Because this is a collection of short stories, it's a bit difficult to really give it a solid rating so I'm going to break down my ratings for each individual story and then give an "overall" rating at the end from averaging all of them. So let's start!

This collection of stories is based in the terrible history of horror cinema (books as well) killing off the black or even any person of color first or second. They're always seen as castoff characters and it's happened so often that it's become a "joke" and a stereotype in horror. I love that this decides to flip that around and do things differently.

This won't have spoilers, but know it will be referencing the person who died vaguely because it's literally called "The White Guy Dies First" so we know that someone dies in all of the stories.

1. All Eyes on Me - 3 stars - This one started off really good and had fun writing, but I ended up not loving the morality of the ending. This story follows our main character who feels trapped in her current relationship with a racist boyfriend who clearly undervalues her for who she is. She ends up attending a circus with him and events unfold from there.
I normally love my heroine in a horror movie to overcome things and have righteous vengeance, but I feel kind of weird about the vengeance in this one. He definitely deserves some major retribution, but I don't know if to the extent that happened. I just felt a bit weird about this one.

2. Hedge - 1 star - Yikes. This pretty much just confirmed that me and Kalynn Bayron are not meant to be as reader and writer. This is following our main character whose father died a few years ago in mysterious and grostesque circumstances. He ends up tagging along with his brother and his brother's friends to the place where the father died. Strange things happen from there.
This is definitely one I feel like doesn't belong in this collection? That may just be more, but this felt out of place and was just a misery to read. I think horror fans who don't mind depressing endings will potentially be a fan of this. I like some sort of hope so this isn't the one for me.

3. The Golden Dragon - 5 stars - NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. This was literally everything I wanted from this collection. This is following our main character who is Korean American and she works at her parents Chinese restaurant. She's made friends with a group of racist white people who can't tell or don't care to tell the difference between difference asian races. Her sister is really skeptical of the group and is always telling her that the friends and her boyfriend are just using her. One night she goes with her friends to a garden or something similar and events happen at that point.
This was the retribution I was waiting for and I'm completely obsessed with this story. I loved the creepy horror aspects and the twist at the end (even though it was kind of obvious). It was just absolutely perfect for this type of collection.

4. Best Served Cold - 1 star - Well we are back to a style of horror that I'm not a fan of. I do love the writing style of this one and I love that it's following a Native American MC. This is following our main character who is trying to reconnect with her heritage. She has a good relationship with her brother who is in a situationship/friendship with this perfect looking white guy that our MC is a little suspicious of. One night her car breaks down and unexpected things happen.
Again, I liked the writing and the general story, but it was grotesque. Like was making me physically ill reading. I also, again, hate hopeless endings and this one had a final twist I didn't love. I think I would have put this higher if the ending had been different.

5. The Protege - 2 stars - At this point in the collection, I'm just exhausted. None of these stories were exactly what I was picturing and this one, again, just didn't hit. This is another one where I loved the beginning. This has such a cool and creepy premise and the writing was great that I was totally drawn into the story until it got weird. This is following our main character who is a kid learning magic from his neighbor. The neighbor ends up leaving a box with the boy and the box causes problems to arise and changes his life forever.
This one honestly just got super weird at the end. I didn't love what happened after we found out what was in the box. It was unexpected and not in the best way. Again, another one that felt like everyone was being punished. I'm starting to think at this point that maybe horror anthologies are also not for me.

6. Docile Girls - 4 stars - Okay so this was basically the first story, but more slasher so I ended up liking this one way better. I think the first story was a bit underdeveloped so it just didn't hit as hard as this one. This is definitely the definition of a slasher and fit soooo well into this collection. It was very on-the-nose. This is following our MC who has just been dumped by her uber popular boyfriend, turning her into a social outcast. She refuses to be defeated so ends up going to help set up for a school event when they're all suddenly locked inside. Bodies start dropping one by one and one of them has to be the killer.
I really think this one just worked so well because it's my exact horror style that I like. The heroine gets her revenge and the bad guys go down. I also just generally enjoy the slasher genre more than other genres in horror. It worked really well and I liked how it was written and the characters were developed.

