Choices: An Anthology of Reproductive Horror

by Dianna Gunn (Editor), Alex Woodroe (Foreword), Raluca Balasa

As the horrors close in around us, we turn to story to process our fears, our desires, and our futures. In An Anthology of Reproductive Fiction, nineteen writers whose reproductive rights are under threat explore the stories of those who, like them, have had their choices stolen from

The horror of being forced to carry a child you don't want.

The catharsis of taking revenge on a man who stole your right to choose.

The terror of being threatened by the world for having a baby you do want because you're "the wrong gender".

The pride of knowing you fought for a better future, even if that future claimed your life.

These stories serve as a reminder of the power of choice and the importance of fighting for every human's right to choose their own future.

Genres: Horror

185 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2025

About the author

Dianna L. Gunn has known she wanted to be a writer since she was eight years old. She wrote her first novel for Nanowrimo at the age of eleven years old, but quickly discovered that writing books is not an easy way to make a living. So she decided to broaden her horizons, seeking another career that still allowed her to work with words.

Her freelance writing career started when she became a marketing intern at Musa Publishing(now defunct) in September 2011 and quickly became a staff writer in charge of multiple imprint blogs. Since then she has worked with a variety of small businesses and non-profits to improve their online brands and create long term marketing strategies. Some of her most notable work has been for the tech education non-profit STEAMLabs and natural dog care company ProPooch. She is extremely dedicated to helping her clients build successful brands and making their dreams come true.

When she isn’t helping her clients bring their dreams to life, Dianna can be found busily working on her own dream of being a successful fantasy author. Her first YA fantasy novella, Keeper of the Dawn, is available now, and she hopes to announce a second release date soon.

Reviews

[Casey Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Stripping away personal freedoms is a lot like boiling a frog. It has to be done gradually, heating the water incrementally to prevent the frog from noticing. Or perhaps the frog notices and chooses to ignore the changes, thinking it can't go on forever.

We were supposed to be smarter than frogs. We weren't."

This book is not for the faint of heart. Unfortunately, neither is the world we live in. 

Dianna Gunn has done the impossible with this anthology: collected the scariest, most twisted reflections of our world into a page-turner you can't put down. 

"Whose Pussy Is This?" by A.H. Davison is one of the most grotesque stories I've ever read. It is riveting, horrifying, brutal - -but necessary. 

Each of the stories in Choices pressed on a bruised piece of my soul, picked at some scab on the human condition, broke my heart over and over - -Necessary, I keep thinking. We write because we must. Because we still have things worth saying. 

The authors brought together for the Choices anthology all have beautiful, destructive, horrifying, cathartic, chilling, angry, desperate, devastating things worth saying.

The stories in this collection are a mix of horror sub-genres; folk horror, body horror, splatterpunk, erotic horror, surreal, science fiction, found footage/epistolary, contemporary, weird, fantasy, and especially, dystopia (unsurprisingly, a lot of the stories lean this way; go figure).

They contain mutants and magic and ghosts and aliens and monsters of all descriptions. But mainly, they contain women.

Women who are forced to continue unwanted pregnancies. Women who are jailed or killed for supplying abortions. Women who want to get pregnant, but are prevented by racist doctors. Women who want to be mothers, but have their children taken from them. Women who don't own their bodies. Women who are denied divorces from abusive men. Women who are raped. Women who escape. Women who take revenge. 

But of course, not only women are affected by the curtailing of reproductive rights. 

One of the anthologies most devastating stories, "This Broken World" by Mia Dalia (from which I pulled the "frog" quote above), is about what happens when a trans man is forced to carry a pregnancy after having every right and dignity stripped from him. 

Nor does Choices present any universal portrait of cis men -- there are allies, fathers, partners, friends, doctors who are doing their best in impossible situations. The "bad guys" are sometimes -- I'd even hazard to say, often -- cis women, using broken systems to their advantage, hurting other women to save themselves or get ahead.

My favourite stories, if I have to choose, were (in no particular order): "This Broken World" by Mia Dalia, "A Dead Woman's Journal" by R Haven, "Whose Pussy Is This?" by A.H. Davison, and "A Local Gardener" by Allay Rei.

I was gobsmacked again and again by how well-written, well-executed, how perfectly on-point each of the nineteen incredible stories in Choices were: they complement each other without ever becoming one-note, each able to stand alone or be read as part of the whole.

As an editor myself, I know how hard it is to choose stories that work well together, and have the punch to stand alone; I know the hours of reading incredible stories that unfortunately don't make the cut, not because they aren't good or important, but because not every story can make it in. And then there's the word of editing the stories, choosing the order, formatting them… 

It is a hard thing to do, but it was done masterfully here. This anthology is an editorial achievement, and I applaud the editor, Dianna Gunn, for her stellar work on it.

I absolutely must rate Choices 5 stars.

(Thank you, Dianna, for sending me an advance review copy (ARC) of this title.)

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I once saw a review of an anthology that said “As with every anthology, there are hits and misses” but that couldn’t be more wrong about this anthology. Every story deserved to be in this collection, not just for the points they were making, but how utterly wonderfully written they were.

If you told me to choose a favorite I could change my mind 19 times over and then change it again. They are all just *that* good.

Every story was visceral and even beautiful in their own way. When i finished the anthology i wanted to reread it for the first time all over again. Thank you to the authors, the editor, and everyone who worked on this anthology.

[Cat Voleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will never read a more timely, chilling, or gut-wrenching collection of stories.

^^ I had the honor of receiving an early edition of this book so I could blurb it. For that reason, and that reason only, I was able to be concise, but I simply cannot recommend this anthology enough.

[Ai Jiang]

A big thank you to the editor for an ARC for the anthology!

CHOICES: AN ANTHOLOGY OF REPRODUCTIVE HORROR is filled with tales of rage, vengeance, bitter regret about bodily anatomy, generational trauma, prejudice and injustice, confines and constraints of gender. Each and every narrative is transformative in its own way, brutal yet honest, horrific and heartrending in their reversals and subversions. This powerful collective brings to light all my worst fears and desired liberations.

[Enoli Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a story included in this anthology, so I'm biased, but I have never been more honored to be a part of an anthology like I am for this one. Each author is incredibly talented, and their stories evoked such gut-wrenching emotions in me. So many of these stories left me breathless and aching to read more.
Thank you to Diana for choosing my story to be included. To every author who submitted, whether they were included or not, I hope your stories get heard. And thank you especially to the readers, I hope you enjoyed this anthology as much as I have.

[K.J. Harrowick · Rating 5 out of 5]

In fiction, readers often search for escape. Yet some stories resonate so deeply with our lives, our traumas, and our fears that the echoes seep into our bones and mirror our pain.

Dianna Gunn’s Choices, An Anthology of Reproductive Horror, captivates readers with gripping tales of real life horrors faced every day in regard to sexuality, gender identity, and the dehumanizing devaluation of a reproductive host. These stories demand critical thinking of what it means to be human, and a petition for awareness and empathy that is not bound by blood, by borders, or by belief.

Five stars for this raw, candid portrayal of the real terrors behind privacy curtains, sterile offices, and belief systems that devalue the strongest members of society.

[Amanda Davison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of stories is timely and important. There is at least one story in here that will feel like it was written for you.

To be read with a soothing tea and a furry friend nearby. These are not bedtime stories.

(I happen to be one of the authors in the anthology, but I'm in total awe of the authors I am lucky enough to be in the company of.)