Wilder Beasts: The Global Scary and Supernatural

We’ve seen so many werewolves in the last decade that they’re starting to look a little, well, house-trained.

With the recent explosion in popularity of genre fiction, many of the loathsome figures of western mythology and pop culture are losing their scare-factor. Are vampires and zombies still lurking in the shadows of your imagination? Please. You can do so much worse.

Host Serpil Senelmis with Nadia Niaz and Sami Shah — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Sami Shah's fantasy/horror novel, Fire Boy, is set in Karachi, Pakistan – and it's riddled with soul-stealing djinns (shape-shifting demon/genies made of smokeless fire) and various other nightmarish creatures from Muslim mythology. Sami chats with fellow writer Nadia Niaz about genre (and particularly, horror) fiction originating beyond the Anglosphere. What creepy spirits lurk under Malaysian, Moroccan and Mexican beds? Do demons and monsters share similar qualities across the world? Or do their powers reflect something of the culture of their origin?