7. Gray Grove - 2 stars - I kind of just don't get this one? It feels so incomplete and random. I think this one would have made for a good novella, but it felt underdeveloped and not finished as a short story. This one is following our MC who is one part of a podcast duo. Rumi is more of the behind the scenes person and does all the heavy lifting. Her and Kaitlin go to a plantation to tell the story of Kyle who died in the marsh after attacking William, a black boy he'd been bullying. Rumi and Kaitlin have a difference in opinion about what should be on the podcast and there are repercussions.
I really liked the story until the end wasn't actually an end. This almost felt like a free sample from Amazon of a book where you can read the first three pages and then you get the whole book. I do love the social commentary and it brings up the issues of having weddings on plantations and it's discussed in a very short and direct way that really makes you think about it. But... that ending? It just didn't really feel thought out.

8. Everything's Coming Up Roses - 5 stars – Wow wow wow. This one was honestly phenomenal and it even had tropes that I hate and I still loved it. This short story tells the plot through a series of diary entries that are in evidence for some sort of crime. We meet our main character who is an 18 kid who is dealing with some difficult mental health issues. Slowly as we read we learn more and more about the situation.
I literally can’t say anything else because it’s a creeping dread story so I definitely don’t want to give anything away. This was phenomenal. It really makes me want to read a full length novel by Tiffany D. Jackson. This was just so well done and I can’t say enough great things about this one.

9. Heaven – 4 stars – This reminded me so much of parts of Annihilation. This is following our main character who lives in a place called Heaven that is a locked area that holds the last of humanity after the Sunken occurred. Our MC’s girlfriend goes missing and he decides he needs to search for her and uncovers a long-kept secret.
This was so unique compared to the other stories in the collection. I really wasn’t expecting it and this is straight up horror Sci-Fi. It was just so interesting and I didn’t see where the story was going. This was a really good surprise

10. Break Through Our Skin – 1 star – This is a no from me. This was a really gory story that just didn’t work for me. This is following our MC who is struggling with being a transgender individual in a society that degrades people like them. They’re not currently out and struggle with that throughout the story. They are currently working for an archeologist who is bigoted and racist in his beliefs, which our MC just deals with to get a good recommendation. When the museum gets a prestigious new artifact, a new world opens up.
There was so much I wanted to like about this story, but none of it ended up working for me when put all together. I like the representation of a trans character in this collection and I loved the countdown and what the countdown ended up standing for. Other than those two things, this story was unbearable. Everyone, including our MC, was beyond frustrating and it was just hard to read about any of the characters. It was also just really gory and made my stomach turn a few times. I wasn’t expecting this collection to be so graphic since it’s labeled as YA.

11. Wasps – 4 stars – This was a really good one and another that I feel fits super well into this collection. This is following our MC who is currently dealing with her and her mother’s home being taken away by a neighbor. They’re constantly working to cover legal bills while also protecting the home from the neighbor breaking in. Our MC notices a break in and begins to act a bit strangely.
This was so good and I was rooting so hard for the MC. This is definitely a comeuppance story and it’s very unique with the method. This is one that I would love to become a full length story or a novella. There’s such a cool history behind the story that obviously wasn’t explored.

12. Hell is Other Demons – 1 star – This is actually my least favorite of all of the stories just because it was easily the worst written. It was so choppy and felt as if this were a first draft of some sort of fanfiction. This is following our MC who gets dragged into being part of a summoning of a demon by her friend’s boyfriend and honestly I don’t think I could tell you the rest of the plot because I kept zoning out. That’s how bad the writing was. It just didn’t feel edited and was so weird to read.

