22 Canadian books that will get you in the Halloween spirit

Here are 22Canadian mysteries, fantasy, science fiction and horror stories that will get you in the Halloween spirit.

• 13 Canadian books for kids and young adults to read for Halloween

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Centuryby Kim Fu

InLesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, acollection 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 Centuryisshortlisted for the 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize. The winner will be announced on Nov. 7, 2022.

• Kim Fu'sLesser Known Monsters of the 21st Centurypeers into the magical, transportive power of short stories

Fu is a Washington-based, Canadian-born fiction writer and poet. She has published two other works of fiction,For Today I Am a BoyandThe Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore, and a book of poetry calledHow Festive the Ambulance.

LISTEN |Kim Fu discusses her story story collection with Shelagh Rogers:

The Next Chapter17:43Kim Fu on Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century

Kim Fu talks to Shelagh Rogers about her short story collection, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century.

Queer Little Nightmares, edited by David Ly and Daniel Zomparelli

Queer Little Nightmaresis 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 andincluding. Contributors includeAmber 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 Zomparelliis a writer andeditor 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 collectionEverything Is Awful and You're a Terrible Person.

Motherthingby 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 LonelyandThe Boy Meets Girl Massacre, and her short fiction has appeared in Hazlitt, Black Static and elsewhere.

We Spreadby Iain Reid

In the thrillerWe 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 says the people he has in his life are his greatest achievement

Iain Reidis an Ottawa-born author. His debut novel, the 2016 psychological thrillerI'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 memoirsOne Bird's ChoiceandThe Truth About Luck.

LISTEN | Iain Reid shares why he started writing thrillers:

The Daughter of Doctor Moreauby Silvia Moreno-Garcia

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, the latest novelby Silvia Moreno-Garcia, is set in 19th-century Mexico and has elements of the supernatural as it reimagines the classic workThe Island of Doctor Moreau. Carlota Moreau is a young woman who lives in an estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatn 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.

• Silvia Moreno-Garcia examines gender and class in her romantic reimagining of a sci-fi classic

Born and raised in Mexico, Moreno-Garcia isthe B.C. author of novelsSignal to Noise,Gods of Jade and Shadow,Untamed Shore,The Beautiful OnesandVelvet wasthe Night.

LISTEN | Silvia Moreno-Garcia discusses The Daughter of Doctor Moreau with Shelagh Rogers:

The Next Chapter19:29Silvia Moreno-Garcia on The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Silvia Moreno-Garcia talks to Shelagh Rogers about her novel, The Daughter of Doctor Moreau0).

Ezra's Ghostsby Darcy Tamayose

InEzra's Ghosts, acollection 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 townwho came to Canada to escape imperial hardships, the stories inEzra's Ghostsare linked by language, culture and grief.

Ezra's Ghostsisa finalist for the 2022 Atwood Gibson Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. The winner will be announced on Nov. 2, 2022.

• Darcy Tamayose uses magic realism to explore the immigrant experience

Darcy Tamayose is a writer and graphic designer from southern Alberta. Her work includes the novel,Odoriand the YA bookKatie Be Quiet. Tamayose lives in Lethbridge, Alta.

Buffalo is the New Buffaloby Chelsea Vowel

In theshort story collectionBuffalo is the New Buffalo, Chelsea Vowel explores science fiction tropes through a Mtis lens. From a rougarou (shapeshifter) in the 19th century trying to solve a murder in her community to a Mtis 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 Buffaloexplores Indigenous existence and resistance and rewrites our shared history.

• Chelsea Vowel challenges sci-fi tropes and explores Mtis futurism inBuffalo is the New Buffalo

Vowel is a Mtis writer and educator whose work focuses on language, gender identity and cultural resurgence. She is also the author ofIndigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Mtis & 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 a10-episode podcastfor CBC Books.

LISTEN | Chelsea Vowel discusses Indigenous literature with Shelagh Rogers:

The Next Chapter20:19Chelsea Vowel on Buffalo is the new Buffalo

Chelsea Vowel talks to Shelagh Rogers about her new book, Buffalo is the new Buffalo.

Tearby Erica McKeen

The quiet and reclusive Frances is on the brink of graduating from university in the novelTear. 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.Tearexplores 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.Tearis her first novel.

