Others: Mixed For the last 5 years, TheNakedConvos (TNC) has celebrated Halloween every October with Lights Out, an annual collection of horror stories published on their award-winning online platform. To celebrate its sixth year, The Lights Out series expands into a full-fledged, continent-wide anthology, digging deep to find some of the best buried African horror fiction. This year, Lights Out issues a special edition of 10 horror stories – some original, some re-issued, all excellent – by some of the best African writers working today. These stories are set in Africa, feature African characters and explore African fears through the horror genre. This Lights Resurrection They have arisen. The things we buried, the ones we thought we would never see again. But they are not what they used to be. And neither are we. Lights Resurrection is an anthology that explores what happens when that which we thought dead returns seeking vengeance, when sins we thought hidden resurface to haunt, when prejudices we thought forgotten return to us, brandishing teeth. Featuring spectacular African authors from the horror, dark fantasy, speculative fiction, and thriller genres, Lights Resurrection showcases excellent contemporary African horror fiction. Prepare yourself for 10 terror-inducing tales. "Daughter Dearest" by Chioma Odukwe – A woman who has just lost her husband finds herself in danger of losing her daughter as well and goes to desperate lengths to keep her in this unusual zombie story. "Shame" by Nerine Dorman – A biracial couple try to find acceptance during South Africa’s post-apartheid transition period but find themselves confronted with a devastating horror instead. "Sleep Papa, Sleep" by Suyi Davies Okungbowa – A mistake made during a taboo trade leaves a young man in modern Lagos desperate to rid himself of something terrifying from beyond the grave. "Blood and Fire" by Sawaleh – Religious corruption in one of Africa’s largest Megachurches awakens an ancient and unspeakable horror that seeks to punish, corrupt and feed. "Koi-Koi" by Raymond Elenwoke – One of Nigeria’s most prevalent and persistent urban legends is given an origin story in this frightening interpretation of Lady Koi-Koi. "Eaters Of Flesh" by Ezeikoye Chkwunonso – A young university student is confronted by mysterious events involving his parents that threaten his sanity and his life. "Afin" by Edwin Okolo – Twisting the Snow White fairy tale and transposing it to pre-colonial Nigeria, the court of a king is thrown into disarray when his older wives pit themselves against his youngest. "Hadiza" by Nuzo Onoh – A man’s greed and lust lead him to divorce his faithful and loyal wife, an action that has dire consequences in this Nollywood-meets-Kaidan style tale. "The Wild Dogs" by Mandisi Nkomo – A Swedish woman volunteers to help fight a strange disease consuming Cape Town and comes faces to face with monstrous inhumanity. "Udu" by Damilare Falowo – A village girl and her newborn child are thrown into a cursed forest to die but in the forest she finds vengeful things that are worse than death.
Lists: …
Stephen Graham Jones
2013 · 170 pages · 1 review
Others: NegativeThe New York Times–bestselling author “has created the tales here with experimental glee, yielding an astonishing assortment of mutated manuscripts” (Jeremy Robert Johnson, author of The Loop). Take a deep dive into the delightfully twisted mind of bestselling horror author Stephen Graham Jones with the more than twenty short stories in Zombie Sharks with Metal Teeth. Experience a day in the life of superhero Vigilante Man and his alter ego, an ace accountant, in “My Hero.” In “Little Monsters,” it’s one compromise after another when a couple tries to design a nightmare creature to foist upon the world. A man writes to Dear Abby for advice on whether or not to tell his wife of thirty-eight years that she transforms into a wolf at night, signing off as “Old Meat.” “I Was a Teenage Slasher Victim” explores the generational trauma of summer camp serial killer survivors—the sequel you can’t miss!Zombie Sharks with Metal Teeth is the perfect summer beach read—or for any time you want to cool things down with chilling short fiction from one of our finest horror authors.“This collection of short horror fiction feels altogether more shark-like than even straight-up shark books. Except here it’s the teeth of Jones’ unforgiving imagination, and the fear of the sea can be easily equated with the fear of the cosmos in these stories.” —LitReactor“The writing, people. The writing is phenomenal. . . . Jones is like a mad scientist, rolling up his sleeves to play elbow-deep with his creations.” —The Next Best Book Blog
What made the match, strongest first
Jordan Peele
2023 · 2 reviews
Others: MixedNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The visionary writer and director of Get Out, Us, and Nope, and founder of Monkeypaw Productions, curates this groundbreaking anthology of all-new stories of Black horror, exploring not only the terrors of the supernatural but the chilling reality of injustice that haunts our nation. “Every piece is strong and memorable, making this not only likely to be the best anthology of the year, but one for the ages.”—The Guardian WINNER OF THE BRAM STOKER AWARD AND THE BRITISH FANTASY AWARD • FINALIST FOR THE WORLD FANTASY AWARD AND THE LOCUS AWARD • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Esquire, Chicago Public Library, CrimeReads A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele’s anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers. Featuring an introduction by Peele and an all-star roster of beloved writers and new voices, Out There Screaming is a master class in horror, and—like his spine-chilling films—its stories prey on everything we think we know about our world . . . and redefine what it means to be afraid. Featuring stories by: Erin E. Adams, Violet Allen, Lesley Nneka Arimah, Maurice Broaddus, Chesya Burke, P. Djèlí Clark, Ezra Claytan Daniels, Tananarive Due, Nalo Hopkinson, N. K. Jemisin, Justin C. Key, L. D. Lewis, Nnedi Okorafor, Tochi Onyebuchi, Rebecca Roanhorse, Nicole D. Sconiers, Rion Amilcar Scott, Terence Taylor, and Cadwell Turnbull.
