Black Magic Tales: Tiara Janté's L'innocent
In the realm of the speculative, there's an energy that lingers within both what is good and what is bad. The branch of horror commonly devours the essence of evil, giving in to its many forms. Reality is very often the inspiration for the ugliness and non-acceptance of what destroys life and remains unchecked. Likely since time began, morality tales have been created to manage our thirst and understanding for retribution. Horror morality tales are delightfully unforgiving, nasty, and justly brutal. And Black storytellers continue grabbing ingredients from this genre that becomes something freshly improvised yet hauntingly familiar.
Tiara Janté's short story titled, "L'innocent" is a perfectly disorienting time leap that interweaves the story of family man and cop Chris with the fatal shooting of a young Black male named André. As the ties to this sequence of events unravel, readers are met with mysterious figures, racism and anti-Blackness that ceremoniously meets the southern gothic. Janté gives way to twists that offer serious consideration about what it means to do anything to escape an identity that's inescapable. Carefully, reader expectations are warped until the right time to reveal the levels in which racism operates. Janté's work is honest, biting and necessary as this story assuredly classified as horror.
"L'innocent" demonstrates the tradition of how Black people can exercise the use of the horror genre, even within the awful terrain of our own horror-scorched realities. The title itself sparks a challenging presumption of what innocence looks like on an individual level. This short story has an acerbic tone that will shake you and certainly entice a long conversation.
A version of this story was originally published in Black Girl Magic Literary Magazine: Volume 4, The Horror Edition, October 2016. For more information visit: www.blackgirlmagicmag.com
About The Author
Tiara Janté is a writer, ghostwriter and public relations and branding consultant hailing from northeast Pennsylvania. A sci-fi and horror enthusiast, Tiara aspires to weave tales that explore the darker side of humanity while revealing historical truths about the world hidden in plain view. An advocate of social justice and equality within media and literature, Tiara uses her writing as a medium to promote diverse characters by controlling her narrative as a woman of color writer in genres that are primarily controlled by white males. Tiara’s bylines can be found on Amazon, BlackSci-Fi.com, and xoNecole. She is also a co-editor of Black Girl Magic Lit Mag, a quarterly magazine that features speculative fiction written by and/or featuring strong black female identifying characters of color.
In her spare time, Tiara enjoys reading a good thriller, watching Harry Potter marathons and spending time with her hubby and children. Her upcoming Young Adult novel, Sage Batiste and the Book of Dreams is scheduled for release in the late part of 2017. To learn more, visit Tiara’s website at: www.tiarajante.net. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Image: Old books By Vera Lair