Speculating Canada: Canadian Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy

December 27, 2018

In The Shadows of Giants

In The Shadows Of Giants A review of Liz Westbrook-Trenholm’s “White Rose, Red Thorns” in Over The Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales From The Margins (Exile, 2018). By Derek Newman-Stille Liz Westbrook-Trenholm intertwines multiple fairy tales in her story “White Rose, Red Thorns” while giving complexity to the characters involved. She tells a tale of a giant’s tiny human caretaker...

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December 24, 2018

Woke Beauty

Woke Beauty A review of Nicole Lavigne’s “Fairest Find” in “Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales From The Margins” (Exile, 2018). By Derek Newman-Stille Nicole Lavigne tells a tale of a prince who measured his life by the fairy tales he was told as children and finds himself confused when he encounters the complexities of life outside of story...

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December 22, 2018

Planted

Planted A review of Richard Keelan’s “The Waltzing Tree” in Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales From The Margins” (Exile, 2018). By Derek Newman-Stille Richard Keelan’s “The Waltzing Tree” is a suburban fairy tale about loneliness and transformation. It is a tale about overcoming the distance that traditional modes of masculinity place between our bodies and the fear of...

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December 14, 2018

Retail is Hell

Retail is Hell A review of Elizabeth Twist’s “Prodigious” in Krampusnacht: Twelve Nights of Krampus (World Weaver Press, 2014) By Derek Newman-Stille Retail is Hell… and it gets way more hellish around the holidays. The blaring of jolly music is only beat out by the screaming of customers who want what they want right away and the sound of cash...

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December 10, 2018

No Longer Isolated

No Longer Isolated A review of Robert Dawson’s “Iron Jenny and the Princess” in Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (Exile Editions, 2018) By Derek Newman-Stille Fairy tales have a propensity toward a “happily ever after” that results in a heterosexual marriage… yet that excludes a lot of people and suggests that only straight identities can...

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December 7, 2018

These Beans Lost Jack

These Beans Lost Jack A review of Ace Jordyn’s “The Story of the Three Magic Beans” in Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (Exile Editions, 2018) By Derek Newman-Stille Do magic beans ever get tired of granting wishes? Do they ever get frustrated with having to fulfill everyone else’s dreams instead of their own? Do they...

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December 6, 2018

A Fable About Overcoming The Odds

A Fable About Overcoming the Odds A review of Rati Mehrotra’s “The Half Courage Hare” in Over The Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (Exile Editions, 2018). By Derek Newman-Stille Animals offer a fascinating element to folklore and fairy tales, often grouped into their own category of “animal tales”. These tales often use animals as symbolic representations of...

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December 5, 2018

Not Malfunctioning

Not Malfunctioning A review of Fiona Patton’s “I Am Not Broken” in Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (Exile, 2018) By Derek Newman-Stille In our ableist society, disability is treated as a flaw, as a malfunction. In “I Am Not Broken”, Fiona Patton explores the problematic assumptions about disability by abstracting the image of malfunctioning onto...

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December 4, 2018

Skin Deep

Skin Deep A review of Nathan Caro Frechette’s “Skin” in Over the Rainbow: Folk and Fairy Tales from the Margins (2018, Exile) By Derek Newman-Stille Selkies are creatures from Scottish folklore (but also noted in the Orkneys and Shetlands) who are capable of transforming from seal to human by shedding their skin. In many selkie tales, female selkies are stolen...

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December 3, 2018

Yule Witchcraft

Yule Witchcraft A review of Ami McKay’s Half Spent Was the Night (Alfred A Knopf, 2018). By Derek Newman-Stille There’s magic in the air this holiday season, and with it a lot of witches and the Wild Hunt. In Ami McKay’s Half Spent Was the Night, readers are plunged into mystery surrounding the Yule season. It is a tale of...

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