Taaqtumi 2: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories
Inuk writer Jamesie Fournier says scary monsters and horror stories often have important lessons and serve as cautionary tales for young people. (Photo courtesy of Jamesie Fourner)
New anthology brings horror to the tundra
Collection provides 12 spooky tales about zombies, monsters and other mythical creatures
A new anthology of Arctic horror stories includes modern interpretations of Inuit myths, zombies on the tundra and cannibal children.
“When you encounter scary stories, in most cultures, they have that high interest value where they could be a little morbid or graphic or very dark and macabre, and usually these stories kind of have some sort of inherent lesson in them that might make it cautionary in nature,” said writer Jamesie Fournier, describing why traditional Inuit stories often take on scary themes.
“What seems to work well is when you have these darker elements at play in a story, it makes it especially memorable.
“So when you make them gruesome, especially for younger folks, that is something that will stand out in their mind — if they find something to be afraid of, that fear also keeps them safe.”
Fournier’s work can be found in a new anthology of scary tales released by Inhabit Media.
Taaqtumi 2: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories is the second volume in the series, released on Sept. 2. It includes 12 scary stories from a variety of Inuit writers, including Gayle Kabloona, Aviaq Johnston and Terrie Kusugak.
Fournier described his story Mask and Bone as primarily being about a conversation between an uncle and his nephew.
The uncle describes how things used to be back in the day when he was growing up and the stories he had heard.
“And it goes from there,” Fournier said, not wanting to give too much away.
The big, bad monster in the story is Amautalik, an Inuit mythological creature that gets its name from the amauti, which is a parka with a hood on its back to carry children.
“It’s a creature that used be able to steal people on the land and carry them in their amauti and then they would never be seen again,” Fournier said.
He said he got the idea for Mask and Bone from masks his mother’s friend used to display on the wall of her home.
“She had these Inuk masks on the wall of her bedroom and they always scared me, they always creeped me out — these almost porcelain masks with fur trim around them,” Fournier said.
“I would find myself just staring at these masks and being slightly disturbed by it.”
Fournier, a part-Inuk writer born and raised in the Northwest Territories, moved to Iqaluit in 2022 to learn Inuktitut. He said he splits his time between the N.W.T., Ontario and Nunavut.
He writes horror stories, children’s stories, poetry, screenplays, and performs spoken word. In 2022, Fournier published his first full-length novel.
SOURCE:
https://nunatsiaq.com/stories/article/new-anthology-brings-horror-to-the-tundra/
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