For the folklore-meets-horror fan
Wheetago War Stories by Richard Van Camp, illustrated by Christopher Shy (Renegade Arts and Entertainment)
In Wheetago War Stories, Richard Van Camp brings together seven horror stories rooted in Tlicho Dene storytelling. This collection is made for fans of unsettling folklore, chilling encounters, and stories best read by firelight.
Christopher Shy continues the successful collaboration with Richard begun in the Wheetago War graphic novel series, by creating new spot illustrations to these stories, snapshots of the world Richard Van Camp’s words evoke.
For the paranormal curious
Ghost Stories of the Great Lakes by Mark Leslie
(Wolsak & Wynn)
Mark Leslie explores the eerie side of North America’s inland seas, from phantom ships and restless spirits to the mysterious Marysburgh Vortex. Blending maritime history, Indigenous oral traditions, and paranormal accounts, these tales might just make you think twice about what lies beneath the waves.
For those who like their local history with a healthy dose of the unexplained, these tales might just make you think twice about what lies beneath the waves.
For the hopepunk reader
Our Infinite and Inevitable Ends by A.D. Sui (ECW Press)
This sapphic cli-fi thriller is a love letter to hope in the bleakest of times, combining the multiverse-bending drama of This Is How You Lose the Time War with the cat-and-mouse chase of Killing Eve.
In a climate-ravaged future, Dr. Cassandra Barlowe is researching plastic-dissolving fungi when her ex-lover, Dr. Yana Gulsvig, a leading expert in alternate timelines, is killed in a mysterious explosion. Framed for the crime, Cas must piece together what happened while navigating alternate realities and a growing addiction. Blending sapphic romance, climate fiction, and a high-stakes thriller, this is a story about grief, second chances, and finding a reason to keep fighting for the future.
For the philosophical fiction reader
The Comedian’s Book of the Dead by Gary Barwin (Book*hug Press)
A funny and original novel about the joy and pain of parenthood from one of Canada’s most beloved storytellers, The Comedian’s Book of the Dead follows Death, a comedian and a devoted family man, as he finds himself in an underworld quest to save his son. This profound, imaginative underworld quest is a story about how far we’ll go for the people we love, even when the odds are stacked against us.
For reading on the strange side
On Spec 2026: New Canadian Literature of the Fantastic
edited by Edward Willett (Shadowpaw Press)
On Spec 2026 carries on the legacy of Canada’s long-running magazine of speculative fiction with 28 original stories spanning science fiction, fantasy, and horror by writers across Canada. From haunted bowling alleys to heavy metal concerts in space, these stories take readers to wonderfully weird, unsettling, and unexpected worlds just beyond our own.
Edited by Aurora Award-winning podcast host, author, and publisher Edward Willett, On Spec includes work by Candas Jane Dorsey, Marcelle Dubé, Michéle Laframboise, Fiona Moore, Douglas Smith, and many more.
For the utopian dreamer
The Hunger of Those Who Built It by Wendy Waring (Stelliform Press)
In a near-future Paris transformed by green urban design, The Hunger of Those Who Built It explores the possibilities and complications of building a more sustainable world. As environmental engineer Diane Griffith works to reshape the city, the disappearance of her activist sister raises questions about who benefits from progress and what responsibility we have to one another. Told across generations, this is a thoughtful read for anyone interested in climate futures, urban life, and the gap between imagining a better world and actually building one.
For some quest-seeking
Napier’s Bones by Derryl Murphy (NeWest Press)
Dom is a numerate, able to see and control numbers, and his search for a mysterious object of immense power quickly spirals into a continent-spanning adventure. Finding unlikely companionship along the way and dodging fantastical creatures and numerical wonders Dom must find a way to save himself, his friends, and their way of life.
Originally published in 2011, NeWest Press republished this cult fantasy of math and magic this October.
For some witchy goodness
Yaga by Kat Sandler (Playwrights Canada Press)
Binge the book before you watch the Crave Original series!
In this genre-bending twist on Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a smart, sexy, morally ambiguous woman with secrets of her own. When a detective arrives in an isolated town to investigate the disappearance of a yogurt empire heir, an old legend becomes tangled up in a modern-day mystery full of ancient magic, curious characters, and potential suspects. Blending dark comedy, fairy tale, and whodunit, this is a fresh take on a legendary antihero and the stories we tell about women.
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Find these books on All Lit Up, or from your local bookseller.
