22 Canadian books that will get you in the Halloween spirit
CBC Books | Posted: October 26, 2022 8:13 PM | Last Updated: October 26, 2022
Here are 22 Canadian mysteries, fantasy, science fiction and horror stories that will get you in the Halloween spirit.
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu
In Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, a collection of short stories, Kim Fu turns the familiar on its head to weave tales of new worlds where strange happenings, like a girl growing wings on her legs or toy boxes that control the passage of time, are the ordinary trappings of everyday life. The stories deal with themes of death, technological consequence, guilt and sexuality and unmask the contradictions within humanity.
Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is shortlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The winner will be announced on Nov. 7, 2022.
Fu is a Washington-based, Canadian-born fiction writer and poet. She has published two other works of fiction, For Today I Am a Boy and The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, and a book of poetry called How Festive the Ambulance.
LISTEN | Kim Fu discusses her story story collection with Shelagh Rogers:
Queer Little Nightmares, edited by David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli
Queer Little Nightmares is a collection of fiction and poetry that reexamines monsters through a queer lens. Monsters associated with horror and marginalization are now cast as creatures worth celebrating and including. Contributors include Amber Dawn, Hiromi Goto, jaye simpson and Kai Cheng Thom.
David Ly is a poet who lives in Vancouver. He is also the author of the collections Mythical Man and Dream of Me as Water. CBC Books named him a writer to watch in 2020.
Daniel Zomparelli is a writer and editor from Vancouver. He is the editor-in-chief of the magazine Poetry Is Dead, co-edits the poetry project After You. He is also the author of the short story collection Everything Is Awful and You're a Terrible Person.
Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth
In the horror novel Motherthing, Abby Lamb is finally putting the darkness from her childhood to rest after meeting her wonderful husband Ralph. But when they move in with Ralph's mother Laura, Laura's depression and cruel ways start to weigh on Abby. After Laura takes her own life, her ghost haunts them and Abby must make the ultimate sacrifice to save her family.
Ainslie Hogarth is an author from Windsor. She has published two YA horror novels, The Lonely and The Boy Meets Girl Massacre, and her short fiction has appeared in Hazlitt, Black Static and elsewhere.
We Spread by Iain Reid
In the thriller We Spread, Penny, an artist, finds herself in a long-term care residence after she's had one too many incidents. Initially surrounded by peers, conversing and painting, Penny begins to lose her grip on time and her place in the world.
Iain Reid is an Ottawa-born author. His debut novel, the 2016 psychological thriller I'm Thinking of Ending Things, was adapted into a film by American writer and director Charlie Kaufman for Netflix. He is also the author of the memoirs One Bird's Choice and The Truth About Luck.
LISTEN | Iain Reid shares why he started writing thrillers:
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, the latest novel by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, is set in 19th-century Mexico and has elements of the supernatural as it reimagines the classic work The Island of Doctor Moreau. Carlota Moreau is a young woman who lives in an estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. Carlota's father is the eccentric Doctor Moreau, a man whose scientific experiments have created the hybrids — part human, part animal monstrosities. Living in the jungle, Carlota is caught up in this world filled with secrets and horror.
Born and raised in Mexico, Moreno-Garcia is the B.C. author of novels Signal to Noise, Gods of Jade and Shadow, Untamed Shore, The Beautiful Ones and Velvet was the Night.
LISTEN | Silvia Moreno-Garcia discusses The Daughter of Doctor Moreau with Shelagh Rogers:
Ezra's Ghosts by Darcy Tamayose
In Ezra's Ghosts, a collection of fantastical stories, Darcy Tamayose introduces a cast of characters whose lives intersect in a quiet prairie town called Ezra. From a seeker of truth trapped in Ezra after her violent death, to the oldest man in town who came to Canada to escape imperial hardships, the stories in Ezra's Ghosts are linked by language, culture and grief.
Ezra's Ghosts is a finalist for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The winner will be announced on Nov. 2, 2022.
Darcy Tamayose is a writer and graphic designer from southern Alberta. Her work includes the novel, Odori and the YA book Katie Be Quiet. Tamayose lives in Lethbridge, Alta.
Buffalo is the New Buffalo by Chelsea Vowel
In the short story collection Buffalo is the New Buffalo, Chelsea Vowel explores science fiction tropes through a Métis lens. From a rougarou (shapeshifter) in the 19th century trying to solve a murder in her community to a Métis man who's gored by a radioactive bison and gains super strength, these stories seek to understand the impact of colonization, remove its psychological baggage and recover ancestral traditions. Buffalo is the New Buffalo explores Indigenous existence and resistance and rewrites our shared history.
