Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • SHIRLEY JACKSON AWARD NOMINEE FOR BEST EDITED ANTHOLOGY • BRAM STOKER AWARD NOMINEE FOR SUPERIOR ACHIEVEMENT IN AN ANTHOLOGY • LOCUS AWARD FINALIST
A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?”
“Never failed to surprise, delight, and shock.” —Nick Cutter, author of The Troop and Little Heaven
Featuring stories by:
Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce K. Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller
Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.
These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.
A bold, clever, and sublimely sinister collection that dares to ask the question: “Are you ready to be un-settled?”
“Never failed to surprise, delight, and shock.” —Nick Cutter, author of The Troop and Little Heaven
Featuring stories by:
Norris Black • Amber Blaeser-Wardzala • Phoenix Boudreau • Cherie Dimaline • Carson Faust • Kelli Jo Ford • Kate Hart • Shane Hawk • Brandon Hobson • Darcie Little Badger • Conley Lyons • Nick Medina • Tiffany Morris • Tommy Orange • Mona Susan Power • Marcie R. Rendon • Waubgeshig Rice • Rebecca Roanhorse • Andrea L. Rogers • Morgan Talty • D.H. Trujillo • Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. • Richard Van Camp • David Heska Wanbli Weiden • Royce K. Young Wolf • Mathilda Zeller
Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.
These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.
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Community Reviews
Stories can be hit and miss, like many others I was expecting more lore and spooky and less contemporary references.
It definitely had some scary moments in there. Other stories were a little hard for me to really understand the myth or legend behind them so I was left feeling a little bit confused. Overall, I think the stories were very well put together I think personally I just am not a short story person
3/5
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
A collection of short horror stories by indigenous writers that touch on a great variety of fears with a fresh and different perspective. Horror is a very wide definition here, I think everyone will find something they like whether gore or ghost stories, and both supernatural and very real life dread. I enjoyed the mix of folklore and tradition with the modern world but, as it happen with almost all anthologies, this was very much a mixed grab bag. Some of the stories were a bit too long for a collection like this and some of them, while good, were upstaged by far more polished tales and writers.
There were a couple of clear standouts for me like White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse, a story that managed to touch on a myriad of issues (like racism, eugenics, privilege and poverty) with subtlety, and in a very short amount of pages, showing her experience and mastery of the craft. D.H. Trujillo's Snakes Are Born in the Dark is another interesting one that is a bit cheeky, funny, and has the right amount of gore to tie it all together. I found Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power to be a heartwarming bittersweet ghost story and Amber Blaeser-Wardzala's Collections a chilling portrayal of power dynamics. Generally, I think no one will be disappointed by what they find in this collection.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher
A collection of short horror stories by indigenous writers that touch on a great variety of fears with a fresh and different perspective. Horror is a very wide definition here, I think everyone will find something they like whether gore or ghost stories, and both supernatural and very real life dread. I enjoyed the mix of folklore and tradition with the modern world but, as it happen with almost all anthologies, this was very much a mixed grab bag. Some of the stories were a bit too long for a collection like this and some of them, while good, were upstaged by far more polished tales and writers.
There were a couple of clear standouts for me like White Hills by Rebecca Roanhorse, a story that managed to touch on a myriad of issues (like racism, eugenics, privilege and poverty) with subtlety, and in a very short amount of pages, showing her experience and mastery of the craft. D.H. Trujillo's Snakes Are Born in the Dark is another interesting one that is a bit cheeky, funny, and has the right amount of gore to tie it all together. I found Dead Owls by Mona Susan Power to be a heartwarming bittersweet ghost story and Amber Blaeser-Wardzala's Collections a chilling portrayal of power dynamics. Generally, I think no one will be disappointed by what they find in this collection.
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