Event Details

A Celebration of the Seasonal Ghost Story

Winter’s Wake is an annual festival on Pender Island, BC celebrating the seasonal ghost story and holiday horror in all its forms, with an emphasis on oral storytelling in the tradition of winter’s tales told around the fire in the dark months.

Though most commonly associated with Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, the tradition of winter’s tales goes back hundreds of years, and evolved into the Christmas ghost story in the Victorian era and beyond. Authors such as M.R. James, E.F. Benson, Algernon Blackwood, Elizabeth Gaskell and Canada’s own Robertson Davies excelled at the Christmas ghost story and were prolific writers of tales meant to be read aloud by the fireside during the Yuletide season. In that tradition, Kraken Underground and Spectacular Optical bring you the second annual Winter’s Wake: a celebration of the seasonal ghost story in all its forms, but with a special emphasis on the oral tradition of gathering in the dark and the quiet to listen to chilling tales read aloud.

Winter’s Wake began in 2025 as a one-night event of live ghost story readings and has since expanded to a multi-day festival including related screenings and workshops. See the official website at winterswake.ca for all the details!