Book Review By Terri Schlichenmeyer
Monsters. Gore. Fear. These things make up most horror films, TV shows, and books. But for Black women, the horror genre is about more than just blood-filled entertainment — it’s also often about exposing and moving beyond injustice.
“There are aspects of Black culture that just lend themselves to horror,” Erin E. Adams, acclaimed author and lifelong horror fan, tells Word In Black. And with Black women dealing with daily fears from racism to the dismantling of reproductive justice and domestic violence, Adams believes it isn’t a “coincidence that you see a lot of Black women navigating and gravitating to horror.”
They are eager to share their voices and stories, but only 5.3% of all books published in 2023 were by Black authors — and even fewer were by Black women, according to a diversity in publishing survey by Lee & Low Books.
“We are up against this very, very old system engrained in white supremacy that is going to keep telling us that these stories aren’t interesting,” Adams says. She says change will only come if more folks read and support the work of Black women in horror.
“I need readers to remember to buy our books — request them at the library — because the numbers count,” she says.
Celebrating Black women in horror doesn’t only benefit the authors — it’s also a win for readers who can learn more about overlooked histories and the vital experiences of others. As Adams explains, reading horror books by Black women provides an “incredible opportunity to have your total viewpoint of the world shifted, which for me is the most exciting thing about reading.”
Where should you start if you’re new to the horror genre? Here are five can’t-miss books by Black women in horror authors to add to your reading list.
- “The Between”
As climate change continues to ravage Black communities nationwide, Tananarive Due’s 1995 “The Between” remains more relevant than ever. Sparked after the Tallahassee native witnessed Hurricane Andrew devastate Florida in 1992, the mind-bending story is her first novel. It opens with the unforgettably chilling line, “Hilton was seven when his grandmother died, and it was a bad time. But it was worse when she died again.”
- “Jackal”
From first-generation Haitian American writer Erin E. Adams comes this stellar debut novel which Publishers Weekly dubbed one of the best horror books of 2022. With more than 97,000 Black women reported missing in 2022 alone, Adams uses supernatural threats to unveil one of the most pressing issues of our time as the main character, Liz Rocher, digs through the violent history of her hometown of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Will she be able to save one of the missing girls or be consumed by the darkness herself?
- “Horror Noir”
Blending history with fright, Professor Robin R. Means Coleman chronicles the existence and impact of Black people in American horror movies from the 1890s to the 21st century. “Horror Noire” addresses a full range of Black horror films, including mainstream Hollywood flicks, art-house films, Blaxploitation, and more. Published in 2019, this nonfiction work serves as the perfect guide for anyone “seeking to understand how fears and anxieties about race and race relations are made manifest, and often challenged, on the silver screen,” the back cover reads.
- “The Black Girl Survives in This One”
If you’re looking to add several Black women in horror names to your shelf with one purchase, “The Black Girl Survives in This One” is the perfect pick. This collection of 15 short stories edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea Fennell brings the resilience of Black girls front and center as they courageously confront and defeat both human and supernatural adversaries. Published earlier this year and featuring the work of emerging voices and bestselling authors, this thrilling anthology spotlights a new generation of Black writers.
- “The Place of Broken Things”
“There is no book of poetry quite like it,” heralded New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Maberry. From two Bram Stoker Award Winners, Linda A. Addison and Alessandro Manzetti, this collaborative project published in 2019 uses death, gods, and shadowy figures to explore how fragmented bodies, minds, and souls endure.
