All These Sunken Souls: A Black Horror Anthology

by Kalynn Bayron, Circe Moskowitz (Editor), Ashia Monet, Liselle Sambury, Sami Ellis

Overview

Welcome to the Dark.
 
We are all familiar with tropes of the horror genre: slasher and victims, demon and the possessed. Bloody screams, haunted visions, and the peddler of wares we aren’t sure we can trust. In this young adult horror anthology, fans of Jordan Peele, Lovecraft Country, and Horror Noire will get a little bit of everything they love—and a lot of what they fear—through a twisted blend of horror lenses, from the thoughtful to the terrifying.
 
From haunted, hungry Victorian mansions, temporal monster–infested asylums, and ravaging zombie apocalypses, to southern gothic hoodoo practitioners and cursed patriarchs in search of Black Excellence, All These Sunken Souls features the chilling creations of acclaimed bestsellers and hot new talents.
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Contributors
Kalynn Bayron @KalynnBayron
Ashia Monet @AshiaMonet
Liselle Sambury @LiselleSambury
Sami Ellis @themoosef
Joel Rochester @fictionalfates
Joelle Wellington @joelle_welling
Brent C. Lambert @BrentCLambert
Donyae Coles @okokno
Ryan Douglass @ryandouglassw
Circe Moskowitz @circemoskowitz

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781641608374
Publisher:	Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	10/17/2023
Pages:	268
Sales rank:	89,058
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.00(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Circe Moskowitz (editor) is a fiction writer with a penchant for the macabre. She is a cocreator of the forthcoming graphic novel Good Mourning and a contributor in the critically acclaimed anthology Reclaim the Stars edited by Zoraida Córdova.

Table of Contents

1   Lights by Kalynn Bayron
2   Be Not Afraid by Ashia Monet
3   All My Best Friends Are Dead by Liselle Sambury
4   The Teeth Come Out at Night by Sami Ellis
5   I Love Your Eyes by Joel Rochester
6   The Consumption of Vienna Montrose by Joelle Willington
7   The Landscape of Broken Things by Brent Lambert
8  Mother, Daughter, and the Devil by Donyae Coles
9   Papa Pearlie by Ryan Douglass
10 No Harm Done by Circe Moskowitz
 

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/21/2023

Consisting of 10 stories by 10 authors—including Kalynn Bayron, Liselle Sambury, and Joelle Wellington—and starring Black teens, this gripping horror anthology, edited by contributor Moskowitz, contains new takes on classic horror themes. In Sami Ellis’s “The Teeth Come Out at Night,” something evil and dangerous stalks teen Akeela, who sees no other way to pay for college admission fees than by selling the baby teeth of the children she nannies. Nonbinary protagonist Frey flips the script on their physically and verbally abusive lover in a long-planned and violent bid for revenge in Joel Rochester’s “I Love Your Eyes.” And in Ryan Douglass’s “Papa Pearlie,” a grandfather wields exacting control over his family using hoodoo dolls, to frightening outcomes. Each selection features fresh twists on familiar paranormal fare, such as zombies, multiverses, immortal beings, evil twins, and ancient magic, making for a varied offering with something for every reader. Carefully constructed characters and worlds ruminate on myriad Black experiences while providing spine-tingling, escapist stories for fans of simultaneously gruesome and pensive scares. Ages 12–up. Agent: Natascha Morris, Tobias Literary. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

2023-08-11
An entertaining and eclectic horror anthology centering Black characters sure to scare and delight.

Editor Moskowitz has collected 10 horrific tales showcasing a variety of subgenres, from zombies (as in her own contribution, “No Harm Done”) to haunted houses (“The Consumption of Vienna Montrose” by Joelle Wellington) and monsters lurking in the dark (“Lights” by Kalynn Bayron). Some of the standouts include “All My Best Friends Are Dead” by Liselle Sambury, a twisty take on the Bloody Mary classic showcasing a sleepover slaughter, and “Mother, Daughter, and the Devil,” an eerie fable from Donyae Coles told in a mesmerizing and lyrical voice. Continuing the theme of teeth that appears in Coles’ story, Sami Ellis’ “The Teeth Come Out at Night” gives a new twist to babysitting horror stories. Black protagonists provide new perspectives on a genre that traditionally is somewhat limited in representation; these inclusive takes on well-known tropes offer readers not only delightful chills and thrills but also a new and necessary lens through which to view the fears that haunt us all in the night. Overall, this is an accessible, fast-paced, and often startling collection. Fans of Stephen King and Jordan Peele will be eager to dig into this modernized take on age-old scary stories.

One to enjoy with the lights on. (contributor bios) (Horror. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews

"Each selection features fresh twists on familiar paranormal fare...Carefully constructed characters and worlds ruminate on myriad Black experiences while providing spine-tingling, escapist stories for fans of simultaneously gruesome and pensive scares." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review

"Circe Moskowitz has assembled a skilled set of authors who fully deliver on sublimely written, terrifying narratives of the macabre. More than that, this collection is profoundly important. It represents an essential intervention into inclusive fiction and imaginative world-building. We are all better for our engagement with these unforgettable voices." —Robin R. Means Coleman, PhD, author of Horror Noire: A History of Black American Horror from the 1890s to Present and coauthor of The Black Guy Dies First: Black Horror Cinema from Fodder to Oscar 

"Fans of Stephen King and Jordan Peele will be eager to dig into this modernized take on age-old scary stories." —Kirkus Reviews

“A magnificently chilling collection that ranges from the gothic to the gory, from hospital hallways to haunted houses. Take my advice and don't read it after the sun goes down.” —Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House

“All These Sunken Souls breathes monstrous new life into the withered, desiccated husks of the familiar horror tropes. Each story is a gleeful reinvention for readers young and old alike, offering an ambitious and horrifying menagerie that shows the full breadth of what the horror genre is capable of.” —Trevor Henderson, horror artist, illustrator, and creator of Siren Head

"A delightfully creepy and deliciously horrifying collection of tales that brings nearly done-to-death tropes back to life in unexpected and terrifying ways. Featuring a frighteningly talented pool of authors of some of the biggest names in YA horror, plus new voices that will claw their way into your heart, All These Sunken Souls is an absolute must read for all horror fans." —Aiden Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys, The Sunbearer Trials, and Lost in the Never Woods

"An entertaining and eclectic horror anthology centering Black characters sure to scare and delight...Black protagonists provide new perspectives on a genre that traditionally is somewhat limited in representation...Fans of Stephen King and Jordan Peele will be eager to dig into this modernized take on age-old scary stories. One to enjoy with the lights on."—Kirkus Reviews

"With stories that shift from reality-based fears of murderous home intruders into fever dreams of demonic pacts and flesh-eating zombies, All These Sunken Souls is a chilling horror anthology that hides its terrors among what’s mundane."—Foreword Reviews STARRED REVIEW

From the Publisher