Anoka

A Collection of Indigenous Horror

By: Shane Hawk

Narrated by: Kyle Bullock

Welcome to Anoka, Minnesota, a small city just outside of the Twin Cities dubbed “The Halloween Capital of the World” since 1937. Here before you lie several tales involving bone collectors, pagan witches, werewolves, skeletal bison, and cloned children. It is up to you to decipher between fact and fiction as the author has woven historical facts into his narratives.

With his debut horror collection, Cheyenne & Arapaho author Shane Hawk explores themes of family, grief, loneliness, and identity through the lens of indigenous life.

©2020 Shane Hawk (P)2020 Shane Hawk

For Lovers of Dark Stories!

Shane Hawk does a masterful job of weaving folklore with real-life issues. From alcoholism and depression to body dysmorphia and anxiety, Hawk brings to life dark tales of magical realism by using his life’s secrets and experiences. This book is a quick read and you won’t want to put it down. Definitely a must-have if you enjoy dark stories.

Good

I feel like the narrator took a while to hit his stride but his evil laugh is amazing.

Creepy and thought provoking

First time reading Shane’s work, though I’m not sure if this is his first published work. I found the collection to be very strong as a whole.

Standouts to me were Soilborne, which really set the tone with its sinister vibe in a few short minutes; and Imitate, a fairly straight forward slice of dread that plays out like a great episode of The Outer Limits.

Orange was an interesting combo of angry prose and stream-of-consciousness. I really enjoyed the wild left hook from Transfigured, and its final moment that had me questioning if it was a giant call-back.

The narration by Kyle Bullock was terrific, but there were a few audio quirks and clips that shook me out of it. Probably more a fault of equipment than narrator.

Overall, a memorable collection. Worth the price of admission (I suggest buying it outright and saving tokens for longer works), and I look forward to seeing what Shane does next.

Orange

My favorite story in the book was Orange. I never saw the ending coming! I so rarely get moments like that.

Great, versatile, hard hitting debut!

So good! Imitate, and especially Dead America will make you wince and cringe and get the willies all over. That’s what makes a great horror read!

Shocking and Disturbing

Anoka is a small town in Minnesota also known as "the Halloween capital of the world." Werewolves, sinister children and pagan witches are just a few of the strange and abhorrent entities that prey on the town's most vulnerable residents. This debut novella includes six short stories and notes by Indigenous author, Shane Hawk.⁣
⁣
𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘬𝘢 is a collection of shocking and disturbing short stories by an emerging author. Shane Hawk crafted the perfect blend of Indigenous folklore and supernatural horror for this delightfully terrifying collection. I'm going to be keeping an eye on Hawk as he delivers more, fresh literary frights to unsuspecting reader's. His style is subtle and gripping with a pace that steeps suspense like that of a seasoned horror veteran.⁣

𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘬𝘢 by Shane Hawk⁣
⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Native King!

Not bad for a debut! The reader was adequate. The recording quality could have been MUCH better, Kyle Bullock’s affect was too samey thru out. This short book would ha benefited from more of a variety of readers, as most anthologies do, unless the single reader of the collected tales has exceptional breadth of tone- or has a single tone that can carry all the stories. As for the stories themselves? The stamp of Stephen King is evident, but not in a bad or slavish way. More like an influence-Shane alludes to the real life horror of missing native women & girls, he doesn’t go near that disturbing, difficult material. I suspect there is a terrifying story that Shane has inside him to write. Anoka is a great concept- all tales revolving around a single small Minnesota town. I’d like to revisit some other neighborhoods. In time.

Eye Opening Stories of Human Horror

This is an eye opening collection of short stories that within the supernatural elements tell a true horror situation. That being the constant fear, indignity and persistent reminder of truth not realized . I came away from this with a greater appreciation and respect for Indigenous reality.

Finally a perfect anthology of horror

Every now and then you run across an anthology where most of the books are good and getting one where every story is good it’s like winning the lottery I’m getting a hole-in-one. I found this book of stories to be not only authentic but every story was awesome it is set an a Halloween town in Minnesota and the stories are different as night and day from each other and all of very entertaining I just love this book and can’t wait to read more by this author.

Impressive indigenous horror debut!

An impressive and creepy debut from author Shane Hawk. 'Anoka's' stories vary in quality and effectiveness, but even the one or two that interested me the least were fun little capsules of dread. The longer stories, "Wounded" and "Dead America" are the standouts and anchors of the collection, both of which balance indigenous American themes with more universal brands of fear in surprising and effective ways. I look forward to Hawk's next effort!