13. The Road to Hell – 5 stars – I’m obsessed. This was genius for a story idea and that the collection ended with this. I’m not sure it 100% wrapped up the collection since it was more of a haunted house story than a “White Guy Dies First” story, but it was by far the coolest one and totally different than anything I’ve read. This is following our MC who is actually the haunted house. We learn everything from the house’s perspective and it’s literally so cool to see how the house got haunted and how it feels about situations and it slowly descending into madness. I loved it. I’m obsessed. This worked so well as a short story. I think this in long-form would have gotten boring, so this was perfect.

I was actually surprised that I liked the stories in this immensely more than I thought I would. Surprisingly enough for the intended audience, this had a good bit of gore and the stories were pretty great. This will be out in July, and it should definitely be on your TBR.

Thanks to Netgalley and TOR Teen for this ARC!

Buddy read with Zana

➡Black History Month

➡The Diverse Baseline

August Prompt B: An anthology by BIPOC authors

1. Ghoulfriends Online Blog by Terry J. Benton-Walker ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Zana found this blog a little cheesy, but I was very much into it. I'm a terrible person, and I find unfunny things very funny. Or the rest of your humor is wrong.

2. All Eyes on Me by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé ⭐⭐⭐⭐

While I loved this from the start, the ending nearly ruined it for me.

Helen reminds me a lot of my younger self. Maybe myself right now. I wouldn't like to unpack that. Her boyfriend, and the inner monologue she has with herself while trying to break up with him, gives me PTSD.

In what world is Hel a nickname for Helen?

If I lived in a place called Nowhere, I'd leave, too.

3. Hedge by Kalynn Bayron ⭐⭐⭐

Teenage boys are so sad. Not that men are much better, in my experience. Boohoo.

4. The Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake ⭐⭐⭐⭐

This story is about two Korean American sisters whose parents own an American Chinese restaurant. Racism abounds.

Sophie has started hanging out with the in crowd, a group of rich, white, entitled brats. One of them in particular has been paying close attention to her, and she is basking in it. Her sister tries to warn her off, but she doesn't listen.

I guessed the ending, but I'm a petty bitch and enjoyed the hell out of it, so whatever.

5. Best Served Cold by H.E. Edgmon ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Hannibal would be proud. IYKYK

6. The Protégé by Lamar Giles ⭐

Respectfully, what the fuck was that?

This was boring. Then it got weird. Then it made no sense.

7. Docile Girls by Chloe Gong ⭐⭐

As I have dnf every Chloe Gong book I have ever tried, I knew this would be a difficult read for me. We don't vibe.

To the people that feed their dogs and treat them better than their skin children, fuck you. I'll be over on /dogfree.

Looking back, mainly at myself, but also at these shorts, every WMAF relationship is making me cringe. I'm also mortally offended.

8. Gray Grove by Alexis Henderson ⭐⭐⭐⭐

To the people that look at the past and let racism slide, just because it was "the times," fuck you.

Being new to the South would suck. The weather. The allergies. The humidity. To be fair, I'm from there, and hate all of the above. But it would suck.

I'm tired of reading about jellyfish.

Another thing that mortally offends me is people getting married in former plantation houses. Like, just don't.

9. Everything's Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'm fucked up. I'm not usually into epistolary style stories, but this was my favorite of the bunch as of yet. I will never look at gardening the same.

I thought this girl was just weird, but damn, the vibes are wrong with this one. I laughed so hard. The protagonist actually reminds me of a really obnoxious reviewer here. IYKYK

10. Heaven by Adiba Jaigirdar ⭐⭐⭐

I call this one Mermaid Necromancy, which is not a spoiler, because it's obviously not exactly that, but kind of. Dystopian worlds are hit or miss, but keep in mind, the government is always keeping secrets!

As someone who grew up Catholic, I am triggered that this city is called Heaven, and that there are gates to get in.

11. Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We've got racist white professors, deadnaming, and overprotective parents. What could go wrong with a school named the Oriental Institute?

I love when white men mansplain my culture to me. Thank you. I had no idea. Even worse is when they try to break out in my native language, and pronounce it so horribly I have zero idea what they're trying to say. At this point, I should just stop asking. I'm uninterested in this attention.

