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A newly-fanged vampire gets revenge on a workplace sexual abuser. Racist cops get it from a trickster god brought to life by a fiction writer. A biracial activist mother finds a way to protect her Black children in a world determined to see them killed or jailed for mistakes all children often make. Plus so much more.

This was such an excellent collection where working-class heroes and marginalized individuals get the justice they deserve through supernatural means. Exactly the sort of thing we need to see more of at a time like this, to give hope and solace to those fearing the rise in hate speech and hate crimes. To those who have learned to live with ghosts, "But what about the ghosts that I know are coming?" ("Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns").

It was a refreshing bunch of great back to back weird fiction/horror stories with characters who meet ugly circumstances in the mundane world, but access the super-mundane to have at least some kind of satisfaction from the tragedies they suffered, and have had to see others suffer.

Speaking of, the characters were all really solid and had a weight to them; they were full of information and they felt like real people. Gómez makes it easy to sink into these little worlds and walk amongst them.

Finally, starting with a vampire story was so the move, because I can't resist a good vampire tale, and this one pulls you in right away, like all the dark beauties here. And they don't let go.

Favorite stories: - A Kiss to Build a Dream on - Will They Disappear - Huitzol and the Rope of Thorns - Someone Else's to Destroy

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.