Never Whistle at Night: Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. on Building the Fantastically Unsettling Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology

The perfect collection of stories to welcome October.

As part of my Spooky Season series I'm delighted to share an interview with Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., the co-editor of Never Whistle at Night, the perfect horror anthology to read as the nights roll in. You may have noticed that I have redesigned the look and logo for the spookiest of seasons, and it's because I have a ton of great treats for all of you this autumn!

Anthologies and short story collections have always been a big part of my reading life. As a kid I would read genre collections like 13 and of course Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. So it's given me great joy to see a resurgence in brilliant genre anthologies that highlight voices who have often been ignored by mainstream publishing. One of this year's best collections is Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology. 

Edited by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr and Shane Hawk. Never Whistle at Night is a must-read filled with an array of chilling tales from an impressive selection of brilliant authors whose stories are all so fantastic I wanted to make sure I mention each of them here before digging into our chat. The collection features stories from Norris Black, Amber Blaeser-Wardzala, Phoenix Boudreau, Cherie Dimaline, Carson Faust, Kelli Jo Ford, Kate Hart, Shane Hawk, Brandon Hobson, Darcie Little Badger, Conley Lyons, Nick Medina, Tiffany Morris, Tommy Orange, Mona Susan Power, Marcie R. Rendon, Waubgeshig Rice, Rebecca Roanhorse, Andrea L. Rogers, Morgan Talty, D.H. Trujillo, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr., Richard Van Camp, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Royce Young Wolf, and Mathilda Zeller. It also opens with the best introduction you'll read this year courtesy of one of my favorite authors, Stephen Graham Jones.

I was lucky enough to chat to Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. about loving horror, the process of making the book, and the challenges of curating an anthology! 

You're a horror author and clearly a horror lover. What was the first horror story that hooked your interest and drew you to the genre?

The first horror story that grabbed me up and wouldn’t let me go, still won’t, was Frankenstein. I was about six when I saw that movie way too young, or maybe at the right time, I suppose, but the vision of a monster being made by the world around him sticks with me in so many ways. The first story I read that drew me in is actually a tie between “The Tell-Tale Heart” which scared the shit out of me, and “The Monkey’s Paw,” which showed me how you could do that to yourself. I read both of them in an anthology I found in the back of a cloak room in a classroom when I was nine.

What was the origin story of Never Whistle at Night? How did the anthology begin its life?

A tweet. One of the readers who helped so much with our open call, Bear Lee, tweeted out “when are we going to get an Indigenous horror collection?” Shane saw it, I saw it, we tagged, talked, and got things going. Reaction was amazing. Tens of thousands of likes and shares and comments. I’d had a folder with some ideas for a collection for years, but nothing happened until the idea got out into the wider world and grew in an organic way. The community is really what made this happen. And their response has been wonderful.

There is such a fantastic array of authors included and every story sings. What was the process like for selecting them and actually putting the book together?

It was really hard! We had over 100 open call submissions and so many amazing stories to read and choose from. Shane and I had invaluable help from fellow readers Bear Lee and David Tromblay. We had extensive spreadsheets (thanks, Shane!) and notes and back-and-forth and a supremely difficult time of choosing the best of the best.

Editing an anthology is quite a unique process. Could you give some insight into how you curated the stories and made sure the book felt whole? 

One of the drivers was making sure we did our best to represent the vibrancy and diversity of Native writers and stories. It was also important to ignore colonial borders and include as many folks from far and wide as we could. The stories and authors range from the far, far north to the deep southwest, east coast to west coast, and stop in cities, small towns, and vast rural areas. I think we got it, hope folks agree.

Now Never Whistle at Night is out in the world. How does it feel to see readers picking it up and discovering the work you all put into it?

Truly amazing. Three reprints before it was released and a fourth the day after speak volumes to the demand. I feel bad that folks are having to wait after it’s sold out yet again online, and the wait is up to a few weeks. Shane and I are on top of social media and network with bookstores who have copies on hand, sharing across platforms with folks to help them find the book. It’s an incredible moment.

After reading, I came away with the sense that you and your co-editor are clearly a powerhouse team. Do you have any plans to put any more anthologies or books together? 

Thanks so much for that! We are hopeful this overwhelming response registers with our fine publishers, and that they’re interested in a volume two, and three, and . . . Yeah. We’ve got folks we’d like to see in a second collection for sure, and we know there are even more stories out there everywhere. The process has been wonderful and exciting, and we’d love to do it again. And again, and again and again.

Never Whistle at Night is out everywhere now and you can order your copy here.