And I'm not usually one for unwillingly given sacrifices, but in this case, eat up.

12. wasps by Mark Oshiro ⭐⭐⭐

The gentrification is strong in this one. It's easy to argue both sides of the gentrification war. On one side, people deserve affordable housing, especially if they're the ones that lived in and built the neighborhood. On the other side, do I get excited to see a new hot yoga studio and juice spot? Guilty.

The anger quickly turned to surprise as this got a little more Stephen King than I was expecting. I enjoy sentient things.

13. Hell Is Other Demons by Karen Strong ⭐⭐⭐⭐

As an atheist, this spoke to me. I grew up Catholic, and the idea of Heaven and Hell are so ingrained in you to make you behave that it makes me sick. I like the lore here that there are other places to go to. Surely the afterlife, if it exists, is not as binary as American politics.

14. The Road to Hell by Terry J. Benton-Walker ⭐⭐⭐

I always enjoy an interesting POV, and this was interesting. The Shining level interesting. Book, not movie.

15. Epilogue ⭐⭐⭐

Related to the prologue, but infinitely shorter. It's fine.

Hit or miss collection. I really liked the opening, but found the next couple pieces to be lackluster. Some standouts existed, but overall, an uneven anthology. I do like the concept that these are the missing pieces written by the interns, though, as it adds another layer.

Described as 13 scary series. 13 authors of color. 13 times we survived the first kill.

With an anthology of short horror stories, you inevitably have some you gravitate towards or enjoy more than others. From the circus, condemned gardens, haunted/magical houses, ancient artifacts, and demon summoning, there's something for most horror afficionados

Some standouts include: All Eyes on Me; Docile Girls; Wasps; Hell is Other Demons; and The Road to Hell. There was a bit too much body horror some stories for me personally, but I appreciated the variety and flow of this anthology.

Thank you to Tor Publishing Group for an egalley on NetGalley.

As with every short story anthology, I liked many of them and disliked many of them. My absolute favourite one was "The Golden Dragon" by Kendare Blake! It was really well done and I liked the sister relationship a lot.

The enjoyed the ones at the beginning a lot more than the end. These stories are also really gory and I think for a YA title that should be a bit clearer on the back of the novel.

This was a really great collection that I can't wait to recommend to people!

Thank you to NetGalley for sending this to me in advance.

This was an okay anthology. There were very few standouts for me. Honestly, I probably would've skipped this if it weren't for the anthology's title and bright cover.

I'd recommend:

Best Served Cold by HE Edgmon
Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia
wasps by Mark Oshiro

brb, off to check out these three authors' longform work. ✌🏼

Thank you to Tor Teen and NetGalley for this arc.

Below are reviews of each short story:


Ghoulfriends Online Blog by Terry J. Benton-Walker
4/5 stars

William, a blogger, writes a post about Jakobi Warren, a film graduate and founder of Level 13 Studios. Warren disappeared without a trace, leaving a box with thirteen film reels titled, "THE WHITE GUY DIES FIRST." A commenter mentions that there's a collection of thirteen short stories written after the studio was closed.

Okay, now I know why the editor has two stories in this collection. This "intro" (written in the style of a blog post, with dumb comments included!) really sets up the mood for the anthology. Some missing indie movie director, Jakobi Warren, has a collection of horror shorts never seen by any living person? Fuck yeah, sign me tf up!


All Eyes on Me by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
3.5/5 stars

Helen, who's desperate to break up with her boyfriend, meets a carnival worker (and potential love interest) named Beatrice, who has the perfect plan for Helen's predicament.

I'm not really sure how I feel about this story. I liked the sapphic elements. The story was well-written, and I ended up really caring for the FMC, Helen, because her relationship with her mayo boyfriend is beyond relatable for me.

But other than that, the ending was a total cop out. Maybe that was the point? I'm not sure. My suspension of disbelief shattered when the consequences of Helen and Beatrice's actions flew out the window just so they could have that ending.


