Ten Terrifying Canadian Books For Halloween
Helen Marshall tipped us off this morning to this marvelous little article at the CBC website, promoting “10 of the scariest Canadian reads… From horrific dystopias to creepy, creaky old mansions.”
There’s plenty of familiar titles on the list, from Margaret Atwood’s famous bestseller The Handmaid’s Tale to Nick Cutter’s breakout novel The Troop, to Nalo Hopkinson’s dark fantasy Brown Girl in the Ring. But there’s also a nice assortment of surprises, including James Grainger’s tale of a weekend reunion of old friends that goes horribly wrong, Harmless; Samuel Archibald’s upcoming collection Arvida, packed with tales of wild beasts, haunted houses and spooky road trips; Jacqueline Baker’s novel of H.P. Lovecraft’s secret assistant, The Broken Hours; and Helen Marshall’s own 2012 collection Hair Side, Flesh Side.
It’s a great guide to some of the best seasonal scares north of the border. Check it out — and click on any if the pics in the article to read the full review.
‘Terrifying’ and ‘Canadian’ in the same sentence? What could be truer to the spirit of Hallowe’en? Now I KNOW the natural order of things has been turned upsidedown.
Ha!
Don’t forget Canada is the land of the Wendigo and David Cronenberg. (Not to mention Gemma Files and Kelley Armstrong.)
Polite horror can be the creepiest of all.