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 […]
Books
Review: A revealing look into Victoria’s secrets
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 […]
Review: A window — by a cosy fire — into Canada’s unique ghost stories
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. […]
Review: This collection of investigations could use a language revision
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 […]