We Mostly Come Out at Night
15 Queer Tales of Monsters, Angels & Other Creatures
edited by Rob Costello
Running Press Teens (Hachette Book Group), 2024. 364 pages.
Review written December 30, 2024, from a library book.
Starred Review
2024 Cybils Finalist, YA Speculative Fiction
I don’t read a lot of short story collections, because there are too many opportunities to put down the book and move on to something else, but when my fellow Cybils Award panelists had shortlisted this book not long before our discussion was due, I read it all within a couple days, and ended up loving it.
The subtitle tells you what’s going on. We’ve got queer authors writing about magical creatures. In a fun bonus, every story has a “Monster Reflection” afterward, with that author talking about how they feel about monsters.
Something I particularly liked about this anthology was how often the teens featured had been taught to think of themselves as monstrous – and in the story, they get the chance to discover their own beauty. There were a lot of stories where the monsters are the characters you like best.
Here’s a bit from the wonderful Introduction by the editor:
But that’s what stories do. They prepare us to face the unknown. They arm us with possibility. They enable us to apply some semblance of order and meaning to a universe that is otherwise indifferent to our existence. Telling a monster story is a powerful act, not least because such a story gives a shape and limmit to an otherwise amorphous anxiety, making it seem less scary, less immense, less baffling and unconquerable. Stories change our perspective on our own strengths and vulnerabilities. They alter our perception of what threatens us most. They provide us with comfort and reassurance — even in the face of tremendous loss — and in so doing, they offer us the hope that we can conquer our worst fears and take back control of our fate.
There’s a huge amount of variety in this collection. I’m not a monster movie or a monster book fan – but I loved the creativity and insight and imagination in this set of tales. The stories were consistently good, and so many of them get you thinking. I’m proud this is on our Cybils list.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Teens/we_mostly_come_out_at_night.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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