Hedge by Kalynn Bayron
4/5 stars

Brothers Brandon and Wesley, along with Wesley's friends, decide to pay a visit to McCannon's Topiary Garden, the site where their father mysteriously died.

Mai was pretty meh on this, but I liked it! We get enough time to know the two brothers (Brandon is fourteen, while Wesley is seventeen) and their family dynamics. Wesley's friends had some personalities, but they mostly read as indistinguishable.

What I really liked was that we're introduced to the subject (the father's death) and the horror setting (the topiary garden) in the beginning, so nothing new-ish pops up in the end as a deus ex machina.


The Golden Dragon by Kendare Blake
3.5/5 stars

Sophie, a working-class Korean teen, gets invited by her rich and privileged friends to a night out at the Japanese Gardens, where something sinister lurks in the dark.

This would've been a solid 4 stars, but the ending was kinda weird. It's nice how everything tied in together in the end, but it felt like it was trying too hard to wrap up loose ends. Idk.

I liked how this feels like a typical teenage story with a MC who wants to belong with the cool kids. The class and race dynamics are obviously in-your-face unequal, so I was interested to see if the author had a different take on this.

But it turned out to be pretty cliche. I think Mai liked it better than me. At least it was a quick read.

Some quotes I liked:

"Summer said he was only after her to bang an Asian, to mark one off on his international-bang bingo card."

"That was the nice thing about Asian girls. They were quiet. The worst thing about them was they sometimes kicked him in the balls and made him lose his phone."



Best Served Cold by HE Edgmon
5/5 stars

EJ, a Native American teen, meets their brother's white friend, Isaac, at a pow wow.

ALL the stars for this short story! Hannibal Lecter vibes all around. I LOVED it. Mai loved it. It was messed up in the best way possible. And the commentary on whiteness? *chef's kiss*

Some quotes I liked:

"I hungered for green eyes, even going as far as buying cheap, probably toxic colored contacts from a stand at the mall, only to have a sobbing fit on the bathroom floor when I realized my natural eye color was too dark to be hidden under the film."

"And then, years later, Kai brings a boy with the most beautiful green eyes to the Pow Wow. His name is Isaac."

"Our mom calls herself white because white people think she is, because she passes in their spaces—even though her grandfather spent his childhood at a boarding school in Oklahoma and his adulthood beating the religion they gave him into her own mother."

"Hunting, like fishing and farming, tends to attract people on polar ends of the spectrum. One look at Isaac, with his eyes like new money, his blond ex-military haircut, and the Patagonia jacket fitted over his broad shoulders, and I worried he was at the wrong end."


The Protégé by Lamar Giles
2/5 stars

Troy's mentor, a magician next door named Jack Meridian, asks him to sign for a valuable package while he's gone.

This was such a mess. Both Mai and I disliked it. It felt very all over the place. It didn't know what it wanted to be. There were elements of magic from Dr. Strange mixed with horror that would've been cool if the story was cohesive.


Docile Girls by Chloe Gong
2/5 stars

Adelaide and the rest of the dance committee, which consists of her ex and his circle of well-to-do friends, get locked in the school's gym.

This was such a mess! The sad part is, it could've been a decent trashy horror read. The author was way too on the nose with the whole getting revenge against white people thing. I think if those lines were struck out, this would've been a more powerful story.

YA readers aren't dumb. We can figure out what the author's trying to say without being so obvious.


Gray Grove by Alexis Henderson
3/5 stars

Rumi and her friend, Kaitlin, film a supernatural-themed podcast at an old plantation house where a high schooler was reportedly killed by unknown forces.

I really liked the cosmic horror ending in this one. The story itself is very cliche, but I liked how Rumi's interactions with her white friend were racially-charged. If you're a BIPOC, I'm sure you've had similar conversations with insensitive white friends who dismiss your racially-based concerns.


Everything's Coming Up Roses by Tiffany D. Jackson
3.5/5 stars

Leesa, who has an obsession with gardening, lands a new job at Home Depot while her personal life slowly unravels.

