Explore the Lore
The evolution of Laura Reagan throughout the three Creature X Mystery books is impressive. Reagan is the protagonist of J.J. Dupuis’ Creature X Mystery series and she’s gone from in search of her estranged father to full-blown buster of drug smugglers. Umboi Island is the third book of the Dupuis […]
Murder mysteries and their villains always have those “goddammit” moments when they realize they’ve been made. “Murder She Wrote,” “Columbo” and “Ellery Queen” all culminated into a “the jig is up” denouement and the villain always attempts to flee. I know I equated J.J. Dupuis’ first Creature X Mystery book […]
In an era where the only exciting hauntings are demon infestations concocted by shows permanently done in night vision, Time-Life Books’ Mysteries of the Unknown: Phantom Encounters grounds the study of the ghostly phenomenon. Released in 1988, the compilation covers the themes of doppelgangers, spirits of those going through traumatic […]
I wouldn’t be surprised if J.J. Dupuis grew up on a steady diet of Mystery Inc. investigations. Whether it was the hijinks of Hanna-Barbera past or Matthew Lillard past, the Toronto-based author definitely watched Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! It may appear I’m throwing a non sequitur out into the aether […]
Ghosts of Niagara-on-the-Lake (Second Edition) by Maria da Silva and Andrew Hind Dundurn Press, Canada, 2018 4.5/5 The only way some people can swallow the pill called history is by wrapping it up in the proverbial bacon, a la filet mignon, and serving it on a platter. My own mother-in-law […]
The Haunting of Vancouver Island: Supernatural Encounters with the Other Side by Shanon Sinn Touchwood Editions, Canada, 2017 4/5 Much like entering an allegedly haunted house, with little knowledge of the skulking revenants, Shanon Sinn’s book The Haunting of Vancouver Island has that je ne sais quoi that’s only apparent […]
The best part of the horror genre is its ability to seize the social anxieties of the day and to mortar and pestle them into a grotesque pill that does not go down easily. With an internal struggle against “illegals” crossing the Mexico-U.S. border and a president who seems mulish […]
Victoria’s Most Haunted: Ghost Stories from BC’s Historic Capital City by Ian Gibbs Touchwood Editions, Canada, 2017 3.5/5 As I dipped my mental toe into the waters of Ian Gibbs’ Victoria’s Most Haunted, I realized the opening vignette was very familiar. Back in 2013, my wife and I had stayed […]
Great Canadian Ghost Stories by Barbara Smith Touchwood Editions, Canada, 2018 4/5 Each page turn of Barbara Smith’s Great Canadian Ghost Stories was a finger pull on a View-Master’s lever. Rife with viewports into Canada’s supernatural tales, Smith refrains from her traditional provincial campfire tales and cups her hand over her eyes to view for miles nationwide. […]
Ghost Hunter by Hans Holzer Tarcher Supernatural Series New York, 1963 2.5/5 To most paranormal aficionados, the name Hans Holzer conjures up the image of a German émigré who worked alongside the most receptive of clairvoyants to communicate with the other side. He first compiled his investigations with psychic Ethel […]