The movement of the old woman’s hands is quick and youthful as she works the dough for tamales on Mars’ dusty, dry surface where their cohete broke apart and crash landed. She, her husband and their only son survive, and the old man curses the coyotes who took his money for a rocket not built to accommodate his family of eleven. A storm is coming, and he rails at his wife that she’s wasting her time. “We’ll be dead by the time you finish your goddamn tamales.”
This riveting collection of horror stories—and four poems—contains a wide range of styles, themes and authors. Creepy creatures roam the pages, including La Llorona and the Chupacabras in fresh takes on Latin American lore, as well as ghosts, zombies and shadow selves. Migrants continue to pass through Rancho Altamira where Esteban’s family has lived for generations, but now there are two types: the living and the dead. A young man returns repeatedly to the scary portal down which his buddy disappeared. A woman is relieved to receive multiple calls from her cousin following Hurricane María in Puerto Rico, but she is stunned to later learn her prima died the first night of the storm! There’s plenty of blood and gore in some stories, while others are mysterious and suspenseful. Contributors include Ann Davila Cardinal, V. Castro, Ruben Degollado, Richie Narvaez, Lilliam Rivera and Ivelisse Rodriguez.
In his introduction, editor Richard Z. Santos writes it is no surprise these stories are brilliant and terrifying, given cartel violence, a history of CIA-backed dictatorships in Latin America, increasingly scary rhetoric from American politicians, decades of institutionalized racism and the demonization of Latinos in the media. “After all,” he says, “we are the faceless horde, invading zombies hellbent on upturning the world and replacing it with something foreign, accented and impossibly different.”
Included in Pima County Public Library’s Southwest Books of the Year 2024
“It excels in portraying a rich tapestry of Latino horror, transcending the genre to offer profound insights into identity and folklore. In a time where cultural understanding is being attacked by wicked forces, A Night of Screams stands as a much needed and timely exploration of the genre that transcends borders, beckoning readers to appreciate the horror of our shared experiences and to accept that ‘the things of nightmares’ are not too scary after all.”—Review of Texas Books
“Santos brings together 18 stories and four poems for a wide-ranging anthology that demonstrates the hybridity of the horror genre. Ranging from unsettling to all-out macabre, this anthology delivers more than just the typical jump scare.”—Publishers Weekly
“These works offer entrance to a world of uniquely positioned terror. Writers twist folktale to serve their own ends; they battle sexist norms; they turn narrative on its head. These tricksteresque moments deliver speculative fiction’s great one-two punch—these stories speak as well as scare.”—Wrong Publishing
Praise for the work of Richard Z. Santos:
“Boasting a nicely understated comedic tone, Santos’ first novel deftly draws the reader into the machinations of its plot.”—Kirkus Reviews on Trust Me
“Best debut I’ve seen in about forever, best New Mexico novel I’ve read in a good while, far and away the best airport novel I’ve ever read, and not even close to the last Richard Santos I’ll be reading.”—Stephen Graham Jones, author of Mongrels and The Only Good Indians, on Trust Me
Richard Z. Santos’ debut novel, Trust Me, was a finalist for the Writer’s League of Texas Book Awards and was named one of the best debuts of the year by CrimeReads. He is the Executive Director of Austin Bat Cave, an organization that provides creative writing workshops to students in under-resourced areas. He is a former Board Member of the National Book Critics Circle and has judged contests for the Kirkus Prize, the NEA, the International Thriller Writers Association, the Texas Book Festival and many more. Recent work can be found in Austin Noir (Akashic Books), Texas Monthly and CrimeReads. In a previous career, he worked for some of the nation’s top political campaigns, consulting firms, and labor unions.
