#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #16: Three ARCs Courtesy of Silver Shamrock Publishing

 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 #15. Our winner was Jonathan from the Paso Robles [CA] City Library.

This week I am featuring a newer horror indie press, but one that seems to be publishing a nice mix of  authors-- Silver Shamrock Publishing. Similar to Flame Tree, Silver Shamrock is publishing quality pulp horror that is perfect for a public library audience, capturing the breadth of the genre's tropes, writing styles, and storytelling techniques. There are authors I have heard of and newer voices too, mean and women.

However, I want to be clear that I do not take supporting a press in a public way lightly. I have done some asking around, including speaking to authors who are writing for them that I trust. I want to make sure they are fair, that they are paying authors, and that their editing and production are up to snuff. 

Silver Shamrock has passed through my research process and today I would like to offer three ARCs to one of you. I would also encourage library workers to investigate more of their titles here.

The title I am most excited about in this prize pack is Slaves to Gravity by Wesley Southard and Somer Cannon [It came out 8/4]. Readers of my blogs may recall how much I LOVED Southard's One for the Road. It is a great, extreme horror, novella; it even won an award for that exactly. And I just updated my review with even more appeal and readalikes. But I digress. Slaves to Gravity is a different story but both Southard and Cannon are writers on the rise. Here is a quick summary from the publisher:

After waking up in a hospital bed, paralyzed from he waist down, Charlie Snyder had no idea here life would take her. ejected, broken, and permanently bound to a wheelchair, she believed her life was truly over. That is...until gravity no longer applied.

It started out slow. Floating from room to room. Menial tasks without assistance. When she decided to venture outside and take some real risks with her newfound ability, she rose above her own constraints to reveal a whole new world, and found other damaged individuals just like her to confide in.

But there are other things out there, waiting in the dark. Repulsive, secretive creatures that don't want Charlie to touch the sky. And they'll stop at nothing to keep her on the ground.

This is a fast paced, cosmic horror story, fun to read and filled with action. It is not perfect. These are both newer authors, but it shows a lot of promise and is way better than the average horror offering-- by leaps and bounds. It has heart and originality. It is a twisty story that keeps you guessing and begs you to keep reading. 

This prize pack also includes Curse of the Pigman by Asher Ellis. This is a story of a small town, cut  off from the world by a hurricane. Evil is discovered and unleashed. This one will be enjoyed by all of your early Stephen King fans for sure and any Stephen Graham Jones fans as well. And that cover! It sells itself for sure.

Finally, The Malan Witch by Catherine Cavendish which features another small, idyllic town and a home renovation that uncovers a very old and angry witch. Witch stories are extremely popular right now. Also the subgenre has improved greatly in the last decade, especially when taken up by female authors. Recent examples of other witch stories you should check out include, The Year of the Witching by Henderson [my review from LJ], Hex Life: Wicked New Tales of Witchery edited by Golden and Deering, and the forthcoming Boneset & Feathers by Gwendolyn Kiste [My STAR review coming to LJ in October].

This is just a sampling of what Silver Shamrock has to offer. Check out more of their titles for yourself and your collections.

And as always....Good luck!