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Inhabit Media brings Inuit stories south for Halloween

Nunavut publisher Inhabit Media is celebrating Halloween early by bringing spine-chilling Inuit stories to southern Canada.

On Monday, Toronto’s Bakka Phoenix Books unveiled a window display featuring six Inhabit titles, each based on a traditional monster myth told by Inuit elders.

Three of the books are new launches: The Shadows that Rush Past, a picture book of frightening Inuit folk tales; Ajjiit: Dark Dreams of the Ancient Arctic, a fantasy collection; and The Legend of the Fog, a mythical horror story. Inhabit will use social media throughout October to draw attention to several other titles available online and in select bookstores across the country.

Photo courtesy of Inhabit Media

Inhabit, which prints books exclusively by Nunavummiuq authors, launched in 2006 to help make Inuit mythology accessible to people across Canada. This year’s Halloween campaign is the first of what Neil Christopher, Inhabit’s publisher, hopes will become an annual promotion.

Many people already turn to monster mythology at Halloween, so reading dark Inuit tales at this time of year is “a natural fit,” says Christopher, who adds that engaging with scary stories from the North offers a “distinctly Canadian” way to celebrate Halloween.

Christopher hopes the campaign will help Canadians realize the richness of Inuit mythology. “It’s a fun way to introduce people to the fact that the North is full of unique folklore,” he says. “We have a whole set of stories to tell that, basically, the world outside the Arctic has never heard before.”