Out There Screaming - An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele

Publisher – Picador

Published – Out Now

Price – £20 hardback £9.99 Kindle ebook

Jordan Peele, the visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us and Nope, curates this anthology of brand new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but also the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our world.

Featuring an introduction by Jordan Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a masterclass in horror, and – like his spine-chilling films – its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world, and redefine what it means to be afraid. Very afraid . . .

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes in place of the headlights of cars that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama, where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the watery depths in search of the demon that killed her parents.

Here you'll find monster-hunters fighting monsters, humanoid AIs fighting for their rights, and an Igbo woman standing up to a powerful spirit. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele’s anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers.

Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor and Cadwell Turnbull.

The last decade has seen various genres start the process of better promoting and highlighting the diverse voices that if anyone looks hard enough at the history of a genre have always been there. Horror is often one of the most welcoming places for new voices and Jordan Peele a new but established voice in Black Horror now moves into fiction with Out There Screaming – An Anthology of Black Horror where a variety of great authors deliver what he calls their oubliettes – short stories their characters try and sometimes fail to get out of.

Among the many stories I enjoyed were

NK Jemisin’s wonderfully disturbing ‘Reckless Eyeballing’ which focuses on the power of a cop who enjoys the use of force too much. But Jemisin perhaps wrongfoots us when we find the main character Carl is a Black man – this tale explores the power of the police to control and break the laws that they are supposed to uphold. Carl is a disturbing man as we see how he sees the world as his to do what he wants. Hence, we feel don’t at all feel sorry for him that his renovated car appears to be looking at him with human eyes. It gets deliciously weirder, and a touch of madness enters the tale as Carl seeks to hide from the eyes which soon get everywhere. Just a deliciously dark intelligent story to enjoy but also think about the issues posed.

From an allegorical tale we then jump to a very fun action tale with ‘Eye and Tooth’ by Rebecca Roanhorse. Two magical-powered but fairly underemployed hunters are called to deal with a problem but they’re not sure what the threat is. Roanhorse paints a history of the brother and sister duo we meet; gives depth to this hidden world of magic and dangerous powers but suggests our main characters have fallen in a trap. How they get out and deal with the situation reminds us not every power is immediately visible, and we end up wanting to know what happened next!

A modern dark myth gets told in ‘Wandering Devil’ by Cadwell Turnbull. This focuses on Freddy a kind man but one constantly filled with wanderlust even if it could hurt people he loves. He meets the one woman he could perhaps stay for and is reminded of a curse a strange old man once told him. Will Freddy’s selfishness or love win out is the quandary the tale poses us and Turnbull delvers a fine job of keeping us hooked until the ending reveals the trap that has been awaiting him for a very long time. Wonderful storytelling.

A trip to the weirder side of horror awaits in the intensely creepy ‘The Other One’ by Violet Allen which hugely impressed me. Our lovesick main character Angela is pining for her lost love who she is trying hard not to text, but a simple message gets a response but from someone else. It’s a horror tale that delights in asking well would you do? A reply back and escalates the decisions Anegla makes. We feel a dangerous web is getting around her. Allen then plays with our expectations on where the threat is actually coming from in a very ingenious and unsettling way. A gloriously nasty story of love and desire.

We have a very fine slice of historical horror in ‘The Rider’ by Tananarive Due set in the Civil Rights struggles of 1961 America. We meet the striking Houston sisters already very active in the movement on their way to another protest, but their bus trip appears to be a trap. I loved the way Due creates the main characters and the danger here is both supernatural, human and with a touch of the action film too as they have to work out how to survive. Ts one of those tales where characters stray into the uncanny and have to hold on tight to the other side and I really enjoyed the ride.

There is a wonderfully slow burning tale to explore in ‘Pressure’ by Ezra Claytan Daniels. On one hand there is a family get together of three estranged siblings and the older brother who is both racist and homophobic to his sisters but at the same time appears to be wanting to say sorry. Is that real or forced on his part. While we explore this fascinating family dynamic, strange little things like an exploding can of foam or mayo jar suggests that a weirder effect is going on. A tale of the weirdness of familial love and yet also the end of the world combines in a very powerful final scene. Very impressive.

I loved ‘Dark Home’ by Nnedi Okorafor which nimbly mingles grief, clashes of culture and a wonderful set of strange and frightening moments throughout. A woman suddenly loses her father and in a rash act keeps his ring at the funeral. That sets in motion a series of events that follow her from Nigeria back to Arizona. I loved the way we get to understand this rational character with her own life and loves and then this weirder side of her life intervenes. There is a dog in peril too that makes things all the scarier and it’s just a wonderfully eerie encounter with the non-rational that works both as a scary tale and moving on from death of loved ones.

A strange and unsettling tale was found in ‘Flicker’ by LD Lewis. A simple brother sister scene involving an eye test quickly goes apocalyptic and we get several stranger encounters that start affecting the world and the main character Kamara must try to survive it. The nightmare here is the randomness and strangeness of the events and the explanation for them suggests there is no place you can hide but you must try. It’s a haunting and inventive tale I was very impressed by.

I was very impressed by ‘A Bird Sings By The Etching Tree’ by Nicole D Sconniers is a fascinating beguiling tale of two characters we quite like and feel sorry for – ghosts of two horrific traffic accidents and then we see the two have a murder game between them of who can claim the most victims. We have our sympathies for the ghosts torn by the brutality of their subsequent kills. Horror is sometimes understanding the monster’s point of view even when we know it is wrong.

A nightmare tale of growing up in the 80s awaits in ‘Hide and Seek’ by P Djeli Clark where two young boys and their addict of a mother try to live their lives but the family’s dealings with magic, their mother’s addiction and strange behaviour all make things feel like they’re coming to a head. The tale circles back to the beginning to put a much darker focus on the simple game kids play.

This is a hugely impressive collection filled with many more tales to scare and trouble you. Perfect for a cold winter night or two but also delivers the reader a vast number of authors to now seek out for more great tales. Strongly recommended!