DEATH IN THE MOUTH: ORIGINAL HORROR BY PEOPLE OF COLOR, EDITED BY SLOANE LEONG & CASSIE HART ​

Many of these tales will touch your heart, perhaps even break it a few times along the way. It's not an easy read, with stories ranging from gruesome to psychologically terrifying and everything in-between. Don't miss out, the voices in this phenomenal, essential book are to be ignored at your own risk.

A Horror Book Review by Ben Walker

There are some books which call out to you even before you've sampled a single word within, and honestly, how could you pass up a title so intriguing as Death in the Mouth? What collector of books could look at that cover, all impossible limbs with flashes of teeth & eyes, and not want to add it to their shelf? And what fan of horror could possibly pass over an anthology which boasts 26 original offerings from a diverse collection of BIPOC authors? Not to mention the interior artwork from a myriad of talented artists, which provides an introduction to the book, and features next to each story, offering intriguing visions of what's to come.


Suffice to say I was on board with this book ever since I heard about it, and having backed the Kickstarter I was pleased to receive both an ebook and paperback version, but the paperback is where the anthology truly shines. As nice as it was to see the artwork on my e-reader, having the generously-sized physical copy makes it a lot easier to flick between the various black & white artworks, which really are stunning to behold.


But hey, this is an anthology, so you want to hear about the stories, right? Editors Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart have an incredible eye for talent, and there's not a single story in this book which had me wanting to speed-read through to the next one. This is a book deserving of the same amount of care & attention when reading that clearly went into putting it together. Every tale is compelling and different, each one deserving to be savoured, and the book starts off strongly with Isha Karki's unsettling opener, Welcome to Labyrinth (with illustration by Natalie Hall). This tale has a mythic yet modern feel, using the titular Labyrinth as a metaphor for our society and the way it expects anyone different to fit in to their invented standards, or gaslights them into playing along. It's stark and horrifying, much like the real world it reflects.


Other standouts include K-Ming Chang's The Three Resurrections of my Grandfather (illustrated by Sloane Hong), a surreal story involving family obligations, superstition and tradition. These elements are woven brilliantly through a three-part tale packed with dreamlike imagery and dreams alike, as its small cast of well-realised characters deal with the impending death of their grandfather, and what comes next. There are moments of beauty, sadness and creeping unease which all blend perfectly together to make a weird, brilliant read.


They'll Keep You Gestated by Beatrice Winifred Iker (illustrated by Molly Mendoza) opens with a sting of body horror before going to quite a different place, within the confines of...well, that's something for you to discover alongside its antagonist.


And Endria Isa Richardson's Wind Up Teeth (illustrated by Rem) delivers a superb piece of isolation-based horror, as a trio of kids wonder what's lurking outside their hiding place. Their curiosity and dread matches yours as they get closer to the answer, and there are some truly hair-raising moments throughout, all the way through to a thoroughly disconcerting ending.


The illustrated introduction to this brilliant anthology explains how, for marginalised people, horror is an everyday thing, and the power behind so many of these stories is rooted in that truth. This is especially true of the character work, which feels incredibly real no matter what the protagonists find themselves dealing with, from recognisable real-life horrors to the fantastical and supernatural. Many of these tales will touch your heart, perhaps even break it a few times along the way. It's not an easy read, with stories ranging from gruesome to psychologically terrifying and everything in-between. Don't miss out, the voices in this phenomenal, essential book are to be ignored at your own risk.

DEATH IN THE MOUTH: ORIGINAL HORROR BY PEOPLE OF COLOR
EDITED BY SLOANE LEONG & CASSIE HART ​

What is horror to those living in the margins?

Where terror is systematized and in the very air everyone happily breathes?

A misheard word.
The thud of boots.
An impossible color.
A foreign growth.

Death in the Mouth is a collection of horror stories and art showcasing BIPOC and ethnically marginalized storytellers from around the world. You’ll read stories featuring grotesque manifestations of dread, the enveloping sludge of grief, and the insectoid itch of deep-seated fear. Embodiments of mania and displacements of faith. Harrowing ecstasy and debilitating hope. Transgressions of the body, the spirit, and the community. Unique and terrifying alien mythology from the future. Quiet, creeping absurdities. Weird urban legends from secondary worlds.

In this anthology, Sloane Leong and Cassie Hart bring you an incredible range of stories and illustrations that celebrate the voices of those overlooked to show you the terrifying and exquisite scope of what horror can be.

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