NIGHT OF THE LIVING QUEERS

Queer, racially diverse teens face the uncanny and macabre in this Halloween-themed anthology.

The introduction by editors Page and Brown points out the harm done by the lack of positive representation of queer people and people of color in the horror genre, something these narratives hope to help change. Each tale shares a common setting—Halloween during a blue moon—but beyond that there is considerable variety in subject matter and focus, including grief, romance in the face of imminent peril, and Halloween’s relationship to queerness. Writing styles and tones vary from modern gothic (in Vanessa Montalban’s “Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia”) to campy (in Sara Farizan’s “A Brief Intermission”) to melancholy (in Kosoko Jackson’s “Rocky Road With Caramel Drizzle”). Though the subtitle promises “terror,” most of the stories are milder takes on the genre, welcoming more sensitive readers but not likely to keep die-hard horror fans up at night. Some spine-chilling standouts include “Guested” by Rebecca Kim Wells, written in the second person, in which “you,” the protagonist, investigate a strange party where guests become “someone else for one night only,” and “Nine Stops” by Trang Thanh Tran, which follows a Vietnamese American girl who finds herself captivated by an unnerving viral video. The most successful entries are those that deeply explore the human experiences of conquering fear and facing darkness in both the wider world and oneself.

A spooky and inclusive Halloween grab bag.