3.5 stars
As with all short story novels, there were some stories I loved and others I struggled with. I particularly enjoyed the short stories that featured a historical backdrop and the slightly supernatural ones. The stories that particularly stood out to me were: the one that focused on the blackout, the one that followed the two sisters in the 1960s, the one that followed the two victims of car accidents and the pair of siblings who were hunters. Overall, a great and equal selection of stories, with several that really made me feel uneasy.

Out There Screaming is a black spec fiction collection 19 short stories.
Various themes and topics are covered.
A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree, Your Happy Place and Hide and Seek were the standouts.
If this book started off with any of the above, and had two or three stories that I enjoyed less, than I would have easily recommended this book.
Unfortunately, this was a miss for me. I love Jordan Peele’s work, and Black horror, but the selection of the majority of the stories in this collection felt horrifically wrong, Most of them needed to be more fleshed out, some of them did not have interesting premises, and others were not executed meticulously. Because of my love for Peele’s work, and Black horror and voices, I double-checked my analysis, and I am still of the same opinion today,

I really expected to love Out There Screaming going in. I’m a big fan of Jordan Peele’s recent work, and the prospect of a horror anthology curated by him, working with a stable of authors including some stand out talents - the likes of Tannarive Due, N. K. Jemisin and Nnedi Okarafor - was very exciting. Which is why it is doubly disappointing that this just fell quite flat.

There were some good stories in here - with ‘Origin Story’ and ‘Dark Home’ being the stand outs - but there was a definite lack of cohesion throughout. I really struggled to keep a rhythm, reading along, and the length of the anthology didn’t help there either. I’m sure that many people have and will love Out There Screaming. But while it is an undoubtedly fascinating project in theory, the curation left a little to be desired.

Out There Screaming is an anthology of Black Horror brought together by Jordan Peele.  All of the stories not only delve into the horror genre in their own way, they also speak on society and real world adjacent injustices through this medium

I'll give a brief on each story below...

Reckless Eyeballing, NK Jemison - a cop, Carl, starts seeing eyes on the headlights cars of guilty parties... how will he use this knowledge 

Eye and Tooth, Rebecca Roanhouse - Zelda and Atticus have old magic, but when a creepy old lady with a doll obsession hires them for a job, they dont expect what they'll find

Wandering Devil, Cadwell Turnbull - Freddy comes from a long line of people with Wanderlust, can true love make him change his ways

Invasion of the Baby Snatchers, Lesley Nneka Arimah - reason number 142 not to get pregnant, possible alien babies trying to stage an invasion

The Other One, Violet Allen - Angela get a strange message from a woman from her exes phone, it wouldn't be a bad idea just to pop round, right?

Lasirèn, Erin E Adams - Widelines mother tells a tale of warning about mysterious women in the water. When her sister goes missing, she might find out more about what this means 

The Rider, Tananarive Due - Two sisters, Pat and Priscilla are on their way to a non-violent protest. However, the bus there takes them on a journey neither expected 

The Aesthete, Justin C Key - in a world where sentient Art is made by The Creators for their own purposes, what does it mean to be Art or be Human 

Pressure, Ezra Claytan Daniels - 3 cousins return home as adults, with little in common other than their strained youthful relationships... that's a lot of pressure to have in one room 

Dark Home, Nnedi Okorafor - a trip to Nigera for a funeral brings back more than just the aftermath of grief to deal with

Flicker, LD Lewis - Kam has a weird sensation that the world goes black every so often, like blinking but more.  But when the whole world starts to experience similar glitches, things quickly descend into chaos 

The Most Strongest Obeah Woman Of the World,  Nalo Hopkinson - Yenderil  has lost her family and there are tales around the Blue Hole and the devil inside.  Can she descend into it and come back whole and alive with just her cutless to protect herself 

The Norwood Trouble, Maurice Broaddus - a young girl has to learn what her, and her family, need to do to survive when there are threats and rules in the very place they live

A Grief of the Dead, Rion Amilcar Scott - Mahad struggles in the aftemath of his twins death, which is the most recent in a long line of tragedies to befall his family.  What will he do to be like his twin again...

