Celebrate Horror and Test Drive Some New Authors

Last year, as the pandemic shut downs were in full force, Horror reviewer and advocate Sadie Hartmann was looking for a way to pick up her own spirits as she spent her birthday in quarantine. She had spent the 2 months previous to her birthday reading to distract herself from her own anxiety and wanted to combine her love of horror, thankfulness for the comfort those books brought her, and an online celebration into one event. And thus we all got-- Celebrate Horror 2020-- a series of videos featuring authors reading from their own works 

Sadie has an excellent article about how Celebrate Horror 2020 was born and how she expanded it in 2021 here on LitReactor.

This year for 2021, she did not limit herself to authors she had read before; in fact, she didn't even limit herself to Horror only. There are authors that span the entirety of the genre and even into horror adjacent genres as well as authors that span the full breadth of personal identity. The entire event expanded in every way. And it is still free!

I am here today to encourage all of you library workers to check out this year's event which began early this morning and is available on demand now and into the future on the Night Worms YouTube Channel.

But I would like to extend a special invitation those of you who are a bit scared of horror yourselves.

This online series of author readings is a great collection development tool. You can read a review of works by the author and then listen to them read from their own work to get a sense of how they write. IT is also a safe way for those who think horror is too scary but want to be able to suggest it to patrons, to give it a try.

You can even take it one step further and add a link to the specific videos of the authors reading to their author record in your catalogs. That would be awesome because then your patrons could try them out too. 

I hope many of my readers give the Celebrate Horror 2021 a try over this holiday weekend, but also going forward since the videos don't have an expiration date.

Below is the list of authors appearing; graphics from the LitReactor article.

#Horror For Libraries Giveaway #45: Beneath a Pale Sky

It's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway day, and I am back after our mini-series within a series, catching up on non-StokerCon related titles that I have read for review. 

More details on this week's giveaway below but first...

Here is a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 each week will be considered for that  week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. 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.

Click here to see giveaway #44. Our winner was Micah from St Matthew Library [KY].

Beneath a Pale Sky 

by Philip Francassi

Excerpt from my post on the original Booklist review:

The events occurring the eight stories in Francassi’s second collection are, at first glance, deceptively innocuous: a wedding day, a date at the pier, or the story of two lifelong friends, but as Josh Malerman notes in the introduction, these seemingly small scenarios have enormous repercussions. Of course they do because this is Horror through and through. So that wedding is visited by a man with supernatural powers, the pier is the site of death and destruction, and one of those friends is Death. However, these are not tales centered around the terrifying action that occurs or even the characters it all happens to. Rather, this is a collection that articulates the dark emotions of the genre itself-- unease, anxiety and dread-- as each tale turns from slightly unsettling to palpably terrifying on a dime, often with a single sentence, and the results are breathtaking. This is a must read collection for those who enjoy horror in its short form by authors who can morph two dimensional words on the page into a very real terror from which readers cannot hide, even if they wanted to, such as Nadia Bulkin and John Langan.

Three Words That Describe This Book: slathered in dread, economy of words, overflowing with emotion

Click here for more about this book including more appeal info and further readalikes. And then, follow the directions above to win a copy of this collection and a bonus, mystery book courtesy of Silver Shamrock Publishing.

Coming Next Week....My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones! You might want to get your entry in now.

StokerCon Wrap Up: Bram Stoker Awards, Summer Scares, and Me!

Well I had a weekend! It was months in the making, but somehow a group of us all pulled off a completely Virtual StokerCon and it was a HUGE success! Even the Co-Chairs, who worked tirelessly, were shocked at how it all went so well.

Thank you to all who attended and look for an email soon about extended access to recorded panels.

But even those who didn't join us, I wanted to report of a few things of note.

First of all, StokerCon is the annual kick off of Summer Scares. Although we have already matched many of the authors with libraries, this is the day our video content goes live.

Please visit the Summer Scares playlist for an explanation of how to use the Programming Guide and 3 videos featuring most of the Summer Scares authors in conversation with committee members. I took on YA duties this year covering for our YA expert Kelly Jensen who is on maternity leave. I have to say, I might have enjoyed my self a little too much. You be the judge though.

These videos are completely free and can be use and promoted by your library as a program for your patrons. When an author is chosen they agree to these conditions and we are so appreciative that so far not a single selected author has refused.

Now on to the Bram Stoker Awards. You can watch the live video presentation of the winners including taped acceptance speeches by the winners here. I also live tweeted the event on this thread here.

Here is the official press release of the winners and nominees. I would like to point out that quite a few of these winners were reviewed by me. I don't do this to brag, but to remind you that you can trust my recommendations of what horror is worth your time, even when it comes from smaller presses.

Click here for the full list, but here are the titles that won, which I have reviewed:

• Novel: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones: my number one read of all of 2020. But I also favorably reviewed 3 of the 4 finalists.
• YA: Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
• Novella: The Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones 
• Short Fiction: "One Last Transformation" by Josh Malerman from Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities, and Other Horrors edited by Doug Murano and Michael Bailey
• Poetry: A Collection of Dreamscapes by Christina Sng-- the book that began the #HorrorForLibraries giveaway.
• Anthology: Black Cranes: Take of Unquiet Women edited by Lee Murray and Geneve Flynn
• Nonfiction: Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner which is also on my list of of my favorite horror resources for all libraries.

