Crypt of the what?: The February 2026 Bibliofiles

February was mostly a weird lit month for me, with a little Canadiana and stoicism thrown in. That probably has something to do with the state of the world.

Fiction

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud

Crypt of the Moon Spider by Nathan Ballingrud is one of the weirdest books I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of weird books.

A young woman visits a sanitarium of sorts on the moon, where she has spider silk put in her brain to treat her melancholy. Spider silk is special here, because the sanitarium sits atop a cave that is home to a dead giant moon spider still worshipped by a strange sect. Then things get strange.

Link: https://torpublishinggroup.com/crypt-of-the-moon-spider/

Leech by Hiron Ennes

Leech by Hiron Ennes is an intriguingly weird gothic horror novel like none I have ever read before.

A doctor from the mysterious Institute arrives at a baron’s remote manor to investigate the death of the previous doctor. The manor is home to all sorts of eerie and strange characters — the grotesque ever dying baron, his wife whose children keep dying under mysterious circumstances, creepy twin girls, a mute servant and more.

It’s also home to a very mysterious organism which seems to have colonized the dead doctor and caused him to commit suicide. The reasons why soon become clear.

If that isn’t enough weirdness for you, the doctor from the Institute is a sort of parasite herself, part of a collective hive mind that takes over people to become the Institute. And neither parasite can let the other persist.

There’s all sorts of intersecting philosophies and social critiques here — bodily autonomy, individualism vs. social conformity, the degradations of aristocracy and more.

Think The Thing meets Dracula meets The Name of the Rose, and you’ll have an idea of the flavour of Leech.

Link: https://torpublishinggroup.com/leech

The (Mis)Fortunes of Saint Ilia’s School for Gifted Girls, In No Particular Order by Catherine Tavares

A very clever “choose your own adventure” type of murder mystery set in a school of superpowered girls and women. I had to go through all the options because they were so much fun.

Link: https://www.thedarkmagazine.com/the-misfortunes-of-saint-ilias-school-for-gifted-girls-in-no-particular-order/

Bleed for Me, Bro by Sharang Biswas

Spec meets kink in this hardcore, fantastic version of S&M clubs with real mutilation, death and resurrection.

I am so vanilla.

Link: https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/bleed-for-me-bro/

Non-fiction

The Eh Team by Charles Demers

The Eh Team by Charles Demers is a delightful and charming encyclopedia of Canadiana. Demers muses on such Canadian classics as Nanaimo bars, Cheezies, The Friendly Giant, Wok with Yan and more, all with comedic wit and perfectly personal anecdotes. It should be put in the beside drawer of every Canadian hotel.

Link: https://greystonebooks.com/products/the-eh-team

Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday

Right Thing, Right Now by Ryan Holiday takes a different direction from some of his previous books, most notably The Obstacle Is the Way and Stillness Is the Key. Those books are largely concerned with illustrating ways to handle the chaos and uncertainty of life. They’re incredibly important guides on how to live properly and how to be calm and present in the storm of modern existence.

Right Thing, Right Now takes people beyond the self to consider how to live properly in society — and history. It points out quite accurately that this often means going against the social or political current and may require sacrifice.

In many ways Right Thing, Right Now is a more challenging book than Holiday’s previous ones as it requires you to consider more than your self and even consider actions that may be harmful to your self but still be the right thing to do. It’s much less universal — The Obstacle Is the Way can be adopted by anyone, but Right Thing, Right Now will divide people politically.

I admit I found it occasionally frustrating and not as immediately useful to me as The Obstacle Is the Way or Stillness Is the Key. However, that’s the point of it. Sometimes we have to think of larger things than ourselves. And if there was ever a time to be concerned with doing the right thing, it’s right now.

Link: https://store.dailystoic.com/products/right-thing-right-now

How They Messed Up the Book Industry by Ken Whyte

“In hollowing out the institutions that select, promote, and sustain books, Canada surrendered control not just over scale and distribution, but over how (and if) its own history, conflicts, and ambitions are narrated and remembered.”

What’s to be done about the state of Canadian publishing?

Link: https://substack.com/home/post/p-185473315