Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

I am a Southern Native, which means my family is native to Mexico, Tecuexe and Nahua, however I am in community with Northern Natives and live in the states. This book contains a very wide variety of native based stories that play with the notion of the word HORROR. Some are creature stories, some are supernatural, some are just violent, but they are all chilling. They are read by different people but so far all good. I am still reading this book so I will just give my impressions of the first 3 and will include no spoilers. 1. Kushtuka: Action packed supernatural story in the cold Alaskan setting. Good pacing and incorporated some good elements of race relations without any activist or academic language. If you liked the new season of True Detective you'll like this. Gory. I liked it. 2. White Hills: This one is a psychological thriller dealing with a "white passing" character who finds herself amongst the higher class of racists; the torture is mostly mental and deals with a truly evil villain. This story was devastating to me, left me feeling disgusted and sad for the protagonist until the end. I could see this being the first or second chapter of a righteous serial killer novel. Good story. 3. Navajos don't...: A tale about trusting your gut and not ignoring red flags. Gay protagonist finds himself losing his grip on the boundaries he set for himself by a dominating good-looking white man. Slowly but surely, he is groomed by the man and does things, and has things done to him, that he swore he would never do. He is aware he is being groomed and should stop, but what is he being groomed for? A chilling read with an action-packed ending. So that's the first three, but I will mention there's a story within a story about a cat in this book that absolutely chilled me.

A collection of very distinctive voices, horror-ish. 4 stars overall, with half of the stories being very strong 5 stars. Eagerly looking forward to the next collection. Even with the misses, the editors did well in their selections. * Kushtuka. 5 star. Spare, ruthless and efficient vengeance. I would have liked a lead in to the second strand, but otherwise excellent. * White Hills. 5 star. A brittle social climb / social reach faces a crossroads. A little too quick, a little too spare, but good. The end bumps this up. * NAVAJOS DON’T WEAR ELK TEETH. 4 star. R rated man on man toxic relationship like a gay Lifetime movie. Gripping but YMMV. * Wingless. 2 stars. A skeletal outline of a story; not bad for what it is, but somewhat slight, with an abrupt conclusion. * Quantum. 2 stars. A tale of divergent youth, and differential treatment. Unsettling. There feels like a few missing steps in the story. * Hunger. 5 stars. Intense, uncomfortable confrontation with a malevolent spirit, mostly from the spirit’s POV * Tick Talk. 5 star. Descriptive with unique turns of phrase. The New Orléans’ take: “the city melting into the Gulf like cardboard left out in the rain. Except for the Quarter. That was melting like a wedding cake under an August haze.” A crossways father/son reunion, then the left-turn aftermath. A lived in story. * The Ones Who Killed Us. 3 stars. Verbose. Well written but completely alien to spoken language. A ghostly resonance of unquenched vengeance. * Snakes are Born In The Dark. 4 stars. A strange, quick fever dream of a desert hike gone sideways. * Before I go. 5 stars. Tragic longing and the Night Mother. * Night in the Chrysalis. 3 stars. A quick overnight in a house horror * Behind Colin’s Eyes. 5 star. Very descriptive of person and place. Intense and ambiguous * Heart Shaped Clock. 3 star. Meandering study of a reckless character’s tragedy. Well constructed, YMMV. * Scariest. Story. Ever. 5 stars plus. An inspiring story as the key to the story of the title, then inspires again. * Human Eaters. 3 stars. A campfire warning. A little tension, a lot of folklore that is interesting but imprecise. * The Longest Street In the World. 5 stars plus. Humor, horror, and a shaggy demon to never get on the bad side of. * Dead owls. 5 star. An interesting story with an interesting twist at the end * The Prepper. 3 star. A brief history of a spiraling life. * Uncle Roberts Rides the Lightning. 5 stars plus. A spare, emotional, semi-tragic, efficient modern mythology. * Sundays. 3 stars. Decisions and vengeance. YMMV depending on how much a history of child abuse triggers. * Eulogy For A Brother, Resurrected. 5 Star. Detailed. Compelling. Intense. * Night Moves. 4 Stars. An efficient, quick werewolf story. * Capgras. 3 stars. A difficult main character, with a story that perhaps could have fleshed out how the underlying trauma came about. * The Scientist’s Horror Story. 5 stars. A two-version frame story that makes you think. * Collections. 5 star. A taut story of potential horror, in a bright mundane setting. * Limbs. 2 stars. A modern folk mythology. Gruesome, unpleasant, cliched. The pacing is rushed and uneven. An efficient conclusion, with the last two paragraphs echoing what could have been if the rest of the story was better.

