Welcome to In Reading Color, a space where we focus on literature by and about people of color.
The fact that this is the last IRC newsletter before Halloween is ridiculous. I know I can read spooky books any time of the year — and I do! — but reading them in October just hits different. With that said, I’m nowhere near finishing all the ones I want to finish, and have been getting into anthologies to maximize the number of different horror stories I’m exposed to. It’s great because anthologies have the added bonus of introducing me to authors I haven’t read before.
After new releases, I have a few for you to add to your Halloween TBR.
Bookish Goods
Spooky Book Stack Sticker by JoyandCoffeeCo
Yeah, ’tis the season for all the skulls ‘n’ things, but this sticker also gives cute all year round vibes. Just sayin’. $4.
New Releases
The Stand-Up Groomsman by Jackie Lau
This is the second in Lau’s Donut Fall in Love series. In it, opposites in the form of the funny and charming actor Melvin Lee and talented artist Vivian must forget their differences for the sake of their best friends getting married. As they each do their part to make the wedding work, something else starts to work, if you know what I mean.
Anywhere You Run by Wanda M. Morris
It’s 1964 in Mississippi and people are literally dying to help others attain basic civil rights. When 22 year old Violet Richards kills a white man in self-defense, she knows she has to leave or risk ’60s Southern “justice.” When the police show up at Violet’s sister Marigold’s door — whose dreams of law school may be delayed due to an unexpected pregnancy — Marigold decides it’s best to leave, too. She heads to the North, trying to outrun the murder case as well as the social shame that comes with being an unwed single mother. What neither sister knows is there’s a man shrouded in darkness who’s hot on their trail.
For a more comprehensive list of new releases, check out our New Books newsletter.
Riot Recommendations
Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology, edited by Vince A. Liaguno and Rena Mason
From Tananarive Due to Stephen Graham Jones — this anthology features some of thee hottest authors when it comes to horror fiction today. Its title refers to belonging to the other, a status marginalized people contend with on a daily basis. It’s interesting to think of how much looking through this lense influences what one finds terrifying — I think that for marginalized people, horror fiction for us is typically more based in reality, but of course we are not a monolith and this is not the case for everyone. So far, I’ve only read the story by Tananarive Due, but baaby, it had me gagging.
She Walks in Shadows, edited by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Paula R. Stiles
This anthology is one of retellings. It takes the stories of Lovecraft — with his hateful ass — and reimagines them from the perspectives of women. The cosmic, larger-than-life, existential horror that many who love Lovecraft appreciate is still front and center. If you’ve read any newsletter where I’ve mentioned retellings, you know that I love a good retelling that features a refocus on the marginalized identities that the original left out.
FIYAH #24: Hauntings and Horrors, edited by DaVaun Sanders
This is a bit of a divergence from what I usually present to you since it’s a literary magazine. It was founded by P. Djeli Clark and two authors who used to write for Book Riot: Troy L. Wiggins and Justina Ireland. I just bought issue #24 and am excited to read about malevolent forces, eye-stealing demons, magical honey jars, and all other manner of spooky goodness.
Thanks for reading; it’s been cute! If you want to reach out and connect, email me at erica@riotnewmedia.com or tweet at me @erica_eze_. You can find me on the Hey YA podcast with the fab Tirzah Price, as well as in the In The Club newsletter.
Until next week,
Erica