August 2025

Never Whistle at Night

Edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst

A short story anthology compiling works by Indiginous horror authors!

For fans of Stephen Graham Jones (he wrote the introduction!)

I've had my eyes on this for a while and I'm so glad I finally read it. I don't think there is a single story in the entire book that I felt was lacking. Normally horror is not really my preferred genre, but there is some really great stuff coming from the Native American scene -- most of the stories had cutting insight on how colonization has twisted the world, but also bring along some hope as to how we can conquer that beast. This book has also pointed me to some great authors -- highly reccomend picking this up if you see it. It'll be great for my coffee table once halloween comes around, too



Chain Gang All-Stars

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

A prison-industiral dystopian future set in America where prisoners can elect to fight in killing games in order to clear their sentence.

For fans of 1984 and the Hunger Games

Another book from a genre that I tend to avoid that I was pleasantly surprised by! Generally, I find dystopian novels to be corny at best, and downright offensive/tone deaf at worst. This book was neither; it was enaging and powerful. Adjei-Brenya's future America is hauntingly similar to ours -- he has researched the American prison-industrial complex deeply, and it shines through his book. Through effective use of footnotes (not optional while reading), Adjei-Brenya both develops his fictional world and educates readers on real-life historical injustices in the legal system. It is a gory and disturbing read -- some passages are incredibly difficult to get through. But it is part of the work of bearing witness to the present and potential horrors of the American justice system. This book needs to be shouted from the rafters. Though grim, it also inspires readers to take action and charge towards a kinder future, radically questioning how we ought to think of and treat criminals (both innocent and guilty).