A Bird Sings by the Etching Tree,  Nicole D Sconiers - two girls die tragically at different times on the same stretch of road, and linger, all whilst playing a game of getting rid of the dangers that come onto said road

An American Fable, Chesya Burke - Noble Washingon served his country as a solider in the war efforts, but his uniform won't protect him from a mob, but a mysterious young girl just might

Your Happy Place, Terence Taylor - Martin, a petty criminal, has agreed to work transporting prisoners for The Process, something inmates serving a long sentence can agree to be a part of to shorten their stay.  However, Martin notices weird things about his job and sets out to investigate 

Hide & Seek, P Djèlí Clark - two young boys play a game of hide and seek with their mother in their Grandfathers old house where Hoodoo was practiced, what are they hiding from??

Origin Story, Tochi Onyebuchi - 4 White Boys have taken a class, and seem to be part of a play to contemplate the meaning of being a White Boy 

All in all, as with moat anthologies, there is something for everyone, which means not all stories are going to work for everyone.

There were definitely standouts for me with Your Happy Place and Hide and Seek, but all worth a read to see what calls to you

Perfect for spooky season, out in paperback 08 October.  Thank you to NetGalley and Picador/PanMacmillian for the review copy.  All opinions my own.

This is an absolute powerhouse of an anthology. I was incredibly impressed at the consistently high quality of the writing throughout this collection, and how complete and layered each story felt. Jordan Peele has done a great job presenting a variety of themes and different takes that all circle around the overarching Black experience.

My favourite stories were the ones that had a scifi/futuristic twist: The Aesthete by Justin C. Kay which deals with artificially created human-like creatures; Invasion of the Baby Snatchers by Lesley Nneka Arimah - an interesting twist on first contact; Your Happy Place by Terence Taylor, wherein AI in the prison industrial complex leads to profound horrors.

The standout for me was A Grief of the Dead by Rian Amilcar Scott.

An incredible mix of horror, ranging from pure thrills and jump scares, to existential crises and supernatural elements. I loved the mix of author styles and "Hide and Seek" particularly stood out for me. The foreword by Jordan Peele gave a great overview of the importance of providing this space for the anthology of Black horror authors.

As with all short story collections this was definitely a mixed bag which makes it a bit difficult to rate.. there were a few that I really wasn't impressed with, a few that were just okay and then others that I absolutely loved!

Overall the vibes of this collection are perfect for spooky season and I would still recommend giving it a go!

This collection of short stories is going to stay with me for years. It gets under your skin, both because of how much the stories can scare you and how much they force you to think. I believe that the best horror stories always do both.

Whilst I was unfamiliar with most of these authors before reading Out There Screaming, I can certainly see how talented they all are, and I have added a number of their works to my TBR. Being able to read these new works and experience a range of writing styles is part of why I love anthologies so much. They give you a way to explore new genres and topics. I would certainly recommend this book to any new horror fans or fans of horror movies that want to start reading more.

I won’t include any spoilers for the short stories in this review (you have to experience the twists and turns for yourself) but I will say that Jordan Peele’s introduction does an incredible job of explain how it feels to read these stories. He explains that each story is like its own oubliette- a torture device and isolated dungeon used in medieval times. Everyone’s experience in an oubliette would be different because they were left alone in the dark with their own minds. There were shadows crawling on the walls and strange noises from above. Your brain would confuse itself and you would never be sure what was real. And most importantly, there is no way out once you’ve been trapped inside. In the same way, each short story makes you question the very idea of truth. Tales like N. K. Jemisin’s ‘Reckless Eyeballing’ can be dreamlike, but the story quickly devolves into a nightmare.

The beginning of Autumn is the best time to read this collection so I definitely recommend that you pick it up.