Are You Sara?by S.C.Lalli

The thriller novelAre You Sara?revolves around a case of mistaken identity. When two women, each named Sara, get into separate ridesharesone 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 thenovelsA Holly Jolly Diwali, Serena Singh Flips the Script,Grown-Up PoseandThe 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 ofHum If You Don't Know the Words.

The Other Onesby Jamesie Fournier, illustrated by Toma Feizo Gas

The Other Onesis 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, supernaturalcreatures and foreboding notions of travelling to otherworldly realms.

Inukauthor Jamesie Fournier's work has appeared inInuit Art Quarterly,Red Risingmagazine,Northern Public Affairs, and the anthologyComing 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:

The Next Chapter2:40Samantha M. Bailey on Watch Out for Her

Samantha M. Bailey on what inspired her latest novel, Watch Out for Her.

Blackwater Fallsby Ausma Zehanat Khan

Blackwater Fallsis the first in a crime fiction series featuring detective Inaya Rahman. When girls from immigrant communities go missing in theAmerican town ofBlackwater Falls,Rahmanmust 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.

• How Ausma Zehanat Khan crafted a mystery based on Canadian and international real-world events

AusmaZehanat Khan grew up in Toronto and now lives in Denver, Colo. She's a former adjunct law professor and former editor-in-chief ofMuslim Girlmagazine. 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 includeThe Languageof Secrets,Among the RuinsandA Dangerous Crossing.

Welcome to the Weird America by A.G. Pasquella

Welcome to the Weird Americabrings 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 includeYard Dog,Carve The HeartandSeason of Smoke. His writing has appeared in McSweeney's, Wholphin, The Believer, Black Book, Broken Pencil and Utne Reader.

The Descendantsby Robert Chursinoff

The novelThe Descendantsis an exploration of love, faith and violence.Years after anencounter 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 Chursinoffis a Vancouver-based musician and writer. He has been a drummerfor musical acts such asTegan 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 journalBlank Spaces, the anthologyJust Words Volume 4, and online inVice, Nowhere Magazine, Upworthyand the Matador Network.

River, Diverted by Jamie Tennant

The novelRiver, Divertedleans on elements of magicand pop cultureto 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 novelThe Captain of Kinnoull Hillwas released in 2016.

Midnight Storm Moonless Skyby Alex Soop

Midnight Storm Moonless Skyis a collection of Indigenous horror short stories involving the eerie and supernatural.The work meldsFirst Nations legends, dark fantasy, apocalyptic and the paranormal enchantment to explore themes of racism and injustice.

Alex Soop is a Calgary writerof the Blackfoot Nation. His stories focus on Indigenity, identity and the legacy of residential schools.

An Unthinkable Thingby 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.

• The secret to a successful story for novelist Nicole Lundrigan? 'Love, authenticity and (a bit of) madness.'

Nicole Lundrigan is the author of eight novels includingThe Substitute,The Widow TreeandGlass Boys. Her bookHideaway, was shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Award. Lundrigan lives in Toronto.

Watch Out for Herby Samantha M. Bailey

Watch Out for Heris about a young mother named Sarah who thinks her problems are solvedwhen 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 followsher to this new life, raising paranoid questions of who is watching Sarah now? And what do they want?

• Samantha M. Bailey's next thriller,Watch Out for Her, is inspired by the anxiety and fear of motherhood

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:

Linwood Barclay talks about the art of writing crime fiction

4 years ago

Duration 4:11

In the CBC Books 'Why I Write' series, Canadian authors talk about what literature means to them.

Take Your Breath Awayby 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 talks about the art of writing crime fiction

Linwood Barclay is an American-Canadian thriller writer, with almost 20 books to his credit. His books include the adult thrillersBroken Promise,A Noise Downstairs,Elevator Pitchand the middle-grade novelsEscapeandChase.

WATCH | Linwood Barclay on the power of crime fiction:

A Rip Through Timeby 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.

• 4 books that influenced YA author Kelley Armstrong

Kelley Armstrong is a bestselling author of YA and middle grade books, horror novels and thrillers.Her standalone novels includeAftermathandMissing, but she is best known for her Darkest Powers and Darkness Rising series and her Cainsville and Otherworld series.

In the Dark We Forgetby 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 Darkby 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 bestsellingLittle Secrets, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Anthony Award. Hillier lives in Toronto.