Vowel is a Métis writer and educator whose work focuses on language, gender identity and cultural resurgence. She is also the author of Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit Issues in Canada, which addresses stereotypes and assumptions about Indigenous issues and offers insight into the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Canada. She also contributed to graphic novel, This Place, which was adapted into a 10-episode podcast for CBC Books.
LISTEN | Chelsea Vowel discusses Indigenous literature with Shelagh Rogers:
Tear by Erica McKeen
The quiet and reclusive Frances is on the brink of graduating from university in the novel Tear. Isolated in the basement from her upstairs roommates, Frances can't remember there being a lock on the door at the top of the basement stairs. She can't tell the difference between her childhood memories and her dreams, and she can't ignore the tapping sound coming through her bedroom wall. Tear explores false narratives, gaslighting, female rage and manipulation.
Erica McKeen is a writer from London, Ont. Her work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, longlisted for the Guernica Prize and shortlisted for The Malahat Review Open Season Awards. Tear is her first novel.
Are You Sara? by S.C. Lalli
The thriller novel Are You Sara? revolves around a case of mistaken identity. When two women, each named Sara, get into separate rideshares one fateful night, one of them is murdered. But when the surviving Sara realizes that she might have actually been the target, it sets off a mystery involving race, class and ambition.
Sonya Lalli is a Punjabi and Bengali romance fiction author based in Vancouver. She's written the novels A Holly Jolly Diwali, Serena Singh Flips the Script, Grown-Up Pose and The Matchmaker's List. Her books have been spotlighted in publications including Entertainment Weekly, NPR, the Washington Post, the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail.
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor is a witchy romance novel about five elder witches. The witches are facing fading powers as they age, an evil power one bargained too far with, and an angry mob threatening to destroy their home. Can they come together to overcome these obstables before it's too late?
Bianca Marais is a writer, teacher and podcaster born in South Africa and currently living in Toronto.She is also the author of Hum If You Don't Know the Words.
The Other Ones by Jamesie Fournier, illustrated by Toma Feizo Gas
The Other Ones is a novella with elements of horror set in the North. Featuring vibrant illustrations, the tales include a story about eerie occurrences on a frozen lake, supernatural creatures and foreboding notions of travelling to otherworldly realms.
Inuk author Jamesie Fournier's work has appeared in Inuit Art Quarterly, Red Rising magazine, Northern Public Affairs, and the anthology Coming Home: Stories from the Northwest Territories. Jamesie was guest author at the 2018 & 2020 Northwords Writers Festivals and a runner up for 2018 Sally Manning Award for Indigenous Creative Non-Fiction. He lives in Thebacha/Fort Smith between Salt River First Nation, Smith's Landing First Nation, and the South Slave Metis Nation.
Toma Feizo Gas is a Canadian artist and illustrator who has spent ten years working in entertainment arts, with experience in production art, creative direction and concept design.
LISTEN | Jamesie Fournier reflects on his writing journey:
Blackwater Falls by Ausma Zehanat Khan
Blackwater Falls is the first in a crime fiction series featuring detective Inaya Rahman. When girls from immigrant communities go missing in the American town of Blackwater Falls, Rahman must act to find justice before more go missing or are murdered. The book features themes of isolation, race and belonging as the search for the true culprit involves various twists and turns.
Ausma Zehanat Khan grew up in Toronto and now lives in Denver, Colo. She's a former adjunct law professor and former editor-in-chief of Muslim Girl magazine. She's the author of several crime fiction and fantasy novels. Her debut novel, The Unquiet Dead, won the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel. Her subsequent mystery novels include The Language of Secrets, Among the Ruins and A Dangerous Crossing.
Welcome to the Weird America by A.G. Pasquella
Welcome to the Weird America brings together three novellas that border on the strange and surreal. The stories range from comic-book style adventures, aliens, and an America of hucksters and hobos, cartoons and carnivals.
A.G. Pasquella is an American Canadian author based in Toronto. His novels include Yard Dog, Carve The Heart and Season of Smoke. His writing has appeared in McSweeney's, Wholphin, The Believer, Black Book, Broken Pencil and Utne Reader.
The Descendants by Robert Chursinoff
The novel The Descendants is an exploration of love, faith and violence. Years after an encounter with a vicious biker gang, ex-lovers Jonah Seeger and Ruby Samarodin return to their Doukhobor religious community in the mountains of British Columbia to heal and start new peaceful lives. They soon discover that a person from their past is looking for them and wants revenge. Jonah and Ruby discover that the past can never truly be left behind.
