Horror Reviews Index Update

Today I added three new reviews to the Index. 2 are nonfiction:

• Cardin, Matt (editor).  <Horror Literature through History: An Encyclopedia of the Stories That Speak to Our Deepest Fears. (2017)
• McCammon, Robert.  The Listener (2018)
• Perkowitz, Sidnet (ed) and Eddy Von Mueller (ed).  Frankenstein: How a Monster Became and Icon: The Science and Enduring Allure of Mary Shelley’s Creation (2018) 

2017 Stoker Awards Preliminary Ballot Announced

As many of you know, I am involved in the jury process for the Stoker Awards. The Stokers use a balance of jury and member input to create the preliminary ballot before sending that off to Active members for voting to come up with the official nominees. 

This is my second year being actively involved in the entire process from jury to voting [I am an active, writing member of HWA] and so far, I can attest to the fact that this process works. I was very impressed with the entire process last year and so far this year, I couldn’t be more proud to be involved.

No not every book I loved or advocated for made it to the next round, some that I even added to the Recs list for consideration didn’t make it through, but I have read many of the titles [even outside my specific category] and I can say that this is a solid representation of the current state of horror fiction.

From your perspective as the library worker this list is perfect for making suggestions to patrons AND for using to assess and make additions to your collections.

Here is a link to the entire preliminary ballot. I was having trouble formatting it here on the blog without being forced to go through and edit every line of HTML, so I uploaded it. This also allowed me to add a link to every book I officially reviewed. Please note, I have read many more than they links but not all have an official statement on the blog to link to.

Please click through and see all of the works on the preliminary ballot. These are NOT nominees, rather it is like a long list. It is perfect for you to assess your current horror holdings though. Look through the titles, click on some of my reviews, check for other reviews using the reputable sources in my review index, and consider adding some new titles to freshen up your scary reads.

Four New Titles Added to the Horror Reviews Index

In the January 2018 issue of IndiePicks magazine I had the following reviews:

• Crystal Lake Publications. Where Nightmares Come From: The Art of Storytelling in the Horror Genre 
• Walters, Damien Angelica. Cry Your Way Home
• DeMeester, Kristi. Everything That’s Underneath
• Maberry, Jonathan, ed.  Hardboiled Horror

They are also archived in the Horror Reviews Index.

StokerCon Librarians’ Day - Don’t Miss Out!

I loved being the HWA’s first ever Librarian Special Guest at StokerCon 2017 so much that I couldn’t resist accepting their offer to have me coordinate the second annual Librarians’ Day at StokerCon 2018. [I signed up for 2019 too]

StokerCon 2018 will be in Providence, RI, hometown of H.P. Lovecraft, from March 1-4. Librarians’ Day itself is 3/1. With so many east coast library workers able to get to the location and back as a day trip [either by car or train] I was very excited about the chance to provide a full day of useful continuing education to as many of you as possible.

I also knew I could not plan this alone from 1,000 miles away, so I asked the very first person I thought of to help me [and thankfully she said yes], Kristi Chadwick who is not only my friend, but as Library Journal’s Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror columnist and a Consultant for Massachusetts Library System is perfectly situated to help.

We have taken what we both know as professional CE planners AND genre experts to create a day of training that is affordable, useful, and fun. As long as your library checks out at least 1 Stephen King book a year [and I’m going to go with that being 100% of you; I know, I am not really going out on a limb there], you can learn from this day of programs.

Here is the link to the website where you can sign up and even email Kristi or I with questions. It is only $65 for an entire day of programs, including networking time, lunch, and swag and books, but only if you sign up before 1/31. Also there are a limited number of discounted hotel rooms either 2/28 or 3/1 for those who want to stay overnight.

We did a soft launch of the event last week and we got 17 immediate signups. So I know there is interest. You are not going to want to miss out.

Link is here but I have also posted the page below. I hope to see you there.

Librarians’ Day

Join Stoker Con for a special day-long program of panels and presentations for librarians! Becky Spratford, author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, 2nd edition (ALA, Editions) and horror reviewer for Booklist and IndiePicks Magazine and Kristi Chadwick, Consultant, Massachusetts Library System and Library Journal’s Science Fiction Fantasy and Horror columnist are coordinating the event.

When: March 1, 2018, 8:30-4:30

Where: Biltmore Hotel, Garden Room. Cost: $75 or $65 with Early Registration Discount Code: PROVIDENCE.

• Select “Early Registration” and enter the code. Expires January 31, 2018. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER. 

Lunch included!

ARCs for all attendees!

Librarians’ Day Programming 

8:30 to 9: Welcome/Registration 9 -10am: Dacre Stoker, a direct descendent of Bram Stoker, will present “120 Years of Dracula: From Novel to Stage to Large and Small Screens.”

