Scares That Care Charity Horror Convention is Online for FREE and I am a Moderator!

I am passing on this information on directly from this link at BrianKeene.com about the Scares That Care Event. But before you read about this event, a few things from me.

First, I am moderating a panel at Noon "Horror for Kids." I am not telling you this to brag, but to illustrate that this event is a great "free" viewing option for all library workers. Scroll through it all. It will be a great day.

Second, refers to that "free" part. Scares that Care is a charity I have supported with my own dollars for years. I believe in their mission and have always wanted to make it to the live event. I am honored to be a part of a fundraiser that is doing so much good. I am asking you, my followers, to not only view the content, but to consider making small donation yourself. Literally every dollar counts to these sick and injured people and their families.

Thank you and now here are all of the details.....

The Scares That Care Virtual Charity Event takes place Saturday, August 1st.

100% of the money raised during this one-day event will go to our 2020 recipients. They are:

*Ashley Adams and her daughter Natalya, who has Marfan Syndrome.
*Laura, a breast cancer warrior known for her work in Arkansas’s LGBTQ+ community.
*Patricia, who suffered second and third degree burns to the entire right side of her body.

The Scares That Care Virtual Convention will be livestreamed via the Brian Keene YouTube Page and the Scares That Care website, and is accessible to the general public.

Below is the tentative schedule. All times are Eastern. Please note that celebrity appearances (including actors, authors, directors, and other panelists) are subject to availability and may change without notice.

9:00am – 9:15am: Opening Ceremonies with Joe Ripple and Brian Keene

9:15am to 9:50am: LIVE READING – Jeff Strand and Stephen Kozeniewski

9:50am to 10:00am: Fundraising update with Brian Keene, Alfred Guy and O’Malley Brandt

10:00am to 10:50am: JAWS AT 45 – Jonathan Janz, Victor LaValle, Hillary Monahan, Matt Serafini, Adam Cesare, and Glenn Rolfe (moderator) discuss why, after 45 years, we’re still afraid to go in the water.

10:50am – 11:00am: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Paul Tremblay

11:00am – 11:50am: MY FAVORITE HORROR COMICS – Tim Seeley, Rachel Autumn Deering, Jamal Igle, Cullen Bunn, Maurice Broaddus, and Matt Wildasin (moderator) discuss their favorite horror comic books of all time.  

11:50am – Noon: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and John Wayne Comunale 

Noon – 12:50pm: HORROR FOR KIDS – Lamar Giles, Stephanie Cooke, Jonathan Maberry, Gretchen McNeil, Bitter Karella, Will Bozarth, and Becky Spratford (moderator) discuss horror for a younger audience.

12:50pm to 1:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and John Dugan

1:00pm to 1:25pm: RETURN TO ELM STREET – Jack Shoulder, Mark Patton, Nick Benson, and Mick Strawn reminisce with moderator David Heck about their work on the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

1:25pm – 1:30pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene, Brian Smith and Bryan Smith

1:30pm – 2:00pm: LIVE READING – Gabino Iglesias and Cina Pelayo

2:00pm to 2:50pm: MY FAVORITE MONSTER – Stephen Graham Jones, Hunter Shea, Scott Baker, the Sisters of Slaughter, Dee Southerland and Chuck Buda (moderator) discuss their favorite monsters of all time.

2:50pm to 3:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Roy Wooley

3:00pm to 3:50pm: THE WALKING DEAD – David Heck moderates this Q&A with The Walking Dead’s Josh Mikel, Steve Coulter, Cooper Andrews, and Jayson Warner Smith.  

3:50pm to 4:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Felissa Rose

4:00pm to 4:50pm: THE AMBIDEXTROUS PATH - Mary SanGiovanni, Stephanie Wytovich, Bracken MacLeod, Somer Canon, and Jay Wilburn (moderator) discuss faith and magic in horror and creativity.

4:50pm to 5:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Joshua Leonard

5:00pm to 5:50pm: Q&A – Emmy-award winner Pruitt Taylor Vince discusses his career with moderator David Heck.

5:50pm to 6:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Eugene Clark

6:00pm to 6:50pm: CAN HORROR GO TOO FAR? – CV Hunt, Wrath James White, Kristopher Triana, Autumn Christian, Wesley Southard, Aaron Dries, and Armand Rosamilia (moderator) discuss how far is too far.

6:50pm to 7:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Lar Park Lincoln

7:00pm to 7:55pm: COWBOYS AND ZOMBIES – Gemma Files, Wile E. Young, Keith Lansdale, Christine Morgan, Kenzie Jennings, and Thomas Clark (moderator) discuss the resurgence of Weird Westerns in film and literature.

7:55pm to 8:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Josh Malerman

8:00pm to 8:30pm: BIZARRO HORROR – John Edward Lawson, Andersen Prunty, Rose O’Keefe, Michael Alan Rose, and Scott Cole (moderator) discuss surrealism and the supernatural in horror fiction and film.

