While there were a handful of really good stories in here, overall I was disappointed with this collection. Way too many confusing or unsatisfying endings. (This was edited by Jordan Peele, but also by John Joseph Adams, whose anthologies in the past I have not really liked, either, and I wish I would have known he was involved before I read it. Would have had more accurate expectations.)
“Reckless Eyeballing,” N.K. Jemisin — Okayyyy, but what does it meaaaan. 4/5 stars
“Eye & Tooth,” Rebecca Roanhorse — The voice wasn’t my favorite, but there isn’t much else to complain about with this one. Good setting, good horror, nice resolution. 4/5 stars
“Wandering Devil,” Cadwell Turnbull — I was all set to give this story five stars, and then the last two paragraphs came along and suddenly I have no idea what is happening and I don’t know what to think. Feels unfinished. 4/5 stars
“Invasion of the Baby Snatchers,” Lesley Nneka Arimah — UGhhhh. Why do so many of these stories have confusing or unclear endings? It’s making me feel stupid. Another one I was ready to give five stars, especially since I loved the writing voice. And then the ending acted like I was supposed to understand something that I just didn’t. Particularly annoyed bc I was vibing so hard with this one. 3.5 stars
“The Other One,” Violet Allen — Didn’t like the main character of this one at all, but the monster was interesting. I didn’t like the end, mostly because I didn’t like the main character. Also, this was verging on bad weird at points. 3/5 stars
“Lasirèn,” Erin E. Adams — I thought this was boring and obvious. There’s a siren that kidnaps girls for some unknown reason and an incredibly clear riddle that for some reason the MC can’t figure out . . . until it’s too late DUN DUN DUN. Eh. 2/5 stars
“The Rider,” Tananarive Due — Two sisters board a bus for Montgomery to join the Freedom Riders, and stuff gets weird. Impeccable writing and atmosphere as usual with this author, and some really creepy ideas, but it didn’t have much of a lasting emotional impact for me. She really works best in long form, I think. 4/5 stars
“The Aesthete,” Justin C. Key — Messy, confusing, and up its own butt in a way that horror normally isn’t. No, thanks. 1/5 stars
“Pressure,” Ezra Claytan Daniels — I’d heard this one was confusing, but honestly I’d prefer this sort of confusing (what happened, it’s not explained on purpose) to the confusion of the other stories where thematically it’s unclear what the point was, and also sometimes the what actually happened is confusing, too. 3/5 stars
“Dark Home,” Nnedi Okorafor — I just, I don’t get it! Why do people like this author? Her style is so obvious and full of telling not showing. At first with this one, I was like, oh, this is actually all right. And then the MC turned out to genuinely be an idiot, and the ending of the story made zero sense emotionally or logistically. And of course it’s the longest story in the book. 1/5 stars
“Flicker,” L.D. Lewis — Every time a story is about what this story is about, I just want to roll my eyes. It’s not that deep, y’all. Also, I hate apocalypse stories. 2/5 stars
“The Most Strongest Obeah Woman of the World,” Nalo Hopkinson — This was my first work by this author, and I definitely want to read more by her. The voice in this was fantastic. I also really loved the world and the monster, and the main character’s arc. 4.5/5 stars
“The Norwood Trouble,” Maurice Broadus — I couldn’t even concentrate on whether this was a good story because none of it made sense. The main characters fought in the Civil War, but they talk and act like they are in the 1950s. They didn’t have modern day-type libraries in the 1880s. They didn’t have ice cream shops. They didn’t say things like “Pardon My French” (1930s). And a bowling alley? 2/5 stars
“A Grief for the Dead,” Rion Amilcar Scott — Didn’t like this one. It feels like a mess to me. The weirdness inside never felt real; the storytelling wasn’t good enough for the concept. Also, this author is one of those that thinks it’s okay not to use quotation marks. 2/5 stars
“A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree,” Nicole D. Sconiers — I liked the vibe of this one, and the idea behind it (ghosts killing bad men on the highway) but the ending just fizzled out, and I’m not sure what the point of the whole thing was. 3/5 stars
“An American Fable,” Chesya Burke — This read more like fantasy to me than horror. I needed more time and development to buy into it. I liked that it centered the Great Migration, but that wasn’t developed enough either. 2.5/5 stars
“Your Happy Place,” Terence Taylor — This used some older ideas that could have been boring to read about, but it had a couple things going for it that made it feel fresh. I would like to know what “the bug” is, also! 4/5 stars
“Hide & Seek,” P. Djélí Clark — I don’t like stories about addiction, but this was well done. 3/5 stars
“Origin Story,” Tochi Onyebuchi — I’m not sure this was horror, and the dialogue got a bit too labyrinthine to follow at points, but I think Tochi Onyebuchi might be a genius. I wish he would come down a little to my level, though. 4/5 stars
[avg. rating of all stories was 2.97 stars, rounded up to three]