Mai definitely liked this more than I did, but it's Tiffany D. Jackson and I can't say no to her unsettling vibes. She's such a master when it comes to unreliable narrators. I bow down to the queen. We all bow down.

It was too short for me. I wanted more details of the horror elements (like the sicko I am).


Heaven by Adiba Jaigirdar
2/5 stars

Living in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by creatures called the Sunken, Eshaal finds out that the community they live in isn't what it seems to be.

Um, I don't really know what this was. This would've been a great post-apocalyptic novel or novella, but as a short story, there were too many details and concepts crammed into such a limited word count that it was hard to feel sympathy for the characters or even understand what was exactly happening.


Break Through Our Skin by Naseem Jamnia
4/5 stars

Farz, a trans teen who's Iranian, finds kinship with a powerful spirit that lives in an ancient artifact from Iran.

Okay, hands down, I really liked this because it's a monster transformation revenge story. The monster was gross. The old white guy ancient Iran expert was gross in a patriarchal, homophobic/transphobic way. The ending was *chef's kiss*.

My fave quote:

"How do I explain to my parents that I entered a pact with a millennia-old spirit to transform into a monster and eat my racist colonizing professor-boss?"


wasps by Mark Oshiro
5/5 stars

Nina defends her generational home against a man who wants to buy the property and gentrify the neighborhood.

I loved this one! I'm such a huge fan of cosmic horror and the ending did NOT disappoint! I'm all down for creepy powerful ancient entities and human sacrifices.


Hell Is Other Demons by Karen Strong
3/5 stars

Evelyn accompanies Brett and Ivy as Brett performs a demonic ritual to summon Gazidun.

As far as demonic ritual stories go, this one was all right. Maybe I've read one too many horror/dark fantasy stories about summoning demons, but this didn't really wow me as much as I thought it would.

Although, I did like how the MC's future job in the afterlife is treated like any other office job. It's giving Alix E. Harrow's Mr. Death short story.


The Road to Hell by Terry J. Benton-Walker
3/5 stars

An old sentient house becomes fascinated by a new family that moves in.

This one was also all right. I didn't really understand the point of the story. Did the house like the family? Did the house hate the family? You can't fault the family for wanting to renovate an old house after sinking money into it.


Epilogue
3/5 stars

Written as an email to the Ghoulfriends Online blogger, the anonymous sender suggests that Jakobi struck a deal with a witch so that his thirteen stories would impact at least one person who reads them.

This was a cute ending that didn't really have a lot of impact on me because it didn't really feel necessary. I honestly wasn't going to rate it, but since Mai did it, I figured I might as well.

Loves this! Many stories of (generally) revenge, some of tragedy, some of magic, and at least one of good old fashioned murder.

tw: kidnapping, gore, SA, racism, cannibalism

a Black man named Jakobi and 13 white male actors are missing. but he's left behind a box of 13 film reels...
one of Jakobi's interns has collected 13 various short stories after his studio was shut down and this begins our journey.

each story is interwoven around the theme of MCs who struggle with things that BIPOC persons struggle with often in today's society which made the characters relateable and easy to connect with in some way. the stories are diverse, inclusive, and overall enjoyable reads.

as with any anthology, some stories stood out to me more than others and so my enjoyment fluctuated throughout. some stories needed to be longer, and some lacked enough details to really get invested in. but there's a good mix of creepy and eerie reads that will have you regret reading in the dark.

this is a love letter to people of color who have ever felt like an outsider, experienced microaggressions, or victims of racism in any way. it's a celebration of our resilience and tenacity to rise above time and time again. these stories are bold and beautiful yet dark, scary, and chilling.

favs: The Golden Dragon, Docile Girls, Best Served Cold, The Protoge' and Heaven

Thank you for the arc!

The good first: fabulously titled. Great cover. A good variety of horror subgenres. "Everything's Coming Up Roses."