Robert Chursinoff is a Vancouver-based musician and writer. He has been a drummer for musical acts such as Tegan and Sara, Australian pop star Ben Lee, the Be Good Tanyas, Juno-nominated performer Kinnie Starr, the Belle Game and many others. His writing has been published in the literary journal Blank Spaces, the anthology Just Words Volume 4, and online in Vice, Nowhere Magazine, Upworthy and the Matador Network.
River, Diverted by Jamie Tennant
The novel River, Diverted leans on elements of magic and pop culture to explore themes of memory, friendship and hope. When River Black, a horror writer, finds a mysterious book from Japan, she decides to go there to revisit her past. River ends up on a quest of self-discovery and identity.
Jamie Tennant is a writer, author and broadcast director based in Hamilton, Ont. He has covered music and pop culture both locally and nationally. His debut novel The Captain of Kinnoull Hill was released in 2016.
Midnight Storm Moonless Sky by Alex Soop
Midnight Storm Moonless Sky is a collection of Indigenous horror short stories involving the eerie and supernatural. The work melds First Nations legends, dark fantasy, apocalyptic and the paranormal enchantment to explore themes of racism and injustice.
Alex Soop is a Calgary writer of the Blackfoot Nation. His stories focus on Indigenity, identity and the legacy of residential schools.
An Unthinkable Thing by Nicole Lundrigan
Eleven-year-old Tommie Ware's life is turned upside down after his aunt is found murdered. Tommie is forced to return to his mother, who works as a live-in housekeeper for the wealthy Henneberry family. While his mother works around the clock, Tommie becomes enmeshed in the secrets and games of the Henneberrys and eventually, a cold-blooded murder.
Nicole Lundrigan is the author of eight novels including The Substitute, The Widow Tree and Glass Boys. Her book Hideaway, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award. Lundrigan lives in Toronto.
Watch Out for Her by Samantha M. Bailey
Watch Out for Her is about a young mother named Sarah who thinks her problems are solved when she hires a young babysitter, Holly, for her six-year-old son. Her son adores Holly and Holly adores Sarah. But when Sarah sees something that she can't unsee, she uproots her family to start over. Her past follows her to this new life, raising paranoid questions of who is watching Sarah now? And what do they want?
Samantha M. Bailey is a journalist and editor in Toronto. Her first thriller, Woman on the Edge, was released in 2019.
LISTEN | Samantha M. Bailey discusses her work with Shelagh Rogers:
Take Your Breath Away by Linwood Barclay
When Andrew Mason's wife, Brie, goes missing while he was on a fishing trip, everyone assumes Andy got away with murder. For a while, Andy hits rock bottom, abandoned by all his friends and using alcohol to cope. The police could never build a strong case against him and eventually, Andy sells the house he shared with Brie and rebuilds his life. Several years later, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to Brie shows up at Andy's old house and dark suspicions resurface.
Linwood Barclay is an American-Canadian thriller writer, with almost 20 books to his credit. His books include the adult thrillers Broken Promise, A Noise Downstairs, Elevator Pitch and the middle-grade novels Escape and Chase.
WATCH | Linwood Barclay on the power of crime fiction:
A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong
In this time-traveling novel, a homicide detective named Mallory finds herself transported 150 years in the past after she is attacked and left unconscious in an alley. Mallory wakes up in the body of housemaid Catriona Thomson, who was also attacked in the same spot in 1869. Mallory must put aside her shock and find a way to catch her murderer, which hopefully leads her back to her modern life before it's too late.
Kelley Armstrong is a bestselling author of YA and middle grade books, horror novels and thrillers. Her standalone novels include Aftermath and Missing, but she is best known for her Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising series and her Cainsville and Otherworld series.
In the Dark We Forget by Sandra SG Wong
When Cleo Li wakes up alone with amnesia beside a mountain highway, she fights to regain her identity. She learns that her parents have disappeared after her mother bought a winning lottery ticket worth $47 million. As her memories resurface and the police uncover more details regarding the disappearance of her parents, Cleo finds herself under increasing suspicion and begins to question her reality.
Sandra SG Wong is an up-and-coming Chinese-Canadian crime writer. Her debut novel, Die on Your Feet, was a finalist for the Crime Writers of Canada Awards of Excellence for Best Crime First Novel.
Things We Do in the Dark by Jennifer Hillier
When Paris Peralta is arrested in her bathroom covered in blood with her celebrity husband dead in the bathtub, she knows she will be charged with murder. Twenty-five years earlier, Ruby Reyes was convicted of a similar murder in a trial that riveted Canada in the early 1990s. When Reyes is unexpectedly released from prison, she threatens to expose all of Paris's secrets and Paris must confront the dark past she left behind.
Jennifer Hillier is the author of eight psychological thrillers, including the bestselling Little Secrets, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Anthony Award. Hillier lives in Toronto.