8:30pm to 8:55pm: Q&A – Night of the Demons’ Amelia Kinkade discusses her career with moderator David Heck.

8:55pm to 9:00pm: Fundraising update with Brian Keene and Joe Ripple

9:00pm to 9:15pm: A SPECIAL PRESENTATION with Joe Ripple and Brian Keene

9:15pm to 9:30pm: COSTUME CONTEST – Celebrity judges Amanda Bearse, John Anderson, Amelia Kinkade, Lynne Hansen, and Matt Blazi discuss this year’s costume contest entries.

9:30pm to 9:40pm: COUNT GORE – Scares That Care Weekend’s beloved Count Gore deVol announces the winners of this year’s costume contest.

9:40pm to 9:50pm: SCARYOKE – Rio Youers, Ronald Malfi, Brian Keene and Joe Ripple present an at home version of this Scares That Care Weekend staple.

9:50pm to 10:00pm: Closing Ceremonies

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What is Scares That Care?
A: Founded in 2007 by Joe Ripple, we are a 501C3 charity. Our Board of Directors and our volunteers are composed of horror fans and professionals. Each year we raise money for three recipient families (a sick child, a breast cancer fighter, and a burn victim).

Q: How can I donate during the virtual event?
A: We will be sharing information on how to donate via text or phone hourly during the event. Yu can also donate anytime by visiting this link.

Q: Can I donate before or after the event, as well?
A: Yes. You can donate year round.

Q: Money is tight. I can’t afford to donate but I’d still love to help. How can I do that?
A: We appreciate you and we understand. You can still by tuning in to the livestream, and encouraging your friends and family to do the same.

Q: I’m involved in programming. What do I need to do next?
A: Brian Keene will email you a link before the event. You’ll simply need to click that link about ten minutes before your appearance, and allow access to your computer’s webcam and mic. It’s that easy. (Costume contest judges will be contacted earlier with additional instructions).

Q: I’m a celebrity who works in the horror genre. Why wasn’t I included in programming?
A: We tried to accommodate as many horror professionals as we could, but unlike our physical Scares That Care Weekend charity events, we are limited by the technological restrictions and time constraints of this virtual event. However, you can still help the cause by sharing the event with your fans and encouraging them to donate.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #11: Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies by John Langan

First, a reminder that these giveaways will be running every week, on Thursdays, for the foreseeable future. And here is the best part, if you enter any week, you are eligible for ALL weeks.

The only rule is that you need to be affiliated with a public library in America or Canada. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.

Okay now how to enter. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.

Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm will be considered.

If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Why I am doing this? Well, one of the parts of my job that has gone away for the time being is my visits to libraries, library conferences, and library systems to provide general RA training. On all of those visits, I would  fill my suitcase with giveaway titles and they were mostly horror. It not only gave me a chance to give away books as prizes, but it also allowed me the opportunity to book talk horror even if that wasn't on the agenda.

Now that my services have transferred to 100% virtual, for the time being, I have an overflow of books in my house and less of chance to promote horror to the unsuspecting masses of library workers.

And thus my #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is born. This will be going on indefinitely, so the sooner you enter the better your chances.

Click here to see giveaway #10. Our winner was Karen from Salida Regional [CA] Public Library.

Now on to this week's giveaway a copy of John Langan's upcoming collection, Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies courtesy of Word Horde. I will have a review of this book in the next issue of Booklist, but here is a quick preview quote:

"The twenty-one stories include gems previous only produced as part of Con program books, the eerie and visceral fungus tale, “Hyphae,” the fascinating “The Communion of Saints” centered around a tired and defeated Albany detective and pop culture’s “new” horror monsters [Freddy Kruegger, Hannibal Lecter, et al], and many stories that reflect Langan’s  lifelong literary conversation with Lovecraft and his contemporaries, such as the title story."

This is a must buy collection by an author whose entire catalog you should have on your shelves. And here is a gentle reminder that my Top 20 Horror of the Decade has Langan's novel The Fisherman as the number 3 title of the 2010s. [See screen shot below.]

One of you will win this ARC, but all of you should be adding this title and lots more Langan to your library collections.

Good luck!

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #10: Poisoned Pen Press 5-Pack

First, a reminder that these giveaways will be running every week, on Thursdays, for the foreseeable future. And here is the best part, if you enter any week, you are eligible for ALL weeks.

The only rule is that you need to be affiliated with a public library in America or Canada. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.

Okay now how to enter. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.

Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm will be considered.

If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Why I am doing this? Well, one of the parts of my job that has gone away for the time being is my visits to libraries, library conferences, and library systems to provide general RA training. On all of those visits, I would  fill my suitcase with giveaway titles and they were mostly horror. It not only gave me a chance to give away books as prizes, but it also allowed me the opportunity to book talk horror even if that wasn't on the agenda.

Now that my services have transferred to 100% virtual, for the time being, I have an overflow of books in my house and less of chance to promote horror to the unsuspecting masses of library workers.

