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Book Review of Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror
terez93 avatar reviewed on + 323 more book reviews


This curious collection of eclectic horror tales, out just in time for Halloween, was edited by none other than Jordan Peele, a well-known figure on the Hollywood Horror scene. He's seemingly best known for his 2022 movie "Nope" and 2019's "Us."

In this creative anthology, which features some up-and-coming horror writers, Peele presents a diverse collection of stories, drawn from both ancient and modern material. Some are inspired by African folklore, while others are based on real-life events in the not-too-distant past, such as the Jim Crow South.

From supernatural tales to psychological thrillers to sci-fi stories, this collection is indeed full of thrills and, in some cases, some deeply disturbing tales that stay with you, even when you've moved on to the next. Most were at least engaging, even if, as is always the case with a collection like this, some were better than others. In the latter case, because the stories are short, you can just power through the ones which don't particularly strike your fancy and move on to the next, but the duds were very few and far between.

I won't rehash each and every story, so I'll leave readers to decide which were their favorites (good ole' fashioned ghost stories always make the top of the list for me), but this is highly recommended for fans of the genre, especially for those who may become bored with longer novels and who instead prefer engaging short stories that still bring on the chills and thrills.