Ring Shout: A Black Body Horror Triumph

TW for racism, violence

Last Tuesday, between my spurts of working as a poll worker on election day, I finished the historical body horror action fantasy RING SHOUT! Aka, KKK Demon Hunters. 

An eclectic. blend of genres, cultures, and ideas, the novella is a high-octane trip from start to finish. Its ideas of oppression and hate bringing out the worst in people are as relevant today as they were in 2020, when the book was published. Author P. Djeli Clark packs a lot of content into the 196 pages, and not a second is wasted. 

The premise was insanely fun. In 1918, as the film "The birth of a nation" sweeps across the United States, it corrupts the good natured white population of America to be suseptible to hate and prejudice, more than before anyway. The story follows three young black women hunting the corrupted people as well as "Klu Kluxes," who are not people, but instead strange and terrifying demon monsters. 

I was not expecting body horror elements when I read the book, but body horror is my favorite kind of horror, so they were a welcome inclusion. I especially loved the evil Klan leader, the "Butcher." His body is covered in timy talking, screaming mouths in his pores, which is such a cool and scary concept. 

My only gripes with the book aren't really gripes, but there are a couple. For one, the characters, including the point of view character speak in historically accurate dialects, which for most of them means early AAVE. As an autistic person, this was tough to follow. I am used to things being written a certain way, and the writing style threw me off. This was especially an issue for the Gullah characters, who spoke in a very foreign tone to me. 

Overall though, Ring Shout was a delight, and I would highly recommend it.