Ahh, the Final Girl โ a point of pride, a point of contention. Too often, the white, virginal, Western ideal. But not this time.
โThe Black Girl Survives in This One,โ a short story anthology edited by Saraciea J. Fennell and Desiree S. Evans, is changing the literary horror canon. As self-proclaimed fans of โScary Stories to Tell in the Darkโ and โGoosebumps,โ the editors have upped the ante with a new collection spotlighting Black women and girls, defying the old tropes that would box Black people in as support characters or victims.
The 15 stories are introduced with an excellent forward by Tananarive Due laying out the groundwork with a brief history of Black women in horror films and literature, and of her own experiences. She argues with an infallible persuasiveness that survival is the thread that connects Black women and the genre that has largely shunned them for so long.
These are the kind of stories that stick with you long after youโve read them.
โQueeniums for Greenium!โ by Brittney Morris features a cult-ish smoothie MLM with a deadly level of blind faith that had my heart pounding and my eyes watering with laughter at intervals. And โThe Skittering Thingโ by Monica Brashears captures the sheer panic of being hunted in the dark, with some quirky twists.
Many of the stories are set in the most terrifying real-life place there is: high school. As such, there are teen crushes and romance aplenty, as well as timely slang thatโs probably already outdated.
Honestly, this was one of the best parts: seeing 15 different authorsโ takes on a late-teens Black girl. How does she wear her hair, who are her friends, is she religious, where does she live, does she like boys or girls or no one at all? Is she a bratty teen or a goody-two-shoes or a bookworm or just doing her best to get through it? Each protagonist is totally unique and the overall cast of both characters and writers diverse.
And even though we know the Black girl survives, the end is still a shock, because the real question is how.
The anthology has something for everyone, from a classic zombie horror in โCemetery Dance Partyโ by Saraciea J. Fennell to a spooky twist on Afrofuturism in โWelcome Back to The Cosmosโ by Kortney Nash. Two of the stories have major โGet Outโ vibes that fans of Jordan Peele will appreciate (โBlack Girl Nature Groupโ by Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite and โFoxhuntโ by Charlotte Nicole Davies). If your flavor is throwbacks and cryptids, Justina Irelandโs โBlack Prideโ has you covered. Or if you like slow-burn psychological thrillers and smart protagonists, โTMIโ by Zakiya Delila Harris.
Overall, itโs a bit long and the anthology could stand to drop a couple of the weaker stories. But itโs well worth adding to any scary book collection, and horror fans are sure to find some new favorites.
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