#OwnVoices

Halloween #OwnVoices Picks for October by Quinn Mass, '28

#OwnVoices is a term, originally coined by writer Corinne Duyvis, to describe books written by authors from marginalized communities about characters who share those same identities. #OwnVoices highlights the importance of authentic representation in literature, ensuring that the stories you read come from grounded lived experiences, rather than from some unknown outside perspective. This hashtag promotes and supports works of diverse creators, and helps underrepresented identities to be seen by a wider audience.

Swarthmore College Libraries has an ongoing project in which student-workers and librarians get to choose monthly #OwnVoices selections to add to our permanent collection. The goal of this program is to not only expand our gathering of diverse stories, but to also uplift diverse authors telling authentic narratives! I got to be the lucky chooser of this month’s #OwnVoices selections, and within hours the titles were available on Tripod. I proceeded to listen to the audiobook of one of my selections the next day, and the story was fantastic!

Now let me entice you to these terrific horror stories representing voices of queer, transgender, and neurodivergent authors. My first pick, The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White, features an autistic trans narrator who struggles to fight against the violence of the patriarchy in this devastating historical gothic nightmare. With spine-chilling use of surgical and body horror, this novel reveals the far scarier themes of misogyny, transphobia, and ableism, all told through the authentic voice of Andrew Joseph White.

My second pick to add to the Halloween reads for this month is Your Body is Not Your Body, an anthology of short horror stories written by over thirty trans and gender nonconforming authors, edited by Alex Woodroe and Matt Blairstone. Defying all genre rules, this anthology unleashes a torrent of cosmic horrors, technological terrors, and grotesque body modifications in stories of rebellion and revenge. This collection was born from resistance to Texas's attempts to criminalize transgender and gender-nonconforming youth and their families. It has since grown into a defiant rallying cry and a fierce, horror-soaked celebration of all identities.

These two selections are now available for checkout on Libby and Overdrive. Anyone with a Swarthmore OneCard can access them! Settle in with a spooky story this season with these #OwnVoices picks. Enjoy your reading, and Happy Halloween!