and beloathed you never fail to make me want to vomit and therefore I can never stop reading it.
Eye and Tooth (Rebecca Roanhorse) (4.5) – A rocky start to the short story but once it starts, it’s amazing, because it’s Rebecca Roanhorse and how could it not be.
Wandering Devil (Cadwell Turnbull) (3) – Wasn’t really a horror story until the very end of it, a good story but not really for me, not as intense of horror as I like.
Invasion of the Baby Snatchers (Lesley Nneka Arimah)(5) – Gore, aliens, an unreliable narrator and justification of my very intense fear of the capabilities of the reproductive system– I absolutely loved this story.
The Other One (Violet Allen) (5)– a story about obsession that is equal parts messed up and weird and confusing and gory and I adored it.
Lasirèn (Erin E. Adams) (3) – more sad than scary but still really good. You know what’s going to happen to the characters a bit too much to really be fully invested though
The Rider (Tananarive Due) (4.5) – vehicular manslaughter with the aid of eldritch creatures
The Aesthete (Justin C. Key) (4) – one of the longer stories in the collection– lots and lots of worldbuilding, not a huge fan of the ending
Pressure (Ezra Claytan Daniels) (4.5) – I love second person horror so much it’s great
Dark Home (Nnedi Okorafor)(4) –fun but I do agree with the main characters dad, she does have way too many internet connected tools, I thought the story would have taken that route instead
Flicker (LD Lewis) (5) – really good, felt too short because I wanted to read more
The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World (Nalo Hopkinson) (4.5) – I did not expect any of this, it was strange and self-reflective and really interesting and also gross.
The Norwood Trouble (Maurice Broaddus) (4.5) — revenge stories and tight-knit communities
A Grief of the Dead (Rion Amilcar Scott) (4) – obsession, the real horror is gun violence and racism not the giant evil birds (they are kind of also the horror)
A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree (Nicole D. Sconiers)(4.5) –cryptids of the highway, from the POV of the cryptids. And also murder.
An American Fable (Chesya Burke)(4) – the real horror is white men, post wwi setting
Your Happy Place (Terence Taylor)(5) – prison experiments and how people will overlook atrocities as long as the people “deserve” it, legal loopholes, and a whole matrix thing. Messed up in so many degrees and I absolutely loved it.
Hide and Seek (P. Djèli Clark) (5) – I love the way this one plays with timelines and returns back in on itself
Origin Story (Tochi Onyebuchi) (5) – white boys being mad that they’re not the center of the world anymore, existentialism, fun play format

I loved this! Every story had me hooked, and I flew through this. I absolutely how well cultivated and crafted this was, and I cannot wait to buy a physical copy for my own library and the library I work for! If you're looking for easily accessible short form horror stories, this is for sure going to be perfect for you! I think a lot of people are going to love this.

I loved this. Every story was incredible and I was so immersed in each one. This one will definitely stay with me for a long time. An absolute must read for any horror lover.

When it comes to the horror genre, so many things can be considered horror. The subjective nature of what makes a piece of writing horror is exemplified in the anthology collection Out There Screaming. The short stories in this collection share the underlying theme of racism present in America, but with different vehicles to get there. There are stories about ghosts, aliens, a campfire story, and so much more. I loved that I got to enjoy stories from some of my favorite Black writers along with finding new authors that I'll be diving into their backlist and future works.

This collection is easily accessible to everyone because of the varying degrees of horror. No matter how much horror you like to consume, from slight scares to nightmare level scares, there is something for everyone in this collection.

Thank you to Random House and Netgalley for a copy in exchange for review consideration.

Putting a celebrity's name as the "curator" of a literary anthology often can come across as little more than a marketing ploy - a way to draw in readers into a collection of quite often iffy selections, with contributors hoping to make a buck off of the name on the cover. But Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror more than delivers on the promise of Jordan Peele's name on the cover, no matter how involved he may or may not have been in the selection of the stories here. With a murderer's row of talent, including N.K. Jemisin, P. Djèlí Clark, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, and so many more, the anthology delivers exactly what it promises: an astonishing collection of horror from Black voices, with one of the highest ratios of success I've found in a collection like this. As with any anthology, there are a few misses here and there; Terence Taylor's "Your Happy Place" is a long walk to an obvious and overly familiar twist, even if some of the specifics are interesting and nicely pointed; Ezra Claytan Daniels's "Pressure" feels like a great mood piece in search of a plot. But those are by far the exception, not the rule, and there are many, many knockouts here. Clark's "Hide and Seek" mixes magical realism with the bleakness of drug addiction, finding something wholly new and disturbing along the way; "Eve & Tooth," by Rebecca Roanhorse, feels like a pilot for what would be a gangbuster supernatural novel series; "The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World," by Nalo Hopkinson, mixes African myth and a feel of oral legends with body horror, and the result is a wild ride; Tananarive Due's "The Rider" uses the Civil Rights era as a background for a creature there to settle karmic scores...look, I could go on and on - I haven't even mentioned Jemisin's surreal body horror tale of police paranoia, or LD Lewis's unusual apocalyptic tale "Flicker," or Nicole D. Sconiers most unusual haunting tale "A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree"...you get the idea. And then it all culminates with Onyebuchi's "Origin Story," which defies every expectation and norm of the collection to deliver something that knocked me flat, and felt like the perfect capper for the anthology. Sure, any anthology of authors is uneven by definition, and sure, collections marketed with a "big celebrity editor" are often junk. But Out There Screaming is everything I hoped and then some, with tons of hits, only a few weak entries, no truly bad ones, and lots of inventive horror that feels like nothing else, all while giving a chance to expand beyond the usual white staples of the genre. It's a must for any serious horror fan - you won't be disappointed. Rating: *****

Just in time for fall (and October frights), “Out There Screaming” presents numerous horrifying stories. From speculative horror, to paranormal horror, to psychological horror, to cosmic horror, Jordan Peele’s curated collection is gorgeously well done; each author explores horror alongside prevalent contemporary and historical social issues.

As is the case with any anthology or short story collection, there were a select few of really strong stories. “Pressure” follows a narrator who goes home to visit their cousins and tensions.. and pressures are high. “Eye & Tooth” explores a town’s strange history when siblings Zelda and Atticus offer their services to an odd old woman. “A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree” addresses justice as two women return from the dead and revengefully murder those they deem worthy. “Your Happy Place” follows Martin, who seeks to uncover the truth behind The Process, where “brain-computer interface” meets prison reform.

This truly is a unique anthology and I recommend this collection to any readers who enjoy horror of any kind. There is something for every horror enjoyer in this collection. Jordan Peele, as his does with all his other works, knew what he was doing and was intentional about each story he selected for this horror-filled anthology.

Out There Screaming is the horror anthology for anyone who truly loves a good horror story. Set to the backdrop of dangerous deep creatures, uneasy bus rides, and sounds that actually bump in the night, you're thrown into these bite-size narratives that shouldn't be this frightening. Much of the authors have staked their claim elsewhere, so if you're familiar with them then their short stories will be more fodder for your affection. But for those who haven't consumed the current Black horror genre the way I have, this series introduces you to the what's new here - and you'll definitely know who you like, and what you like, by the end of this series.