Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark

To be blunt, this book was fucking awesome.

Set in 1922 Macon, Georgia—Jim Crow South, one year after the Tulsa Massacre, the KKK running rampant, and Birth of a Nation popular enough to be screened in the White House. Horrifying.

It follows three badass Black girls who hunt Ku Kluxes. And no, Ku Kluxes aren't just the guys in white robes—they're also literal monsters, maybe even demons not of this world, blending in among the rest of the Klan and feeding off their palpable hatred for Black people in the South. Maryse, Chef, and, my personal favorite, Sadie, must stop their infiltration into society and protect their people.

The concept of this book is so, so cool. I haven't read anything like it, and it strikes a perfect balance between horror and dark fantasy. And mind you, I don't love to read fantasy, but it really reeled me in. The historical elements were just as lovely as they were terrifying to read.

This is the second historical horror book I've read, the other being The Reformatory by Tananarive Due, which was a 10/10 for me. I found Ring Shout similar in many ways—both lean into haints, African folklore, and tradition, and both are set in the Jim Crow South. I loved the folklore aspect of this book, especially when Maryse travels into a different realm where time stops and meets a Night Doctor for the first time. The spookiness and unsettling nature of their encounter will replay in my mind when I close my eyes.

I found Night Doctors super interesting and creepy, and their inclusion added something new. Night Doctors come from African American folklore rooted in the grim history of grave-robbing and medical exploitation. During the 19th century, there weren't enough cadavers to go around for medical schools, so doctors stole bodies from impoverished and Black cemeteries, or purchased them from slave owners. This plays a key part in Maryse's story and definitely piqued my interest to learn more, adding to the gothic southern atmosphere.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. It's action-packed, short, but packs a huge punch, and makes for such an entertaining, fantastical, yet horrifying read. Given its novella length, I was quite impressed with how much was shoved into it (world-building, historical context, the development of relationships and themes) and its pacing was really steady, picking up where needed.

I learned three things from Ring Shout: there are monsters hiding in plain sight, reality is just as scary (if not scarier)than fiction, and don't underestimate the strength and grit of young women.