The bad: the quality of the stories. I am admittedly DNF'ng about halfway through, after story #6 - Docile Girls - because I haven't liked any of them. I've enjoyed other works by Chloe Gong, but this wasn't her strength. So I skipped ahead to Tiffany Jackson, who's horror I admire, and actually really enjoyed that one. It's well paced and tense.

The other six all read like authors who don't typically write horror. They don't have the oomph to carry the short story format.

I appreciate horror as a genre. And love horror that SAYS something, so I thought this would be the perfect collection. It is not. It feels like someone saw Out There Screaming and tried to copy it as quickly as possible.

Maybe folks who don't typically read horror will like this. There's a chance!

TOR: thank you for signing non white authors to write horror. Please keep doing that. If this doesn't sell well, the lesson is not that diverse horror doesn't sell. It's that most of these stories are mid.

Thank you to Tor Teen, and NetGalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have been dipping my toes into more of the horror genre lately, so when I saw this book had 13 different short-stories I was highly intrigued. This anthology is filled with bone-chilling tales that tackle important topics.

I am SO HAPPY I was able to read this and get a taste for a few different authors!

*I will note that you will want to check your trigger warnings before diving into this book. There are a few scenes some may find harmful or grotesque due to the nature of the book overall. *

Each story was unique to itself and I was getting HEAVY “American Horror Story vibes.” You may not want to read this one alone, at night, with the lights off.

I am so ecstatic for this to be released this Summer and hear all of the thoughts from fellow readers. <3

I’m not usually into the horror genre but because I adore all other works by Terry J Benton Walker I wanted to check it out. Definitely some mind bending stories and I couldn’t read them before bed. Some got a little too gory for me, but I enjoyed the more psychological thrillers. I think the authors did an excellent job twisting your traditional horror stories and themes into diverse themes with social justice undertones.

I always love discovering genuinely scary stories, and I love even more being able to read and support authors of color, so I really can’t say enough great things about this. It’s perfect for when you’re looking for a scary bedtime story, and it’s hard to put down. Bound to induce some scarily authentic nightmares.

An inclusive horror anthology showcasing 13 stories by 13 authors of color. I love reading about different characters and learning about their cultures. I think it’s important to read books by BIPOC authors because it shows future horror lovers/readers that they can imagine themselves as characters in stories too.

These stories were fun, eerie and entertaining. I only disliked 2 stories out of the 13 and definitely think everyone should read this book. It showcases a lot of talented authors that go unnoticed most of the time. If you’re looking to expand your mind and be open to other cultures and races, this book will deliver, especially in scares.

☆ 3.5 [overall]

↻ theme. one thing i found that interconnected and weaved into each short story was the protagonists struggling with being considered an outsider. they dealt with micro-aggressions, desperation to fit into a more “glamorous (white) lifestyle”, and the compounding effects of generational trauma. i loved that each story was threaded with very real issues and struggles of BIPOC. It is what shaped and gave more life to the characters.

↻ one sentence reviews (not summaries) of the 13 short stories: + mini ratings

┊All Eyes on Me: all the potential for a scare factor (clowns, murder, string-of-disappearances), but the ending sort of fizzled out. [☆ 3]

┊Hedge : the best thing to probably do is not go into the maze where theres been a series of dead bodies found. [☆ 3]

┊The Golden Dragon: girls helping girls get revenge, ideal sister bonding activities! (tw: attempted assault but its not covered in much detail) [☆ 3.5]

┊Best Served Cold: phew, at least the psychotic cannibal isn’t homophobic! (tw: kidnapping) [☆ 4.5]

┊The Protégé: magicians, cults, and vengeance, it really can’t get better than this. [☆ 4]

┊Docile Girls: another revenge plot but with lots of gore and an almost let down ending. [☆ 3]

┊Gray Grove : girls with a podcast go ghost hunting in an old haunted plantation. [☆ 3]

┊Everything’s Coming Up Roses: just a girl and her silly gardening obsession! (i really enjoyed the journal entry format) [☆ 3]

┊Heaven: the last city on earth and the secrets of the inhabitants beyond the gates. the world building potential here ? adore it. [☆ 3.5]