10-10:50 am: Becky Spratford will be moderating a panel entitled, “Why Horror Matters: A Conversation With Experts on the Genre and Its Practitioners” featuring Eric Guignard, Les Klinger, Grady Hendrix, Andy Davidson, and Christopher Geissler, a librarian from the John Hay Library which holds the papers of H.P. Lovecraft among other horror legends.

11- 11:50 am: Bram Stoker Nominated author Mary SanGiovanni will be moderating, “A Panel of Fresh Voices for Your Collections.” This panel will gather newer authors who many library workers may not have heard of before but whose works are a great choice for public library collections, including Nadia Bulkin, Stephen Kozeniewski, Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi, and Morgan Sylvia.

12 – 1:30 pm: All attendees will enjoy a lunch together with time for networking, socializing, and the chance to participate in an AMA [Ask Me Anything] with Becky and Kristi.

1:30- 2:20 pm: After lunch, J.G. Faherty, the Library and Literacy Coordinator for HWA will moderate the panel, “Horror Programming at Your Library,” featuring Christopher Golden and his partner in the Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival, Haverhill [MA]  librarian Liz Rieur, as well as Grady Hendrix who in partnership with Quirk Books has presented at numerous public libraries across the country.

2:30- 4:30 pm: The day will wrap up with a traditional “Book Buzz” featuring horror titles. Confirmed participating publishers include MacMillan, JournalStone, Sinister Grin, Bloodshot Books, Quirk, and Cemetery Dance although more are joining the party with each passing day. Each publisher will present their upcoming titles for the library workers in attendance and all attendees will go home with a tote bag and ARCs of some of the discussed titles.

It should be the perfect day for library workers to learn, network, and just have some good old fashioned scary fun.

Please direct all inquiries to either Kristi or Becky.

More 2017 Year-End Best Lists and a Look Ahead to 2018

RA for All: Horror is back for the new year and things are going to be busy from the get go. I am very involved with StokerCon 2018 coming March 1-4. So I will have many posts about that. Whether you can make it to Providence for Librarians’ Day or not [click here for details and a $10 off coupon], I will have plenty of horror resources, content, and book suggestions for you on the blog in the coming weeks. I am also working on a StokerCon themed reading list for my annual “Halfway to Halloween" Library Journal column.

But before we transition into StokerCon mode, I want to finish the wrap up for the best books of 2017.  Here are some lists that you should be using both as you serve readers and as you work on your collection development:

• My list of the best horror books that I read which were published in 2017. I have 10 official selections with comments and links to reviews as well as 3 more titles that just missed the list and three more that I really loved but they were not quite 100% horror. These final three genre blended choices may be the best place for you to start with readers.
• Brian Keene’s list of the Top 15 books he read this year. Not only is this a great list [note we have more than a few overlaps] but he includes a paragraph about each book and the author. These are very appeal based and can be used as your script to book talk the titles to patrons. Pull up the page and say, “According to horror writer Brian Keene.....”
• Side note reminder, as I always say in my training programs, a book talk doesn’t have to be your words. You can read from the lists of others, NoveList, Library Reads, etc.... Patrons don’t care if you wrote it, they just want information about whether or not the book is for them. Of course credit the source as you are speaking. In my live appearances I explain this concept this way-- When someone comes in and asks for information about North Korea you don’t simply spout out what you know off the top of your head. Of course not! In fact, I am guessing that statement shocked many of you. You would never do that. Then why do you all think every book suggestion has to be generated from your personal experience?  For the reference question, you immediately pull up resources and read from those. Well guess what? Helping a reader can use the same tried and true process we library workers have relied on for centuries. Different type of question, but the process is the same. Now back to the horror lists...
• Barnes and Noble’s Editors’ Picks for the Best Horror of 2017. Again list is annotated, so see above. Also, don’t roll your eyes at it being from B&N. They have a wonderful editorial staff for SF/FSY/Horror and produce some of the best content on speculative fiction, especially the more mainstream titles that libraries would be considering.
• Tor.com’s Best Books of 2017- All are speculative, many are horror or horror-esque.
• In January of 2017, in his column for LitReactor, Max Booth III posted his list of the 16 most anticipated horror titles of 2017 here.  I read and loved 8 of them [you can find reviews on the blog]. A 9th was reviewed by a guest poster. And just about all of them made year end best lists. So treat this year old preview as a trusted year end best now too.

And since he did such a good job predicting last year’s titles, here is Max Booth III’s list of the most anticipated horror of 2018 also via LitReactor. [I have already read 3 of them and will have reviews up very soon]. Horror RA and Collection Development don't only happen in October or during the year end wrap ups. Your readers want you adding good titles all year long. So get going.

Also, very soon the long list of StokerCon finalists will be out, followed closely by the official nominees. Remember these lists are excellent for RA and collection development.

And here is your semi regular reminder-- Horror patrons are not monsters. They just like to read about them.

Here’s to a scary 2018! [But only in fiction this year, please]