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Book Review: 100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction by Sumiko Saulson

100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction by Sumiko Saulson

Iconoclast Productions, 2018

ISBN: 9781387587469

Available at Lulu.com in hardcover, paperback, and premium paperback, and on Amazon as hardcover, paperback, and Kindle edition.

 

February is both Women in Horror Month and Black History Month, and in 2014, author and blogger Sumiko Saulson compiled interviews and biographical sketches of black women writers who have written in the horror genre, composed for and shared on her blog, into a book titled 60 Black Women in Horror Fiction. Saulson published 100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction as an expanded edition in 2018. It includes additional, very brief entries on black women horror writers that Saulson uncovered after 2014. Entries are listed in alphabetical order and each is accompanied by website addresses for the author. Following the entries are interviews of 17 black women authors profiled in the book. Poet Linda Addison, Africanfuturist Nnedi Okorafor, and horror writers Lori Titus and Eden Royce, among others, are included in the interviews section of the book, and David Watson shares a short essay on L.A. Banks and Octavia Butler.

The book is clearly a labor of love, and even a list of black women writers of horror is needed, but unfortunately, the majority of entries do not include typical biographical information like date and place of birth, family members, and  background information. They do include a list of the author’s publications, specifically those related to the horror genre. I examined the Kindle edition, and the website links do work, but not all of them are current: a few of them are no longer in existence (unfortunately, one of them is a resource Saulson cited as using in researching and writing the book: darkgeisha.wordpress.com). It is clear that this is an expanded version– that is, new entries have been added– and not an updated one, after reading the introduction, but this is really a starting point for exploring these women’s work rather than a detailed biographical reference. There are unfortunately a number of typos and punctuation errors in the book, but they don’t interfere with the ability to understand and use what is still a unique book for reader’s advisory and for readers wanting to diversify their experience of reading horror fiction.

Saulson’s original work can also be found on her blog at sumikosaulson.com, and I highly encourage you to visit and explore her resources. There are more black women writers of horror than there were when Saulson started this project on her blog in 2013, but their writing, and recognition for it, is a part of the horror community that needs to continue to grow.

Saulson has also edited a companion volume of original short fiction by 18 black women writers of horror whose profiles are included in this book, which also came out in February of 2018, called Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters. Stay tuned for a review later this month!

 

 

Participate in the African-American Read-In With Zombie Michele Lee and MonsterLibrarian.com!

As you probably know, February is Black History Month in the United States. To honor that, MonsterLibrarian.com brings you a message from Zombie Michele Lee announcing a project she’ll be spearheading this month. We hope you’ll participate!

Hi, this is Zombie Michele with a special announcement. In honor of Black History Month I’ll be hosting Monster Librarian’s first (online) African American Read In and you are enthusiastically invited to join in!

 

How to join: February 6th, 7th & 8th join us online on Twitter ( we’ll be using the hashtag #MLAAReadIn), on Facebook or here at Musings of the Monster Librarian.

 

All you have to do is read a book (or two or a dozen) written by an African American writer (stay tuned for a list, if you don’t know where to start) and tell me on those sites, or email me at zombiemicheleATgmailDOTcom (with spam guards removed) what book you’re reading. We’d love to hear what you think of it as well, but all we require for reporting is which books were read.

 

I picked a three day scope so that you have plenty of time to join in. There is no minimum number of books you have to read. There is no genre you have to stick to (though being a speculative fiction site we’ll be focusing on science fiction, fantasy, horror, mystery and romance authors). Read as little or as much as you like of what you like!

 

I’ll do all the heavy lifting (aka, filling out the reports to make this event official). You just have to read!

 

To help you out, Zombie Michele has hunted down some booklists of reading material you can use to get started below:

YA/Adult List from the event site- http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/AARI/Young_Adults_Adults.pdf

Young Children’s List from the event site- http://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Involved/Action/AARI/Young_Children.pdf

A book list from the Cincinnati Libraryhttp://www.cincinnatilibrary.org/booklists/?id=africanamericanwriters

 

And our own (not exhaustive) list of African American speculative fiction books. Many of these books are available digitally, so even if you’re a last minute joiner there’s no problem. Just download a book and jump in!

N.K. Jemisin

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #1)

The Broken Kingdoms (Inheritance Trilogy #2)

The Kingdom of the Gods (Inheritance Trilogy #3)

 

David Anthony Durham

Acadia: The War with the Mein (Acadia #1)

The Other Lands (Acadia #2)

The Sacred Band (Acadia #3)

 

Octavia Butler

Parable of the Sower

Kindred

Fledgling

Dawn (Xenogenisis #1)

Adulthood Rites (Xenogenesis #2)

Imago (Xenogenesis #3)

Lilith’s Brood

Parable of the Talents

Wild Seed

Seed to Harvest

Mind of My Mind

Clay’s Ark

Bloodchild and other Stories

Patternmaster

Survivor

 

Samuel R. Delany

Times Square Red, Times Square Blue

Babel-17

Tales of Neveryon

Dhalgren

Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand

Trouble on Triton

Nova

The Einstein Intersection

Hogg: A Novel

Atlantis: Three Tales

Dark Reflections

Aye, and Gomorrah: And Other Stories

Return to Neveryon

Flight from Neveryon

The Fall of the Towers

Distant Stars

The Jewels of Aptor

The Ballad of Beta 2

City of a Thousand Suns

The Mad Man

Bread & Wine: An Erotic Tale of New York

They Fly At Ciron

 

Steve Barnes

The Cestus Deception (Star Wars: Clone Wars novel)

