Interspersed between stories are beautifully calligraphed obituaries.

Authors take various approaches to the concept of vampirism, inspired by Black culture, mythologies, history, and experiences, but there is nothing boring here. The stories come from all over the African diaspora, but the majority of them are by authors from the United States and Britain. Anthology editor Nicole Givens Kurtz continues that tradition here by showcasing Black writers and their imaginings of vampires, slayers, and hunters through their stories, giving Black readers the opportunity to be seen in vampire fiction that takes on the standard Eurocentric tropes and transforms them in a way that is uniquely relevant to Black people and also provides a window for other readers into what they have been missing because of the limited perspective of most vampire fiction.

Banks’ Vampire Huntress series, and her ability to transform common tropes of vampire fiction into stories that reflected the African-American experience, inspired many of the authors in SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire. SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz ( | )Īvailable: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition We’ve been reviewing and supporting the horror community for 15 years now, help us make it another year! Thank you! And now, our review of SLAY: Stories of the Vampire Noire edited by Nicole Givens Kurtz. We have never accepted paid advertising so you can be guaranteed that our reviews are objective. If you like what we’re doing, please take a moment to click on that red “Contribute” button in the sidebar to the right, to help us keep going! Even five dollars will get us closer to the $195 we need to keep going at the most basic level. We are midway through October and Monster Librarian still needs to raise the funds to pay for our hosting fees and postage in 2021.

Slay by Nicole Givens Kurtz