And finally, because it would be weird if I didn't mentioned it. During the Bram Stoker Awards broadcast [at the 1hr 13 min mark] I received the Richard Laymon President's Award. You can watch President John Palisano present it and me accept it here. 

Quick clarification, I convinced John NOT to give me the award last year [pre-Covid] because with the convention planned for the UK we knew there would be no Librarians' Day at the Con itself, and as that was one of the main reasons I was winning the award, I respectfully asked him to rethink giving me the award for a time when there was an LD if he still wanted to. But I was especially touched that he called out my work to make the HWA more transparent in our work to support marginalized voices. That I was not expecting.

No back to the rest of my life which has been on the back burner for a few weeks, including working on some promotion for my own new book. See the top of any page on either blog for a coupon and a link to pre-order. 

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #44: StokerCon Librarians' Day Featured Presenters-- Tor Nightfire

It's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway day, but it is also a special mini-series within the larger giveaway series. For the last few weeks, I have been giving away books by those set to appear at StokerCon Librarians' Day. Today is the final one of these special giveaways and it is a big one! I have one of the best vampire books written this century finally back in print and the buzziest book of the summer. 

More details on this week's giveaway below but first...

Here is a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 each week will be considered for that  week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. 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.

Click here to see giveaway #43. Our winner was Sarah from the Richland [SC] Library.

Today I have a 2 pack of titles courtesy of Nightfire, Tor's new Horror specific imprint. As part of the Librarians' Day schedule we are featuring a few of their blog writers, including the site editor Emily Hughes. And then on Saturday, I am moderating a panel with some of the authors from the inaugural season of the press: John F.D. Taff, Cassandra Khaw, and  the two authors whose books I have to giveaway today, Silvia Moreno-Garcia and Catriona Ward.

First is The Last House on Needless Street by Ward which I gave a STAR review. It will appear in the June issue of Library Journal, but here are the notes I left on Goodreads including my three words: layered, multiple points of view, heartbreaking. This is THE most highly anticipated released of the inaugural catalog for Nightfire and it deserves all of the accolades it is receiving. This is a book that you can hand out with confidence to readers of thrillers, suspense, psychological suspense,  and horror. And yes, that cat on the cover is a main character.

Second is the 2016 modern vampire classic, a book that NPR named to its best of the year, but a title which had gone out of print, Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno Garcia. Not only does this title appear in my new book [Chapter 5: Vampires], but it is also marked as a "Becky's Pick" as one of the top three titles [of 12] in that chapter. Here, for the first time, is the annotation from my new book: 

In this bittersweet, issue oriented, and culturally diverse vampire tale, Alt, a descendent of Aztec blood drinkers, is forced into hiding in Mexico City, one of the only places on earth where vampires have been successfully banned. Alt has lived a life of luxury, kept safely away from the human world, but after the Necros, a vicious subspecies of vampires, kills her entire family, Alt is forced to go on the run. She teams up with Domingo, a garbage picker, to help her escape, but Alt is very hungry and the Necros are closing in. Featuring a strong sense of place and an extremely flawed but ultimately sympathetic protagonist, this novel uses a genre lens to take a hard and thought provoking look at our current reality, all without sacrificing a violent, action packed, and crowd pleasing vampire tale.

Both ARCs are courtesy of Nightfire and will go to 1 lucky library worker winner. Get your entries in ASAP. I will be announcing the winner live at the conclusion of Librarians' Day at 6:30pm eastern. You need not be at LD to win, but it will still be fun to do the announcement in front of a live audience.

Tor Nightfire is a Gold Sponsor of StokerCon 2021. 

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #43: StokerCon Librarians' Day Featured Presenters-- Night Worms

It's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway day, but it is also a special mini-series within the larger giveaway series. From now until May 21st, I will be giving away books by authors who are appearing at StokerCon Librarians' Day. Plus I have a special multi-book giveaway set for LIVE during Librarians' Day [courtesy of Nightfire]. So you are going to want to enter now.

Click here for all of the details about this event. It is only $75 and you get to go to the entire StokerCon for that price, not just Librarians' Day.

Details on this week's giveaway below but first...

Here is a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 each week will be considered for that  week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. 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.

Click here to see giveaway #42. Our winner was Ashley from the Louisville [KY] Free Public Library.

Now on to this week and a very special giveaway from Night Worms. From their About Us page:

Greetings from Sadie Hartmann aka 'Mother Horror' on social media. I am a co-owner of Night Worms. The other half of Night Worms is Ashley Saywers 'spookishmommy' on social media. We are HUGE fans of the horror genre. I read & review horror for SCREAM magazine and Cemetery Dance Online and I'm an Active, voting member of the HWA (Horror Writers Association) Ashley leads a True Crime reading group #BookishTrueCrime on Instagram. 

