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Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Biography

Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. (enrolled member, Mackinac Bands of Chippewa and Ottawa Indians) is the author of the Tillie Olsen Award winner SACRED SMOKES (2018, now in its third printing) and the Electa Quinney Award winner SACRED CITY (2021), as well as the editor of THE FASTER REDDER ROAD: The Best UnAmerican Stories of Stephen Graham Jones (2015), all from the University of New Mexico Press. His work has been published in Southwest ReviewThe RumpusRed Earth ReviewThe Journal of Working-Class StudiesChicago ReviewElectric Literature and Indian Country Today, among others.

Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

Books by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.

edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. - Anthology, Fiction, Horror, Short Stories

Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms. For instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear --- and even follow you home. These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things that an ill-advised whistle might summon.