NIGHTMARE was founded on the core idea that all horror is real horror. The whole point of this magazine is that horror fiction is vast. It is inclusive. Horror is about all people and for all people.

The People of Color Destroy Horror! special issue exists to relieve a brokenness in the genre that’s been enabled time and time again by favoring certain voices and portrayals of particular characters. Here we bring together a team of POC writers and editors from around the globe to present horror that explores the nuances of culture, race, and history. This is horror for our present time, but also—most of all—for our future.

People of Color Destroy Horror! is 100% written and edited by people of color, and is lead by guest editor Silvia Moreno-Garcia, with editorial contributions from Tananarive Due, Maurice Broaddus, Arley Sorg, and others. It features four original, never-before-published short stories, from Valerie Valdes, Nadia Bulkin, Gabriela Santiago, and Russell Nichols. Plus, there’s four classic reprints by Nisi Shawl, Priya Sharma, Terence Taylor, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz. On top of all that, we also have an array of nonfiction articles and interviews, from Alyssa Wong, Chesya Burke, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, and Chinelo Onwualu, as well as original illustrations by Kimberly Wengerd, SainaSix, Maggie Chiang, and Reiko Murakami.

Enjoy the destruction!

Reader Reviews

Rain

(4/5)

May 08, 2024

The Destroy! series is so wonderfully consistent in quality while also being diverse in perspectives and style. This collection introduced me to several writers whose work I will be seeking out ASAP, as well as some who I now know are not for me. The spotlight interviews are absolutely invaluable for a writer, too. My favorite stories were Wish You Were Here by Nadia BulkinA Diet of Worms by Valerie ValdesCruel Sistah by Nisi ShawlWet Pain by Terrence Taylor

Jamesboggie

I found this special issue of Nightmare magazine as a bound anthology. It includes original fiction, reprint fiction, art, and nonfiction. The purpose of the anthology is challenging exclusionary conceptions of horror. Like all anthologies, the quality of the entries varies. Still, I enjoyed this work. I feel it successfully expanded my understanding of horror.Original Short Fiction“Wish You Were Here” – Nadia Bulkin"Wish You Were Here" is a slow story about the horror of guilt. It follows an Am...

Maggie Gordon

A short horror tale about a murderous sister that jumps perspectives and ends with a chilling musical scene. Perhaps closer to a 2.5. Even though it was a short story, I would have liked to hear more of the sister's motives in killing her kin. Merged review:A Diet of Worms is a frightening tale of a young man working his shift at a movie theater who gets stuck in a time fluctuation and lives out most of his life over the course of that shift. Why? Who knows! But the story of his aging and his su...

Dean Simons

Interesting stories. First time I had read Nightmare.Highlights: A Diet of Worms - in my opinion probably the best of the bunch this issue. Juicy horror."Wet Pain" and "Monstro" are both strong contenders - the characterisation and world building sets these apart. Definitely worth a read.Lowlights:"The Show". It felt a touch too generic for my tastes. "Horror is..." article a frustrating read. Felt more like a rant than an article. Could have achieved more if fleshed out.

Screaming

(5/5)

Not usually a horror fan, but this was part of the Kickstarter I backed. Really enjoyed the Victor LaValle interview and Alyssa Wong's essay. Nadia Bulkin's Wish You Were Here stayed with me a long time after I read it. I think you call that haunting. :) Diaz's Monstro was another fav. Will definitely seek out more from the authors I didn't know.

Eva

This is unsurprisingly one of the best issues of Nightmare Magazine--I loved several of the short stories in both the original and reprints section, and the interviews included were also very interesting to read.

Shane

My favourite story from the recent Nightmare Magazine special edition - People Of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! A great little roll of creepy dread that wouldn't be out of place in a Ligotti collection.

Corinne

So far only listened to:-- A Diet of Worms by Valerie Valdes - DNFI wasn't loving the narrator nor the subject matter. A "loser" stuck in his lame movie theater job starts to see advertisements that don't make sense. Like movie 2 is playing but movie 1 just came out. That is as far as I got. People seem to comment with praise for the story but I couldn't stick around.I guess the worms are "gummy" worms. He found an unopen box while cleaning up.

Claudia Piña

He leído la serie Destroy a lo largo de varios Barrifest del Terror y siempre me llevo una grata sorpresa. Todas estas historias tienen algo muy diferente del horror "normal" pero que igualmente funcionan de maneras muy efectivas. Aunque en general todas las historias (menos la de J. Díaz) me gustaron, A diet of worms me quedó en la mente y probablemente es la que más recordaré bde este número.

Paul

Excellent collection w/ great choice of new fiction and reprints along with non-fiction essays and author profiles/interviews. Well worth a read

Dana

Excellent collection of stories!

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Nightmare Magazine 49: October 2016. People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! Special Issue

Nightmare Magazine 49: October 2016. People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! Special Issue

Nightmare Magazine 49: October 2016. People of Colo(u)r Destroy Horror! Special Issue

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Reader Reviews