What made the match, strongest first
Aaron Dries
2021 · 3 reviews
Others: MixedThe story of a boy who dreamed of becoming a man… But dreamed up a monster instead. You’re on the run. Marked. Don’t think about the kid you used to be when you’re homeless and dumpster-diving in the rain. Just eat whatever you find to keep your engine full. Because the shadow with too many teeth wants you tired. You’re easier to catch when you’re tired. It has hunted you since the summer of 1994, back when we confessed who we were through mixtapes. When every movie at the video store had dirty heads. You were thirteen and thought you knew who you were. Only the shadow with too many teeth knew you better. It still does. And it won’t stop. Not until you come home. Back to where it all began. Part cosmic horror, part coming-of-age monster story, DIRTY HEADS is a terrifying read from the author of HOUSE OF SIGHS, THE FALLEN BOYS, and A PLACE FOR SINNERS
What made the match, strongest first
Kat Ellis
2020 · 320 pages · 2 reviews
Others: MixedThe daughter of a horror film director is not afraid of anything--until she gets to Harrow Lake. Things I know about Harrow Lake: 1.It's where my father shot his most disturbing slasher film.2.There's something not right about this town. Lola Nox is the daughter of a celebrated horror filmmaker--she thinks nothing can scare her. But when her father is brutally attacked in their New York apartment, she's quickly packed off to live with a grandmother she's never met in Harrow Lake, the eerie town where her father's most iconic horror movie was shot. The locals are weirdly obsessed with the film that put their town on the map--and there are strange disappearances, which the police seem determined to explain away. And there's someone--or some thing--stalking her every move. The more Lola discovers about the town, the more terrifying it becomes. Because Lola's got secrets of her own. And if she can't find a way out of Harrow Lake, they might just be the death of her.
What made the match, strongest first
Mallory Arnold
2025 · 368 pages · 6 reviews
Others: Mostly negativeSeven authors enter the manor Can they survive the story within? When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon, some known, some soon to be discovered, and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the author’s shoes for some time. Instead, they arrive at his grand manor and are invited to play a game. The rules are simple, solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If they don’t, the manor will take one of them for itself. You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of Mortimer’s family, and like any true horror story, the house is still very, very hungry. With the clever, locked-room thrills of Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone with the ghostly horror of The Fall of the House of Usher, How to Survive a Horror Story is a bright, biting, thrill-ride that begs us to contemplate how the best horror stories come to be.
What made the match, strongest first
Max Porter
2019 · 224 pages · 3 reviews
Others: MixedThe Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller and Booker Prize Longlisted novel Lanny by the author of Grief Is the Thing with Feathers. There’s a village sixty miles outside London. It’s no different from many other villages in England: one pub, one church, red-brick cottages, council cottages and a few bigger houses dotted about. Voices rise up, as they might do anywhere, speaking of loving and needing and working and dying and walking the dogs. This village belongs to the people who live in it and to the people who lived in it hundreds of years ago. It belongs to England’s mysterious past and its confounding present. But it also belongs to Dead Papa Toothwort, a figure schoolchildren used to draw green and leafy, choked by tendrils growing out of his mouth. Dead Papa Toothwort is awake. He is listening to this twenty-first-century village, to his English symphony. He is listening, intently, for a mischievous, enchanting boy whose parents have recently made the village their home. Lanny.
What made the match, strongest first
MixedI'm also holding on to Lights Out Resurrection because I just have a whole collection of anthologies, and even though this was a three, like because there were some really great stories in here, there was a five-star amazing one, like I like holding on to collections.