┊Break Through Our Skin: the things we go through to get a letter of rec. (ft. middle eastern rep! trans/non-binary rep! (please be aware that the character does go through internal dialogue of not being out/accepted (but its a happy ending !)), immigrant rep! & lots of detailed bodily modification descriptions) [☆ 4]

┊Wasps: one thing i hate is wasps, one thing i love is magical houses. [☆ 3]

┊Hell is Other Demons : featuring literal demons, possessing your girlfriend’s dad, and fun job promotions! [☆ 3]

┊The Road to Hell : (what did i just read??) a haunted house story but from the the POV of the haunted house. [☆ 3.5]

↻ overall. I love horror and I love short stories, so this was something I knew I would enjoy. My feelings on the collection fluctuated a tiny bit. Some of them were instantly exciting to read through, some felt as though they had a whole bunch of extra details, and some left me disappointed at the lack of action, as though the word count was reached and a bunch of things didn’t make the cut.

Were all the stories necessary thrilling? No, but they were all fun to read and had diverse characters with unique identities, backgrounds, and stories.

↻ 𖥻 standouts. The Protégé and Heaven (respectfully, i am asking for these to be made into novels post haste), Golden Dragon ( you know i love a revenge plot! ), and Best Served Cold (narration style perfectly portrayed the lack of lucidity of the main character and gave it a really chilling vibe).

Thank you for the arc ! :)

link to review on good reads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/152273889-ren

i’m biased because i love chloe gong but her’s was my favourite short story 🤭

anyway this was definitely a chilling read and it was super refreshing to finally see the poc characters NOT get killed off first. (i recommend you don’t read this at night because i kid you not i was SHUDDERING.) i can’t say too much about the book since each story is very different from each other, but the ones that truly stood out to me were “all eyes on me”, “the golden dragon”, and “docile girls”. i definitely enjoyed this a lot more than i thought i would and rate it 3.5/5 stars!

4 stars!

Thank you to Tor Teen, and NetGalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I have been dipping my toes into more of the horror genre lately, so when I saw this book had 13 different short-stories I was highly intrigued. This anthology is filled with bone-chilling tales that tackle important topics.

I am SO HAPPY I was able to read this and get a taste for a few different authors!

*I will note that you will want to check your trigger warnings before diving into this book. There are a few scenes some may find harmful or grotesque due to the nature of the book overall. *

Each story was unique to itself and I was getting HEAVY “American Horror Story vibes.” You may not want to read this one alone, at night, with the lights off.

I am so ecstatic for this to be released this Summer and hear all of the thoughts from fellow readers. <3

thanks to NetGalley for the eARC

⭐️=3.58 | 😘=4.25 | 🤬=5 | ⚔️=5 | 15/16+

summary: 13 YA horror stories where the white guy dies first.

thoughts: my star rating here is like the average of my individual ratings for each story. this was very very hit or miss. some were incredible; my favorites are “The Golden Dragon ” (girls, specifically Korean American girls, getting revenge), “Best Served Cold” (cannibalism!!), and “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (we looooove spooky diary entries). however, the framing device intro felt very unnecessary and weird. idk. some unnamed authors whose work I adore otherwise are just, like... not made for short fiction. stick to the novels bestie!!

content note(s): gore, racism, attempted rape

I love anthologies but what I love even more is horror. I struggle to find good horror books or pieces, but I was so excited when I saw horror written by so many authors I know and I love and I was not let down!! I was kept up til the early morning reading and I could not put it down. Terry J Benton-Walker never disappoints and I can always count on him to have me reading til way too late.

✰ 4 stars! ✰
Loved this anthology! I've been craving horror lately and this definitely satisfied it. I enjoyed reading how the stories tackled themes of racism and other prejudice. After my first read, I think my favourite stories were "The Golden Dragon," "Best Served Cold," "Docile Girls," and "Hell is Other Demons". Overall, I had a great time reading and discovering more authors!