Horror writer Jamesie Fournier shares scares in print and on screen

Horror author Jamesie Fournier says he enjoys scaring children almost as much as they enjoy being scared.

“It’s very entertaining to be terrified,” he said Saturday in an interview in his Inhabit Media office in Iqaluit. “That’s why we love horror.”

The Inuktitut and English writer had just launched his latest children’s book, Lemming’s First Halloween, earlier that day at Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum.

Dozens of costumed children and their families dropped by the event to create creepy crafts and hear spooky stories.

The book is Fournier’s second in the series. He published Lemming’s First Christmas in English and Inuktitut in 2024. Lemming’s First Halloween marks Fournier’s first collaboration with Toronto-based Pakistani-Canadian illustrator Faiza Khan.

The tale follows Lemming and her pup as they cross paths with a qallupilluk, a monster known to drag children into the ocean.

Overcoming fear is an important life skill that Inuit horror stories tap into, Fournier said.

“When you’re afraid you’re aware of your surroundings. You’re taking everything in. You’re being very cautious. Survivalism has kicked in,” he said. “To be brave we have to first know what scares us.”

Scary fiction help children remember life lessons that can help keep them safe, such as to stay away from sea ice when a trusted adult is not near.

“Once we’re afraid and we’re informed of how we can be safe, we are able to problem-solve,” Fournier said. “That skill translates to every facet of life.”

Children enjoy repeating memorable nightmarish narratives as well, Fournier has noticed.

“Whenever I read to children, they all want to tell me their stories, too,” he said.

Fournier added he can relate to that urge, as he was the same way as a child in Yellowknife.

He would devour Batman comics and Tales From the Crypt magazines over breakfast with his dad. He also listened with keen attention at bedtime when his mom shared monstrous Inuit legends.

Throughout his career, Fournier has revisited those childhood frights in print and on the screen.

His work appeared in Taaqtumi 2: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories, released by Inhabit Media in 2025.

This year, his award-winning 2022 novel The Other Ones was made into a 19-minute short film by Inhabit Media’s sister company, Taqqut Productions, in collaboration with Toronto-based Stop Motion Department.

That story follows a mother and daughter as they’re pursued by the wrath of an ancient terror, eerily animated by stop-motion and claymation puppets.

An ancient terror stalks a mother and daughter in The Other Ones, a new stop-motion short film written and co-directed by Jamesie Fournier. (Image courtesy of Taqqut Productions)

Fournier co-directed the film with Taqqut producer Danny Christopher.

It’s making the rounds of the Canadian film festival circuit this fall and winter after premièring at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last month.

The Other Ones is scheduled to screen at Iqaluit’s Astro Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday as part of Inhabit Media’s Alianaqtut: A Night of Inuit Horror film series, alongside five other Inuktitut films released by Taqqut.

Tickets are free on a first-come basis, and all ages are welcome.

— With files from Lilli Akpaleeapik