I picked up this audio book, recorded by "Recorded Books Presents", produced by Grio Audio, on 12 CDs. I actually got it from the library by accident. I requested a different book and this one was sent to be in error. But since I had it, I figured I might as well check it out. The subtitle is "A Collection of Horror and Suspense by Black Writers". I'm a white female, but I said "why not?"
First of all, this book is a misnomer. Although the editor, Brandon Massey, did a good job describing what horror IS and is NOT and what suspense IS and is NOT in the introduction, most of the stories themselves did not "chill or grip" you and did not put you "on the edge of your seat". You did not go through "a profound transformation" or experience the "deepest fear" of a character. And most of the characters did not become "rejuvenated and enlightened". They just weren't that scary. A bit sci-fi, a bit magic, a bit historic but really not all that scary. That's why I have this collection only 2 out of 5 starts. Though I would have given 1.5 stars if i could. One may argue that because I listened to the audiobook and read the pages, that's why I wasn't scared. However, I HAVE read scary stories on audiobook before and they were still scary!
Also, much of the material involved sex. So possibly, I just can't think of characters being scary if they're having sex!! haha Okay, so here is a list of the stories, authors, and who read them. Please note that since I was listening to the audiobook and scribbling notes as I heard them, my spelling could be REALLY off. Please note that the ? next to n. means I don't remember or didn't write down the name of the narrator.
1. Resident Evil - by Zane, Narrated (n.) by Kevin R Free.
About a vampire "pimp" that keeps an apartment building full of vampire women. This story was very immature, like every teen boy's fantasy. It wasn't horror - it was a comedy about a grown ass 500 year old MAN who still needs his MOMMA. Very superficial. The idea could have been made much scarier and much better. Lots of sex.
2. But Beautiful and Terrifying - by Robert Flemming, n. by ? .
This one WAS scary, and also had sex. About a mythological Japanese creature, a female siren who has sex with men and then eats them alive, leaving only their shoes. A black in the 40's goes to investigate these case. This story was short, but deep. Good writing.
3. He Who Takes Away the Pain - by Cherice Booth, n. by ? .
This one was a bit more philosophical. About a 1950's town infected by smallpox. A black shadow just takes people "away" and they die. It's creepy because it's told through the eyes of a young, 5-8 year old girl. And it's unsettling how they just let themselves die. Disturbing. Maybe a bit scary. But not horror and not suspense.
4. Brak Coopee - by Kalamu ya Salam, n. by Niambi Niambi .
Brak coopee is short for "Brother Cooper". This one I barely even remember. It was dull and anti-climatic. Told from a white person's POV. The whole first half (about the girl's conversation in bed) was unnecessary. The only interesting part was the Jazz in New Orleans. But this store was just unfinished, not well thought through, just poor writing.
5. Hair Dreams - by Jo M Copeland, n. by ? .
This one is about a young girl, named Zazu, (may be 10 or 15 years old), who is very poor and works very hard to make a little money so that she can get nice hair. I'm guessing it's set in 1950's America. I feel this because on of the characters has a yellow Bonneville, which I know is an old model car. Unfortunately, she gets raped by someone she trusted and she ends up killing him in defense. She flees to a witch lady and gets transformed into a blonde girl. So, is it horror? NO. It is definitely really sad, really breaks your heart to see what she goes through, but suspense? Also no. It was some magic and that's about it.
6. The Track - by L R Giles, n. by ? .
I like this one! it's a bit different. About a cocky young guy who is overly obsessed with looks and fitness. He's mean and judgmental and get get's what's comin' to him! Nice ending! I say no more. True horror!
7. If the Walls Could Talk - by L A Banks, n. by ? .
About a young women who lives in an old house where the ghosts of her mothers, grandmothers, aunts and female relative still reside and are really active. They capture cheating men, lock them in their supernatural basement, and don't let the men go! Haha I kind of liked it because it had a moral ending, but it really wasn't that scary. More so magic and funny. Not even suspense.
8. The Fourth Floor - by Ahmed Wright, n. by ? .
Very short but good. About a janitor in a hospital who feels the presence of a ghost. A bit spooky.
9. Empty Vessel - by Lowanda Holland Moore.
About a slave girl recalling her experience with her master, how she was used for sex and then rejected for another girl, and what happens to her when she overhears the master having sex with her. The story was absolutely morose, however, I can't say that it was "horror." That's because the focus is on the history, and not on the supernatural element of it all - that part was very short and only at the end. So it mostly read like a very sad journal entry, and not horror or suspense.
