Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for my review.

So starting off, I was super excited when I found out about this anthology and even more so when I got approved for an ARC. Having now read the anthology, I can definitely say that my excitement was well worth it. I often found myself positively surprised by how much I adored this anthology and the way it was put together and I have also found a few authors I want to keep an eye now. It is a really, really good collection with a variety of authors and a variety of horror genres and I really enjoyed it. There's gothic horror (Discourse on the Seven Headed Monkey), folk horror (Worry your Head), post-apocalyptic horror (Survive Lot 666), haunted house horror (the Thing that Lives in the House), creature body horror (So This Is Freedom?), slasher horror (The Mask It Wears), eldritch horror (Given Names) as well as a lot of modern or less definable horror (This list is also just based on my vibes mainly and so you may define some of the stories differently, but I just want to use that to point out that we get a lot of really cool horror in here and that if any one horror genre is not to your liking you will find 19 other stories that might work for you!). I really liked the variety here and even though I did not enjoy every piece presented here, I liked the vast majority and even loved quite a few of them (Like No Blood, But the Wi-Fi is Great, Given Names, The Thing That Lives in the House, So This is Freedom?, Freedom was a Flaying, Silence of Broken Things and Shabbat Dinner are all what I would consider 5 star reads to me if I had read them on their own and a lot of others just barely did not make my Oh My God More Immediately Please). In general there were only two stories I did not enjoy as much, which in a collection of 20 different stories is something I've rarely experienced. I also was positively surprised at the diversity of queer representation in here (mostly trans men, but also sapphic, ace, and nonbinary MCs get their spotlight, there is no explicitly transfemale character, besides a trans woman LI unfortunately). All in all this is a great anthology and I can't wait to order a paperback copy as soon as it comes out, so I can add this amazing creation to my bookshelf!

I have also taken some notes on each short story collected here with trigger warnings and rep. Obviously a lot of characters in here are autistic and they are all written by autistic authors but I also made a note of each one that mentions being autistic or showing clearly autistic traits in the stories, in case this is a selling point for you! So beware, from now on here there be spoilers!

Worry your head by Rain Corbyn - a really quite interesting story, I liked the dialect, its only a bit scary, but I enjoyed reading it, plus who wouldn't enjoy taking a trip with your husband's head in a box while he's still talking? TW: transphobia, homophobia, child abuse, ableism, animal death, gore, Rep: autistic gay trans man

Like No Blood by Adrian Speth - a really great horror about raising the dead and what happens after, very tense and very emotional, I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the story and the writing style is really, really great, also I've discovered my new fav trans worstie, TW: animal death, murder, needles, Rep: gay trans man, t4t (one of my favs)

These Thirteen Simple Tricks Will End Your Sleep Hallucinations For Good by Catherine Forrest - A short horror story about sleep hallucinations, nice and spooky, TW: Medical horror, needles

A Dream So Sweet by Chris Nelson - This story combines a play about a gay man grieving the death of his lover and an alien linguist and his wife investigating where the work came from, it was interesting, but one of the stories I enjoyed less, the story skipped around its own time frame a lot and was a bit hard too follow, TW: Death and grief, threats of child murder, violence

Survive Lot 666 by Caroline Hung - A survival reporter travels through a scary post-apocalyptic house filled with monsters, its short and creepy and I like the cosmic horror, but I would have loved some more world building, TW: animal death

Discourses on the Seven-Headed Monkey by Tim Lieder - this gothic horror explores a man's history with a seven headed monkey and the impact the being had on his life, i unfortunately did not like it very much to begin with as the story keeps skipping around in its time line and is not easy to follow and then there's also a sexual assault perpetrated by the protagonist for which I would have prefered trigger warnings and so unfortunately all in all my least favorite piece in this anthology, TW: rape, suicide

Curse the Darkness by Die Booth - this story follows a man with S.A.D. and intrusive thoughts who tries witchcraft to deal with his mental illness, it was an interesting short story and I enjoyed reading it, even though the way he phrased his witch spell already invited disaster and I was screaming at my screen when he said it, the story definitely builds dread really well and I enjoyed that a lot, TW: suicide, intrusive thoughts, depression, animal cruelty, Rep: trans man

