I’m back to rave about my absolute favorite genre: horror! Give me all the spooky and creepy and terrifying things! I love seeing how authors can write different characters whose influences (and the horrors they face) are shaped by their background, so I’m especially here for diverse horror stories. In anticipation of Trang Thanh Tran’s new book coming out on March 4, They Bloom At Night, let’s explore some other horror novels with diverse characters.
They Bloom At Night follows Nhung, or Noon, a Vietnamese-American girl living in Mercy, Louisiana, where a hurricane left behind algae that has created killer monsters. Noon is forced to team up with Covey, the lesbian daughter of the man who controls most of Mercy and is the ticket to Noon and her mom escaping town, to catch the monsters. But she also has to confront her own identity and feelings, and the way her Vietnamese heritage plays into her relationship with her family, herself, and the water. If you liked Tran’s She Is A Haunting, you’ll also like this. They feature the same type of haunting, nature-fights-back vibe.
To get a wide range of characters, vibes and identities all at once, pick up The White Guy Dies First. It features 13 stories by different authors that all feature a person of color making it past the first kill and, you guessed it, the white guy dying first. From a kidnapped Indigenous main character facing against cannibalism to a trans Iranian teen who summons a spirit from an ancient Iranian artifact, there’s plenty to choose from in this creepy collection.
Another of my favorites is just wild and totally different. Beholder by Ryan LaSala follows a Greek-American Athan who possesses a supernatural gift allowing him to see backward in time through mirrors. But there's also something dangerous lurking behind the mirrors that Athan must figure out, with the help of a boy named Dom who saved him from the terrifying, mass-hysteria-leading-to-death fate of everyone else at a party that is the opening scene of this book. Queer boy greatness and gore – what more can you ask for?
For something on the more fantastical side of horror, We Shall Be Monsters is loosely based on the story of Frankenstein but give it a twist of Indian and author-created mythology. Kajal is determined to resurrect her sister, especially after her sister's spirit becomes a bhuta, a vengeful spirit who harms people when Kajal's emotions are heightened. She gets the chance to try, but only if she can resurrect the prince to overthrow the current government. And the most important part: a benevolent zombie/frankendog!
The Hills of Estrella Roja is another lighter horror in graphic novel format. Kat is in the town of Estrella Roja to investigate lights for her paranormal Texas podcast, and Mari is back in town for her grandmother’s funeral. They cross paths and together investigate some of the strange stuff in the town's, and Mari's family's, history. This has paranormal stuff, spooky cryptids, cute queer strangers-to-lovers romance, fantastic illustrations and Latinx folklore for a truly fun and campy combination.
Will you check one of these titles out? Or do you have another diverse horror favorite to share? Let us know in the comments!
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