10. I Ghoul - by Christopher Chambers, n. by Niambi Niambi.
This was was about surgeons or doctors or zombies. I'm not really sure because the pacing of the story was very odd and very hard to keep up with. I really didn't like Niambi as a narrator, most of his stories went really slow and really took a LOT of patience to keep up with. He has long pauses after single words and in weird places. It doesn't help that the story jumps between past, present and future with no clear separation, and that's really hard to do effectively in a SHORT STORY. I still have no idea what the heck this was about, waste of time.
11. Dreads - by D S Fox, n. by Sharon Washington.
More then just hair. This is a story of history with some magic, but not horror.
12. Plaything - by Terrance Taylor, n. by Kevin R. Free.
About a black lawyer defending a man charged with molestation of a very human-like doll. This story raises moral and legal questions, but it's not horror at all! So it was interesting, a bit futuristic, but no suspense and no horror.
13. The Power - by Linda Addison, n. by Susan Spain.
This was another story that was difficult to follow. The narrator takes too many breaks after sentences, and the reading feels unnatural, no flow. The story is about young girls using magic to save their grandmother. The story is interesting, and supernatural, but not quite horror.
14. Red - by Ricki Windell George, n. by Cherice Booth.
Real horror! Finally! And sex, which was essential to the story. It's a pretty good story about a serpentine killing cult in Africa.
15. Siren Song - by Francine Lewis, n. by Maria Lucretia Taylor.
About an evil mermaid, gold, and a childhood rivalry in the warm seas. Not quite scary, but could have been with a little work!
16. Grandad's Garage - by Brandon Massey (the editor), n. by Kevin R. Free.
About 2 brothers who, in the wake of their grandfather's death, discover treasure in his garage full of "junk." A bit of mystery, and a bit supernatural, but no horror and not suspense.
17. Wild Chocolate - by Patricia E. Canterberry, n. by Cherice Booth.
Freaky! Not exactly horror, but pretty lose. About an African woman who destroys an American couple on their trip to Africa so that she could have the man.
18. Come on! It's Lovely Weather - by Anthony Biel, n. by Niambi Niambi.
What a mess! What a mish mosh of STUFF, of evil Christmas, a "crimson christ", evil rotting zombie flame-throwing reindeer called "dashers" who kill people that are not celebrating "Christmas", and ghosts. What a MESS! It's like a war of Christmas VS the people. There is just so much WRONG with this story. If the author chose ONE thing to make Christmas evil, then it would have made a whole lot more sense. but this story was just TERRIBLE, waste of space.
19. The Gray Riders - by B Gordon Doyle, n. by Dionne Graham.
About a man sitting on a subway, bleeding to death after he got shot. As he bleeds he imagines his childhood imaginary friend named "Cowboy" who keeps him from dying. It is disturbing, odd, sad, and maybe even has a twist ending (unclear about that), but not exactly horror.
20. Danger Word - by Steven Bines (maybe Bonds or Barnes), n. by Kevin R. Free.
About a young boy and his grandpa living in the woods, in the world of zombies. It's really sad!! So devastatingly sad! Similar to "The Road" by Cormac Mccarthy, where food is difficult to find and people are dwindling in numbers, every man for himself. It was brutally devastatingly sad. Heart-achingly sad. But horror? no. Suspense, maybe.
Okay! That was a lot of work right there. But as you can see, if I don't like something, I give you reasons why.
To summarize, some of the stories had magic, supernatural elements, historic settings, or took place (even partly) in Africa. However, most of them were NOT SCARY. NOT HORROR, and NOT SUSPENCE. Only about a fourth of the stories were really interesting, and another fourth were terrible. The remaining half was somewhere in the middle. Some of the stories had good ideas, but definitely could have been made better. Some should have never appeared here.
And so, I would NOT recommend this book. It is NOT what it is called and does not accomplish what it sets out to achieve. Perhaps editor Massey would have been better off calling this collection "Magic and Supernatural stories by Black Writers", and so I would have believed him. But certainly not Horror and Suspense. Big mistake.
Some of the narrators were hard to follow Niambi Niambi and Susan Spain. I would not recommend them for audiobooks, or at least not for fiction books. I picture Niambi as a preacher and Ms Spain as a schoolteacher. Both of them had long unnecessary pauses that broke the rhythm of the story and made it confusing/hard to follow.
Thank you for reading my (super long) review.