Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II: An Indigenous Horror Anthology – edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Horror fans know that you can’t keep a good monster down, but “Back for Blood” is the rare horror sequel that eclipses its predecessor, delivering more chill, more gore and more outright terror than the original “Never Whistle at Night,” which leaned more toward dark fiction than pure horror.
Editors Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. acknowledge as much in the introduction: the stories here are gorier and scarier by design. Half were submitted and the others invited, making this a great way to discover up-and-coming Indigenous voices alongside more established names. As with the first collection, it was often the newer-to-me writers who provided the biggest surprises.
As to be expected, not everything works. The collection gets a tad avant-garde at times, and some stories feel incomplete or underdeveloped despite strong concepts. Even a couple of the bigger names let me down. Stephen Graham Jones' "Rez Dogs" is creative but feels unfinished, while Tommy Orange's "Little Tree" is one of the best-written stories here but also a fever dream that's pretty thin on plot and coherence.
But that's also one of the pleasures of an anthology: you never know what you're going to get. There's a little something for everyone, with stories taking us to reservations, rural communities and cities across North America. I also loved the amount of queer representation and balance of voices throughout, with the female, Two-Spirit and nonbinary writers delivering many of my favorites.
The standouts:
"Miss Cherokee Princess 1996" by Jessica Doe — Probably the best story in the collection, using some memorable body horror as commentary on cultural appropriation.
"Animal Dumb" by P.C. Verrone — A young man with a crush on his best friend tries to tame the two beasts inside him.
"Late-Night Stroll Through a Moonlit Pasture" by Jim Terry — Solid mood-setting and vivid rural horror that genuinely gave me the creeps.
"Saskan: Breakup" by Jessica Johns — Fans of “Obsession” will appreciate this other slow-burn queer horror story about a girlfriend who can't let go after a breakup.
"Found Footage" by Shaawan Francis Keahna — “The Ring” meets “Benjamin Button” meets “The Omen.” That's really all you need to know.
"Summer Vacation" by Billy-Ray Belcourt — The writing is a tad hackneyed and it's too short for the world Belcourt builds, but this was also the most tense and tender story in the collection.
"Star Mound" by Joshua Whitehead — I'm not 100 percent sure what I listened to, but it was poetic and heartfelt, centered on loving someone through illness. If you've read Whitehead's “Jonny Appleseed,” you know to expect something raw and immersive.
"Toothjar" by Ramona Emerson — Another standout. A plague sweeps across the U.S. while a New Mexico family living on the reservation keeps safe by dispatching trespassers to their very large hog, Pinky.
I'd also call out Alina Pete's "We Don't Talk About It," in which two siblings face off against a monster that won't be named while the real demons go much deeper. Beyond those, there are plenty of more traditional monsters ("Neon Moon," "Party at the Alvarez Ranch," "Goat Eyes"), alongside stories rooted in oppression ("Footprints") and Indigenous culture ("Ivories," "Guest Account").
The audiobook once again features a full cast of Indigenous performers, including Oscar-nominee Lily Gladstone, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Asivak Koostachin, Shane Ghostkeeper, Joelle Peters, John Wamsley, Kaniehtiio Horn, Erin Tripp, Monique Mojica and Wesley French. Like any good sequel, several return from book one, while others are newer to narration, and the range of voices makes audio a particularly good fit for an anthology like this.
If you read “Never Whistle at Night,” you'll find a lot to like here as well, but I actually preferred this one. The original was more interested in what lurks in the dark, both literally and figuratively. “Back for Blood” still has plenty going on beneath the surface, but it also remembers that sometimes you just want the thing lurking in the dark to jump out and scare you.
Rating (story): 4/5 stars
Rating (narration): 4/5 stars
Format: Audiobook (library loan)
Dates read: August 18 – August 23, 2026
Multi-tasking: Good to go, but in small doses. As with the first collection, listening to several stories in one sitting can cause them to blend together. That’s a disservice to you and the writers.
