Short Stories 366:294 — “Those Beneath the Bog,” by Jacques L. Condor ~ Maka Tai Meh

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Well, sleep, it was nice knowing you. Okay, maybe that’s overstating (a little), but today’s foray into October stories is from Dead North: Canadian Zombie Fiction (edited by the brilliant Silvia Moreno-Garcia) and why did I let myself read stories about zombies? Well, because Moreno-Garcia. In fact, right in the introduction, she points out this will be a Canadian take, which means we’re getting more than your typical movie-zombie. And that brings me right to this story, “Those Beneath the Bog,” and how James L. Condor ~ Maka Tai Meh will likely cost me a few days of sleep.

Set in the north of Manitoba, the story opens with a married couple flensing (and otherwise preparing) the moose they’ve successfully hunted, and the arrival of other family in their canoe, who also intend to hunt. They also bring a dog, and at this point, my number one concern became “does the dog live?” There’s some brilliantly written tension between the older generation and the younger—old ways vs. new faith, specifically: divination and offerings, discussion of prayer—but when an auntie divines that two will die and the men decide their best shot at moose is in an area she believes is dark and evil… well. This is a story in a collection of zombie fiction, so you know where this is going, right?

The hunting group leaves (with the dog, jacking up my anxiety even further) and the divination of “two will die” has me in a total panic because what if one of the two is the dog (I realize I’m harping on this, but the dog growls and whimpers and is trying to tell the men to back off and they don’t listen) and of course, eventually, while we learn from the auntie back with the wife about what she believes is out there, we also see things play out to their dark end. It’s incredibly effective, and does so without descending into gore (though with some terrifying descriptions from the point of view of one of the two who don’t survive). Shudder worthy story all around, and all the more wonderful for doing so with a voice and setting so uniquely Canadian.