This book is slowly becoming one of my favorite books. Sometimes I have to read it in the daylight with the lights on. Every writer tells stories in a way that has you on the edge of your seat. I grew up in a place where many of these folk tales were prevalent and it feels nice to see a piece of the mountains in a book. It gives off a cozy up around the fire and take turns telling ghost stories kind of feel. Absolutely love it.

I’m giving this collection 3 stars because, technically, it DOES fit within the “horror” genre. From the small portion I read, the stories were captivating, unsettling, and certainly thought-provoking. However, this book was heavily promoted as a collection of spooky or supernatural stories rooted in Native American folklore. That was what I expected going in, and the first story somewhat matched those expectations, but the second and third stories did not AT ALL. The writing itself was engaging, but the themes leaned much more toward deeply disturbing psychological horror than supernatural or folklore-based horror. I try to keep an open mind when reading outside my comfort zone, but by the third story I found myself skipping sections involving GRAPHIC depictions of ABUSIVE g@y s*xual content. Readers sensitive to s*xual violence, coercion, or explicit abuse may want to be aware of that beforehand, because it was completely unexpected for me. Aside from the characters being Native American, I personally felt there were fewer references to Native culture, spirituality, or traditional lore than I expected based on how the collection was advertised. Some stories explored prejudice and hardship experienced by Native communities (particularly in the first and second stories), which is important subject matter. However, I also felt there was a recurring pattern of portraying white characters almost exclusively in harmful, abusive, or antagonistic roles. Whether intentional or not, by the third story it began to feel less like commentary on prejudice and more broadly targeted, which made the reading experience even more uncomfortable for me. By the end of the third story, I felt too unsettled to continue reading and looked through other reviews to see whether anyone else had similar reactions. I found that several readers shared concerns about the difference between the book’s marketing and the actual content. I would ONLY recommend this collection to readers who enjoy graphic, disturbing, psychologically intense horror and difficult themes. However, if you are specifically looking for spooky, supernatural, folklore-heavy Native American tales, this may not align with your expectations. My mother originally bought this book after seeing it promoted on social media as a collection of thrilling Native American horror stories rooted in lore and legend. In my opinion, the marketing gave a very different impression of what the stories actually contain. More than anything, I’m grateful I decided to read it before she did. Given the content, I genuinely believe parts of this collection would have deeply disturbed or upset her. I wish the themes and triggers had been represented more clearly so readers knew what they were walking into, which is why I decided to leave this honest review.

Love these stories of indigenous people's and their flaiir for scaring you to death. Turn the bed lamp on and read in the dark. Have fun! Just don't whistle!

An absolutely fantastic collection of stories that weave their way through all the shadow corners of horrors both interior and exterior, all too real tales that illuminate terrors being faced everyday but rarely confronted alongside the terrors of supernatural monstrosities that are full of mythic potency and poetry normally reserved for the legends shared in hushed tones by elders imparting wisdom. Seriously there is a bit of everything, serial killer thrillers, domestic terror, ghosts and gods told by a collection of fantastic authors that all turned in powerful and affecting works.

This book has over 20 short stories. They were all interesting and it was fun learning about the entities of indigenous folklore. My issue is so many stories made it hard to keep my attention. I would still recommend it someone who enjoys short stories.

I loved every one of these stories, each with its own unique style and subject matter. And they all tie in nicely together

Este libro fue de mis favoritos del año, la colección de cuentos tiene de todo, terros, suspenso, comedia, amor, moral y familia, todo eso atravesado por tradición y amor por los pueblos nativos.

This anthology has a wide variety of dark fiction that suits a lot of interests. I read it with a group of high school teachers and we selected a number of these tales for senior high study potential. There is so much traditional knowledge and story woven throughout and a great mix of gore, body horror, and the supernatural. A few tales should come with trigger warnings about abuse and assault, so that’s something to be aware of before picking up the book or sharing its tales. I really think there’s something in here for everyone and if you have enjoyed The Marrow Thieves , Moon of the Crusted Snow, Bad Cree, Cold, or Green Fuse Burning, you’ll enjoy yourself here.

In einer Geschichtensammlung sind ja immer einige besser als andere, aber dieses Buch hier ist echt toll. Man taucht in so ganz andere Welten ein, unvorhergesehen, schön gruselig, aber nie zu doll. Naaa guuuut...vielleicht da, wo dieser Zombigeist die Partygesellschaft zerstückelt...haha. Ich bin echt kein Horrorfan, aber dieses Buch finde ich super. Weil es eben auch immer wieder vom furchtbaren Umgang mit den First Nations handelt. Und ich finde ein wenig Rache da durchaus angebracht. 😬

A truly special collection of stories everybody should read to ecpand their world

The print on the right side of the book on almost all pages is slanting and not set right.