Title: Taaqtumi 2: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories

Author: Various

Release date: September 2^nd, 2025

*Huge thanks to Lesley at Inhabit Media for the digital review copy!*

Back in 2020, I stumbled upon ‘Taaqtumi: An Anthology of Arctic Horror Stories’ and immediately requested a review copy. Once approved, I dove in, excited to see what type of terrifying worlds I’d end up in.

And I wasn’t disappointed. From start to finish, ‘Taaqtumi…’ was bleak, frosty and unforgiving.

Fast forward, earlier this year, I connected with Malcolm Kempt over on Instagram. Through that connection, I saw one of his IG stories, sharing that he had a story in the upcoming ‘Taaqtumi 2…’ anthology and I was shocked all over again. How had I missed that there’d be a second book? I looked and didn’t find that it’d been available on Netgalley. Going to Amazon to buy the Kindle edition, I saw there wasn’t one. Only a paperback version. I messaged Malcolm, who put me in touch with Lesley at Inhabit Media, the publisher, and Lesley was kind enough to send me a pdf. Unfortunately, due to the interior formatting and illustrations/graphics, I was unable to turn it into a usable Epub for my Kindle. Also, I was unable to have it work as purely a pdf on my Kindle. Which is all just a long-winded way of me saying – this took far longer to read than I’d planned on. I whittled away at the stories on the computer when I could and finally, gloriously, I’ve finished!

So, will fans of the first anthology be in for a treat for the second one?

What I liked: Much like the first anthology, the second focuses on Indigenous themes, locations and real-world issues. It’s fresh (though I say that as unoffensive as I can), because it’s not told from the same world view that we see over and over and over in publishing.

There are some truly stellar stories within this one again, and every story works to needle itself under your skin, making for a few moments of sheer discomfort that were perfect.

The highlights for me were;

‘Maniittuq’ by Aviaq Johnston. One of the creepiest stories within this anthology, Johnston tells the tale of Saa, heading out to a remote hunting cabin, looking for her father. The cabin has a tendency of being broken into by polar bears and the area itself has a history of ‘strangeness.’ Once there, the wind picks up, a woman’s cry is heard from every direction and Saa finds polar bear tracks near her father’s boot prints. Just a phenomenal, isolated ghost story.

‘Taaliqtuq’ by Malcolm Kempt. Essentially, one long run-on sentence, the story starts off with a hunter having an existential/out-of-body moment where they share both views of them shooting a rabbit. From there, they’re flung around throughout the landscape experiencing the animal’s final moments, connecting with nature and having a chance to do everything over again. It shouldn’t work, but it does and it’s very, very unnerving.

‘Watch It!” by Gayle Uyagaqi Kabloona. Two sisters appear as a duo on a reality show where they need to be the last team remaining, while racing across a remote area of the world. People watch via drones that track their every move. It’s stressful, but together they work well and remain in the competition. Things take a turn when a drone delivers a message and things go sideways. This story was a blend of dystopian and isolation horror. Really enjoyed the pacing of this one.

‘The Power Outage’ by Micah Silu Inutiq. The story follows a family, living in the far, remote north. One day things seem off. Then more things seem off. Then the power goes out. And more odd things happen. It’s really hard to describe this one, without making it sound like a story you’ve read before or minimize the sheer terror that drips off the page from every sentence. This story is the perfect example of what I said before. It takes a familiar idea and twists it into a folklore/dystopian/isolation horror piece that hits all the high notes so high that by the time you finish you’re not sure how you made it through. Fantastic.

What I didn’t like: There were a few stories within that I just didn’t connect with. One was an epistolary story, and if you’ve read my reviews for any length of time, you’ll know I struggle with that style of storytelling. But outside of that, each story was solid, just some didn’t hit me as hard as those that I absolutely loved.

Why you should buy this: The second anthology in the ‘Taaqtumi’ series is just as dark, ominous and fantastic as the first. The mix of stories is very solid and well placed, with no real lull or dip in tension and style. The interior is gorgeous, so I’d believe the paperback must be stunning when in your hands. I think the fact there isn’t a digital version of this one yet is a miss, as there’s a fair number of readers who prefer that format.

Saying all of that, once again the editors have put together a great mix of familiar and new-to-me authors who deliver stories that had me intrigued and terrified. Sometimes at the same time.