And thus my #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is born. This will be going on indefinitely, so the sooner you enter the better your chances.

Click here to see giveaway #9. Our winner was David from Porter [OH] Public Library.

This week I have 5 titles courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press/Sourcebooks.

The first is the next title in the Haunted Library of Horror Classics series a collaboration with the Horror Writers Association, Vathek by William Beckford with an introduction by Joe. R. Lansdale. The series is edited by Eric Guignard and Leslie Klinger. The idea is to bring back forgotten horror titles and  give them new edition with modern commentary. This one comes with discussion questions.

I also have 4 titles by Darcy Coates a USA Today Bestselling Author who I wrote about at length in Library Journal back in January here.

Click here to see all of her titles, but specifically I have finished copies of House of Secrets, The Folcroft Ghosts, House of Shadows, and Hunted. These can be added to your collections immediately. The Beckford is an ARC. It will be out in mid-August.

You can win all 4 this week! Thanks to Margaret from Sourcebooks for sending these titles my way so that I can get them into your hands.

Good luck!

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #9: Flame Tress Press 2-Pack

First, a reminder that these giveaways will be running every week, on Thursdays, for the foreseeable future. And here is the best part, if you enter any week, you are eligible for ALL weeks.

The only rule is that you need to be affiliated with a public library in America or Canada. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.

Okay now how to enter. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.

Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm will be considered.

If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Why I am doing this? Well, one of the parts of my job that has gone away for the time being is my visits to libraries, library conferences, and library systems to provide general RA training. On all of those visits, I would  fill my suitcase with giveaway titles and they were mostly horror. It not only gave me a chance to give away books as prizes, but it also allowed me the opportunity to book talk horror even if that wasn't on the agenda.

Now that my services have transferred to 100% virtual, for the time being, I have an overflow of books in my house and less of chance to promote horror to the unsuspecting masses of library workers.

And thus my #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is born. This will be going on indefinitely, so the sooner you enter the better your chances.

Click here to see giveaway #8. Our winner was Bethany from Sioux Fall [SD] Library.

This week I have two ARCs of titles coming soon from Flame Tree Press and both appeared in my Library Journal Horror Genre Preview [you can read that here].

The first is The Raven by Jonathan Janz [out in September], which I reviewed here. The second is Stoker's Wilde West by Stephen Hopstaken and Melissa Prusi [out July 23rd] for which I turned in a review to Booklist on Tuesday. You can read my glowing review of the first book in the series, Stoker's Wilde. And teaser, this second book was just as much fun.

You can win both in one package! Thanks to Flame Tree Press [Sarah especially] for getting me physical ARCs that I could give away after reviewing them.

Good luck!

2020 Horror Genre Preview in Library Journal

My annual Genre Preview is now live on the Library Journal site and in the July print issue.

Please click here to read more about it and get the link.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #8: The Living Dead by Romero and Kraus

First, a reminder that these giveaways will be running every week, on Thursdays, for the foreseeable future. And here is the best part, if you enter any week, you are eligible for ALL weeks.

The only rule is that you need to be affiliated with a public library in America or Canada. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.

Okay now how to enter. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.

Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm will be considered.

If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Why I am doing this? Well, one of the parts of my job that has gone away for the time being is my visits to libraries, library conferences, and library systems to provide general RA training. On all of those visits, I would  fill my suitcase with giveaway titles and they were mostly horror. It not only gave me a chance to give away books as prizes, but it also allowed me the opportunity to book talk horror even if that wasn't on the agenda.

Now that my services have transferred to 100% virtual, for the time being, I have an overflow of books in my house and less of chance to promote horror to the unsuspecting masses of library workers.

And thus my #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is born. This will be going on indefinitely, so the sooner you enter the better your chances.

Click here to see giveaway #7. Our winner was Lisa from Algonquin Area [IL] Public Library from. 

This week I have one of the most hotly anticipated books of the summer, heck, it's one of the most anticipated books since the late 1960s if we are being honest. It is The Living Dead begun by George A Romero and completed by Daniel Kraus. 

I have already written about how much I LOVED this book here in my Library Journal star review and here on Goodreads. Plus, I did this interview with Kraus that also ran in Library Journal back in April when we thought this book would come out in May. It now comes out on 8/4. So that gives you a month to read it if you win.

Real talk time here. This book could have been a huge disappointment. Kraus knew this himself as he writes about in the EXCELLENT authors note at the end of the book. He was asked to take Romero's unfinished epic novel and all his notes and turn it into THE book that unites the entire Romero universe. But Kraus took his job very seriously, did the research, preserved Romero's voice, inserted his own voice, and ultimately created a book that is both an homage and stands on its own as one of the best zombie books I have ever read. Seriously, this will be on my BEST of 2020 list when the year ends. No question.

More from me via the links above. You know you are ordering this for your library, but if you enter and win, you can read it early.

Good luck!