Weird Black Girls: Stories

Philip K. Dick Award finalist Cotman’s (Dance on Saturday) genre-bending latest, a collection of seven short stories, defies easy categorization, as it spans speculative fiction, science fiction, and horror. An ensemble of narrators, including Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Jade Wheeler, James Fouhey, Emily Lawrence, André Santana, and Landon Woodson, offer engaging performances, taking listeners through stories set in the 1950s (“The Switchin’ Tree”) to the late 1990s (“Owen”). The narrators imbue each tale with its own distinct tone, giving voice to Cotman’s unique and nuanced characters as they contend with real-world and supernatural horrors. While the narrators’ multifaceted performances bring each story to life, some listeners may need time to adjust to their different approaches, particularly in regard to pacing. Even so, the audio experience provides a captivating entry into Cotman’s fantastic worlds.