The Sun Approaches Every Summer by Akis Linardos - I was already really happy with the title of this one after reading the previous short story, it just fits together quite well so definitely another kudos to the editors, in this story a young man discovers a silly game he plays for his wife might have catastrophic consequences, it's a really interesting story that builds heavy dread very well and I liked it, TW: mass extinction event, death, gore, Rep: autistic gay or ace man

But the Wi-Fi is Great by John Wiswell - After breaking up with her boyfriend a young woman follows a friend's invitation to stay at his hotel, which is run down but has great Wi-Fi, this one was really interesting and spooky and fun, (plus the genre of sun-related horror is one I very much understand and relate to so! Yippieh!) TW: acephobia, attempted sexual assault, sexual boundary pushing, migraines, Rep: asexual woman (one of my favs)

Given Names by Lucas Shipwright - a pregnant trans man and his trans girlfriend visit the guy's father in a small town for the first time, but something is waiting in the mountain for his return, sooo nice and spooky and fucked upppp, i love it, TW: misgendering (apologized for), murder, gore, Rep: trans man, trans woman (one of my favs)

Safe Food by Xochilt Avila - A nonbinary autistic teen is abused heavily by their controlling father until one night something finally changes, it was fun, the twist was expected, but still cool, TW: deadnaming, body shaming, abusive parent, food restriction, unsafe food consumption, eating disorder (due to lack of available food), cannibalism, Rep: austistic nonbinary MC (one of my favs)

The Thing That Lives in the House by Nexus Hope - a haunting story told in letters about a person living in a loud house, manages to feel very claustrophobic and relateable as someone who is also sensitive to noise, I liked it a lot, TW: murder, overstimulation (one of my favs)

So This is Freedom? by Steve Neal - this one has so many things to love! cool body horror, unmasking taken literal, isolated night shift clerks, plant body horror, its scary and fun!!! I loved it. TW: gore, body horror, prejudiced costumers, isolation, paranoia (one of my favs)

The Mask It Wears by Sarah Musnicky - A costumer in a haunted house takes things too far. Again there's a gorey unmasking and I really enjoyed it, a fun twist on slasher horror, TW: murder, gore, body horror (one of my favs)

Freedom was a Flaying by Onxy Osiris - A young trans man is sacrificed by his towns people, but the God they sarificed him to helps him get revenge, very good, very gorey and veeeery fun!, TW: murder, transphobia, child abuse, gore, Rep: autistic trans man (one of my favs)

Bitemark Bitch by Olive J. Kelley - this one was fun and kinky, but unfortunately quite short and I didn't really get all the implications? TW: gore, murder, serial killer, knife play, death, Rep: Sapphic MC

Neighborly by Aquino Loayza - A messed up and kind off very poetic piece about murder and chaos, I really liked it, the writing style is unusual, but fits very well for the story, it was a lot of fun, TW: murder, serial killer, gore, death

The Silence of Broken Things by Xan Van Rooyen - the story of the creation of an album interspersed with a review describing the end result, a very touching story, that I really enjoyed, TW: child abuse, grief, obessession, gore (one of my favs)

Shabbat Dinner by Zachary Rosenberg - the story of a jewish autistic trans person (gender not specified) living under a facist regime, it was haunting and I loved the ending. TW: facism, masking for survivals sake, Rep: jewish autistic trans person (one of my favs)

Different by Ashley Lezak: A girl wakes up in the hospital and suddenly everything is different for her, this story is filled with a creeping dread about ableist's need to "cure" autism, very interesting and I enjoyed it, TW: graphic child abuse, ableism

So all in all, if you like horror, if you're interested in what horror from an autistic perspective could look like (and yes sometimes it's overstimulation and sometimes it's allistic people's ableist preconception and sometimes it's about allowing yourself to unmask, but a lot of times it's just something completely different as well, so don't fear that autism is presented shallowly or one-dimensional here, because autistic creators just get to shine in all their glory here) do check this anthology out when it is published and enjoy the Horrors.