Shelly Page and Alex Brown make their editorial debut by bringing together an impressive roster of BIPOC queer authors in this gratifyingly frightening and humorous YA story anthology, centering BIPOC queer characters.
The pure enjoyability of Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight lies in its brilliant blend of tenderly serious and lighthearted stories that feature sinister supernatural and undeniably real fears--as well as one misunderstood pizza-stealing specter. Each story takes place on Halloween, spectacularly enhanced by a blue moon. Late-night outings and parties abound, every setting visceral: Vanessa Montalban describes an abandoned hotel as "a season away from growing teeth" in "Welcome to the Hotel Paranoia"; a mall food court is known for its spectral resident in "The Three Phases of Ghost-Hunting" by Brown; and a drive-in theater hosts a ghost car from the 1950s in "A Brief Intermission" by Sara Farizan (Tell Me Again How a Crush Should Feel). Ouija boards spit out spirits, ominous noises herald hauntings, and invisible forces impose their will. Comedic moments burst through the scares. "AAAHHHHH!" a character in Ryan Douglass's (The Taking of Jake Livingston) "Knickknack" screams in a dead clown's dark bedroom before deadpanning, "Oh. It's just bowling pins. Not giant dildos."
Here there be vampires that must be invited in, one solid Ghostbusters joke, swoony queer love, and enticingly chilling Halloween fun to revel in while huddled beneath a blanket any time of the year. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer.