Out There Screaming

Out There Screaming is an anthology of new Black horror, as it says on the cover. It is edited by Jordan Peele of Get Out and Us fame. It contains nineteen stories by nineteen different authors. The stories vary in quality and in theme. They certainly aren’t all horror stories, so the title of the book is misleading and might disappoint some readers and miss potential readers altogether.

The short stories included are fantasy, dystopian literature, and some horror. Themes like Creole culture and the Freedom Riders are covered, along with high concept fantasy science fiction. “The Other One” is a relationship/psychological tale, where the reader isn’t sure what was an illusion and what was real. It’s well done. My favorite, though, is “Aesthete.” This short story is definitely not a horror story but science fiction/fantasy. I hope to see it made into a movie in the future, or at the very least, a full novel. I’ll be watching for it.

Out There Screaming has a lot of offer, but not all of the stories are equally good and the word horror doesn’t quite fit the collection.