PTBOCanada Review: Every House Is Haunted By Peterborough Author Ian Rogers

EveryHouseisHaunted.jpg

If you’re looking for a spine-tingling book to sit down with on a candle-lit All Hallows’ Eve, try local Peterborough author Ian Rogers’ collection of short stories, Every House Is Haunted.

While it can be found in the Horror section of bookstores, I found the stories to be more supernatural. Each story had a twist that took ordinary regular day-to-day events and shifted reality ever so slightly. You won't look at your cat, a house in the woods or even a school the same way after reading these stories.

Ian also has a gift for adjectives and had no shortage of different ways to characterize people or things. His work hasn't gone unnoticed. “The House on Ashley Avenue” short short which is included in this book was nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award in the novelette category, selected by Ellen Datlow to be included in The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 5. Also, "Aces" has been selected for Imaginarium 2013: The Best Canadian Speculative Fiction.

Ian loves Peterborough and is a huge fan of the growing restaurant food selection. I had the opportunity to go for coffee with Ian and I asked him if Peterborough provided any inspiration for any of his stories. He mentioned that the short story "The Candle" is entirely set in a house he used to rent on McDonnel Street, and even is inspired from scented candles that they light, and conversations he had with his wife about "who was going to go blow out the candle". He found there to be very human elements to the story and enjoyed making reference to Peterborough landmarks (one being the now closed I See France lingerie store).

There are a couple copies left of Every House Is Haunted at Chapters at the time of writing (one of them is even signed by Ian himself) and you can purchase them online to read as well.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, and Like us on Facebook.

Add This Book By Local Author Ian Rogers To Your Holiday Gift List

Local author Ian Rogers has crafted a collection of short stories in his latest novel, Every House is Haunted.

"In this brilliant debut collection, Ian Rogers explores the border-places between our world and the dark reaches of the supernatural. The landscape of death becomes the new frontier for scientific exploration. A honeymoon cabin with an unspeakable appetite finally meets its match. A suburban home is transformed into the hunting ground for a new breed of spider. A nightmarish jazz club at the crossroads of reality plays host to those who can break a deal with the devil...for a price. With remarkable deftness, Rogers draws together the disturbing and the diverting in twenty-two showcase stories that will guide you through terrain at once familiar and startlingly fresh."

You can purchase Every House is Haunted at Chapters for $18.95 and some of the local copies on Lansdowne Street are even signed.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada (hashtag #bethechangeptbo) or Like us on Facebook.


Spooky Reads From Local Author Ian Rogers

Just in time for Halloween, local writer Ian Rogers has a special deal on his supernatural mystery novels.

Rogers, who was profiled a couple years back in The Peterborough Examiner for his scary works spanning over 50 short stories, also has a Halloween short story, "Vogo", slated to appear online on Biff Bam Pop! this weekend.


Tip us at tips@ptbocanada.com. Follow us on Twitter @Ptbo_Canada.