Boo(k) Week: Your Guide to Thrilling Reads with M.S. Berry

Picks by M.S. Berry

I’ve focused on several of the books that have influenced my thriller style and thoughts, a few of the books that are psychologically scary instead of dripping-blood scary. These recommendations do not follow generic thriller recommendations, but they will make you peer around in the dark. They will make you think hard and wonder why and worry. The pacing, the slow creep forward, the extra loud “boo” towards the end, will send shivers down your spine. Enjoy.

The Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice (ECW Press)

When I owned my bookstore in Peterborough, Hunter Street Books—before Covid, before common reflections of disease and infections were always in the news or in writing—I sold Rice’s book continuously. But, maybe because of the simple cover and the pretty title, this novel wasn’t immediately on my radar. I’m ashamed to say that I never picked it up. But about a year ago I broke open the spine and dove right in and was so overthrown by what was inside that I couldn’t stop recommending it to everyone. Rice’s book combines a picture of the end of the world with allegory. It is a terrifying and too true reflection of a culture on the brink of collapse. With a hint of cannibalism, some lingering violence and the creeping otherness of the outside world, Rice writes a story that—not unlike Covid—shakes readers to the core. A slow build, confusion, incomprehension, and some psychologically disturbing characters, gives this book a bit of everything that will haunt you. Combine that with a rich and deep story of a community of loveable characters and it’s a book that I can guarantee you will love.

Pontypool by Tony Burgess (Playwrights Canada Press)

On the same note as Rice’s book—and many years before—Tony Burgess creates a monument to a dangerous fictional virus that takes over this small town in Ontario. Published in 1998 (and eventually in many versions—radio plays, a play, novel, and film) Burgess’s story puts a spin on this odd infection, a rapidly overwhelming disease that forces people kill each other and then actually combust because of the words they speak or the words they hear. I’ve picked up Playwright Canada Press’s version of Pontypool, from October 2015, in which a local radio show tries to understand and report on what is happening in town. The virus gets closer to them as they report until eventually it takes over the radio studio and the reporters. There is more blood and guts in this version of the story, but it has the slow advance I adore until it explodes at the end. Burgess’s writing is thriller-lore and I fully recommend leaning back and sinking in.

Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu (Coach House Books)

This is a collection of stories that was published in 2022 and it has stayed with me as fully as Fu’s 2018 novel The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore. Once again, this isn’t a fluid-dripping horror book; this is a psychologically creepy and strange collection of stories that feels both fully true and also wildly imaginative. Fu creates imaginative worlds here that don’t really exist. But could. An insect-infested house, a girl who grows wings on her legs, toys that control time, a haunted doll—these are stories straight out of The Twilight Zone. Disturbing enough to make you catch your breath, but tangible enough that you find yourself wondering about potential realities. Kim Fu is definitely worthy of all the awards and honours that are listed beside her name. Her writing takes my breath away.

In the Country in the Dark by Daryl Sneath (Signature Editions)

This one fell into my lap recently. It is a subtle novel that actually shares some of the common themes of my own writing—a strange house with secrets, a couple who are on the brink of either pure happiness or violent hatred, and a history that isn’t fully revealed but is dark and terrifying. There are continuous dropped hints here that, when they build, create a portrait of intense tension and anxiety. And there are wolves. I don’t normally use wolves in my own writing but I can see the draw. In this novel, Joy and Landon buy a house in the country. They’ve recently met, but they have fallen in love quickly and fully. At first everything is beautiful in this country abode. Landon builds and fixes things; Joy paints and reflects on things. And neither of them want to know what happened in this house before they bought it. Here, Sneath sets the scene. He’s a fine writer, and the book is full of hidden depth and scenery and has true emotional bearing. The writer drops frightening hints all through the novel which, in the last 40 pages or so,  play out with just enough horror to satisfy. Count on this for teaching you about patience—fear doesn’t come fast here. There isn’t a startling scare, but instead a deeper one which will sit with you for quite a while.   

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M.S. Berry is Michelle Berry, an award-winning author of seven novels and three collections of short fiction. Her work has been optioned for film and published internationally in the United Kingdom.

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Thanks to M.S. Berry for this thrilling slate of slow-burn books for spooky season. A reminder that you can order any of these books through All Lit Up, or press the “Shop Local” button to discover them at your local independent bookstore.

Keep up with more spooky book recommendations here, and stay tuned tomorrow for picks from our final recommender, Griffin Bjerke-Clarke.