Beowulf’s children

Great Sky Woman: A Novel

Dream Park

The Barsoom Project

Casanegra: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel

Shadow Valley

Zulu Heart

Charisma

Lion’s Blood

Far Beyond the Stars (Star Trek Deep Space Nine)

Saturn’s Race

The Kundalini Equation

The Decent of the Anansi

Firedance

Assassin and other stories

Gorgon Child

Iron Shadows

 

Tananarive Due

My Soul to Take

The Good House

Blood Colony

My Soul to Keep

The Between

The Living Blood

Joplin’s Ghost

 

 

L.A. Banks

Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy)

Finders Keepers (Dark Avengers)

Loser’s Weepers (Dark Advengers)

Death’s Excellent Vacation (contributor)

My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (contributor)

Love at First Bite (contributor)

Minion (Vampire Huntress)

Stroke of Midnight

The Thirteenth (Vampire huntress)

Vegas Bites (contributor)

The Awakening (Vampire Huntress)

The Wicked (Vampire Huntress)

The Hunted (Vampire Huntress)

The Forsaken (Vampire huntress)

The Ancestors

Bad Blood (Crimson Moon #1)

Bite the Bullet (Crimson Moon #2)

Undead on Arrival (Crimson Moon #3)

Cursed to Death (Crimson Moon #4)

Never Cry Werewolf (Crimson Moon)

The Bitten (Vampire Huntress)

The Darkness (Vampire Huntress)

The Forbidden (Vampire Huntress)

The Cursed (Vampire Huntress)

The Damned (Vampire Huntress)

The Shadows (Vampire Huntress)

L.A. Banks’ Vampire Huntress: Dawn and Darkness

L.A. Banks’ Vampire Huntress: The Hidden Darkness

Creepin’

Minion

Voices from the Other Side: Dark Dreams II (Contributor)

 

Timothy N. Stelly, Sr

Human Trial

Human Trial II: Adam’s War

 

Brandon Massey

Covenant

Don’t Ever Tell

The Ancestors

The Other Brother

Vicious

Cornered

Thunderland

Dark Dreams (contributor)

Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II (contributor)

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (contributor)

Within the Shadows

Dark Corner

Twisted Tales

 

L.R. Giles

The Darkness Kept

The Serpent and the Stallion

Live Again

Trick Shot (a short story)

Lover’s Spat (a short story)

The Track (a short story)

Doc Damage’s Very Bad Day (a short story)

Southern Hospitality (a short story)

Wilson’s Pawn & Loan (a short story)

Power and Purpose (a short story)

The Shadows Gallery

 

Walter Mosley

All I Did was Shoot My Man

When the Thrill is Gone

The Long Fall

Known to Evil

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey

Devil in a Blue Dress

Stories: All-New Tales

Killin Jihnny Fry

Always Outnumbered, Always Outgunned

Little Scarlet

White Butterfly

Blonde Faith

Black Betty

Cinnamon Kiss

A Red Death

47

A Little Yellow Dog

Six Easy Pieces

Diablerie

The Man in My Basement

Fearless Jones

The Tempest Tales

Fear Itself

Fortunate Son

Bad Boy Brawly Brown

Walkin’ the Dog

R L’s Dream

Gone Fishin’

Blue Light

The Wave

Manhattan Karma

 

Charles Saunders

Imaro

Imora II: The Quest for Cush

The Trail of Buhu (Imaro III)

 

R.A. Baker

Rayna of Nightwind (Taren)

 

Nalo Hopkinson

So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasy

Midnight Robber

The Salt Roads

Brown Girl in the Ring

The New Moon’s Arms

Skin Folk

The Chaos

Mojo: Conjure Stories

Whispers from the Cotton Tree Root: Caribbean Fabulist Fiction

 

Chesya Burke

Dark Faith (contributor)

Let’s Play White

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (contributor)

Voices From the Other Side: Dark Dreams II (contributor)

Dark Dreams (contributor)

 

Maurice Broaddus

Beauty Has Her Way

Dark Futures: Tales of Dystopian SF (contributor)

Dark Faith (editor)

Orgy of Souls

King Maker (Knights of Breton Court #1)

King’s Justice (Knights of Breton Court #2)

King’s War (Knights of Breton Court #3)

Apexology: Science Fiction and Fantasy (contributor)

Whispers in the Night: Dark Dreams III (contributor)

Harlan County Horrors (contributor)

Devil’s Marionette

 

Wrath James White

Succulent Prey

The Resurrectionist

Population Zero

The Book of a Thousand Sins

Yaccub’s Curse

 

John M. Faucette

Crown of Infinity

Siege of Earth

The Warriors of Terra

The Age of Ruin

 

Linda Addison

Animated Objects

Consumed, Reduced to Beautiful Grey Ashes

Being Full of Light, Insubstantial

How to Recognize A Demon Has Become Your Friend

 

Kevin Grevioux

New Warriors (Marvel Comics)

ZMD: Zombies of Mass Destruction

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

DevaShard: at first light

 

Andrea Hairston

Mindscape

Redwood and Wildfire

 

Nisi Shawl

 

Sheree Thomas

Anansi

Dark Matter: A Century of Speculative Fiction from the African Diaspora (editor)

Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (editor)

 

Nnedi Okorafor

Who Fears Death

Zahrah the Windseeker (YA)

The Shadow Speaker (YA)

Long Juju Man (YA)

Akata Witch (YA)

Iridessa and the Secret of the Never Mine (YA)

 

Seressia Glass

Vegas Bites (contributor)

Shadow Blade

Shadow Fall

Shadow Chase

Dream of Shadows