Jumbies, Witches and Ghosts: 5 Good Reads this Halloween Season
photo courtesy of Unsplash
written by Alya S.
Its spooky season and the Caribbean-authors have delivered to us no shortage of whimsical folklore and catchy tales. Traditionally, oral storytelling of folktales has played a large role across the West Indies being passed down from previous generations. Lessons and morals are communicated through stories about different figures and spiritual beliefs. From talking ghosts and jumbies roaming the streets to witches made of fire, stories from and inspired by the Caribbean are bound to delight in readers from all walks of life this Halloween season.
Midnight Robber
Nalo Hopkinson is a Jamaican-born Canadian speculative-fiction author. Hopkinson’s career spans over decades with a lengthy catalogue of titles for science-fiction fans to enjoy. Throughout her novels Hopkinson blends Caribbean folklore with Afro-futurism to engage readers with the endless possibilities of what tomorrow might bring. “Midnight Robber,” is a coming-of-age novel set on the Caribbean-colonised planet of Toussaint. The protagonist Tan-Tan and her father are thrown into the land of the New Half-Way Tree where creatures from Caribbean folklore rule the land with humans cast aside. This novel blends elements of carnival, folklore and science-fiction into a gripping tale about growing into your own person.
2. Soucouyant
David Chariandy is a Canadian Trinidadian author whose won countless awards from Yale University’s Windham-Campbell Prize to Canadian Writers Trust Fiction Prize. His debut novel “Soucouyant,” tells the story of a Canadian-born son that abandons and returns to his Caribbean-born mother with dementia, only to find a mysterious woman is also in his mother’s house. The Soucouyant, also known as Ole-Higue, is a blood sucking witch with African origins. Long listed for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2007, this book is sure to delight the most discerning fiction fans.
3. The Dark Star Trilogy
Marlon James is a Jamaican writer best known for his 2007 novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” which won the Man Booker Prize and the American Book Award. His latest ongoing project is The Dark Star Trilogy. The series is set in the myological version of Iron Age Africa. The trilogy follows the search for a missing child through the eyes of three different mythological creatures found in African and Caribbean mythology. Shaper shifters, witches and giants come together in this trilogy catching international attention.
4. When We Were Birds
When We Were Birds is the debut novel of Trinidadian author Ayanna Llyoyd Banwo. The novel opens with the protagonist’s grandmother telling her a creation story about a utopian Trinidad before the existence of humans. Animals lived in peace until humans ravaged war on the land. Corbeaux, also known as vultures, would eat the remains of the dead and change the souls of the humans in their bodies. Balance between the natural world and humans would not be restored until the Corbeauxs stomachs were full. The story of the Corbeaux sets the scene for the novel to intertwine stories of the past with the happenings of today. Part love story and part ghost story with a bone chilling plot, this novel has readers wondering what’s next for Banwo.
5. Popisho
Leone Ross’s Popisho is the author’s third novel and has received widespread critical acclaim. On the mythical island of Popisho, set in the Caribbean, everyone is born with a unique magical power. Popisho is a tale of community and love. Ross is of Jamaican and Scottish descent and the novel is heavily inspired by her upbringing in Jamaica. A wide cast of characters in the fictional nation all struggle to work with their powers amongst corruption, colonialism and their own desires.
Head over to Amazon to grab a copy of each book this Halloween season.