We started Night Worms on Halloween day in 2018 with pre-orders for a Christmas package. We are passionate readers of horror fiction and have since grown Night Worms into a culture and a brand: "Horror is Our Happy Place."

Night Worms is a culture, just like they say. It is a happy place for horror fans. This is why I invited Sadie and a few of her Night Worms reviewers to appear at StokerCon Librarians' Day. I wanted to highlight both the subscription packages they offer and their reviews for you the library worker. Speaking of their reviews, I especially like their Side-By-Side reviews as a model for libraries to consider. Taking one book and offering two or more opinions about it is a great way to showcase a book for a wider range of readers.

I also highly recommend their monthly subscription package for you to consider for your library. Every month they offer at least 2 books and tons of horror swag. These are vetted titles that you can add to your collections. You can also use the swag for giveaways and prizes.

This week, Ashley and Sadie have graciously offered 1 of their May package for free to one of you! So enter today. And below is more information from Sadie about the giveaway. Thanks Night Worms and see you at StokerCon Librarians' Day next week.

******************************************

Ashley and I work closely with our tight-knit network of indie & traditional publishers that we have built a strong, symbiotic relationship with over the last 2 years to bring you the best in horror fiction. We curate a package of books, magazines, publisher freebies, goodies, coupons, collectibles, etc., and a few Night Worms exclusives for a reasonable price and then send them to our hundreds of subscribers. We’re happy to partner with Becky Spratford for this giveaway. Here’s what you can expect with the package:

‼MAY 2021 THEME ANNOUNCEMENT: TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER‼ 

💥Preorders will begin on MONDAY, MARCH 22ND AT 8AM PST💥

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👽 Get ready because this May we're going OUT OF THIS WORLD!! 🛸🛸🛸 

🛸 May will include 2 BOOKS and more goodies than usual! 

👽 The first book is a brand new novella from one of our favorite indie publishers. It'll take you to a new dimension. Signed bookplate! 

🛸 The second book is a recently released book that has both murder and a space station. Need we say more? 

👽 We have some really fun treats planned for you this month! Bonus swag from the publisher and some goodies you will NOT want to miss!! 

🛸 Already subscribed to Night Worms? You're all set to receive May's package - no need to order again. Make sure your credit card info and shipping addresses are up to date to ensure a successful renewal on 4/7.

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👽 If you're unsure if you've subscribed- please email us nightwormsreviews@gmail.com 

🛸 Graphic art by @theinksmithe

Summer Scares YouTube Playlist is Live!

It's Alive.....The Summer Scares 2021 YouTube Playlist. Click here to access it.

Right now, all we have live is the video explaining the FREE Summer Scares Programming Guide, a product of the Springfield-Greene County [MO] Library District, explained by Summer Scares Programming Chair, Konrad Stump. 

But already loaded to go live on 5/24 are 3 panels that you can use as programs for your patrons featuring the 2021 Summer Authors in conversation with Summer Scares Committee members. The panels are broken up into age groups.

May is when Summer Scares really gets going in earnest. Our podcast partner, Ladies of the Fright will be releasing their first Summer Scares episode this month and we have a few more fun videos planned. 

For the most up to date information and resources, check out the Summer Scares Resource Page. For example, that page already has 2 podcast links about the program, including one from one of our sponsors, Booklist, that features an interview with Summer Scares 2021 spokesperson Silvia Moreno-Garcia. Hear which book she calls a "platypus."

And don't forget that this is year 3 of Summer Scares. We also have an archive of past lists, programming guides and resources here. You have plenty of titles and their readalikes to make up spooky displays and host scary book discussions for all ages of readers, all summer long.

Horror books make a great read all year long, but especially in the summer-- chilling tales for the hot days.

Click here to enter the playlist

#HorrorForLibraries #42: StokerCon Librarians' Day Featured Author V. Castro

It's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway day, but it is also a special mini-series within the larger giveaway series. From now until May 21st, I will be giving away books by authors who are appearing at StokerCon Librarians' Day. Plus I have a special multi-book giveaway set for LIVE during Librarians' Day [courtesy of Nightfire]. So you are going to want to enter now.

Click here for all of the details about this event. It is only $75 and you get to go to the entire StokerCon for that price, not just Librarians' Day.

Details on this week's giveaway below but first...

Here is a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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 each week will be considered for that  week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
4. 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.

Click here to see giveaway #41. Our winner was Nathalie from Hardin County [KY] Public Library.

This week I am featuring an author who is on the precipice of breaking out in a huge way, V. Castro. Castro is a Mexican America writer, originally from TX, now residing in the UK. She has a life long fascination with dark fiction, beginning with Mexican folklore and the urban legends of TX. And her books and stories all explore this. 

I gave her novella, Goddess of Filth a STAR review in Booklist in March. And, I was able to include it in the new book in the "Demonic Possession" chapter. But today I have her first novel, The Queen of the Cicadas/La Reina De Las Chicharras , coming in June, to giveaway.

I not only gave this novel a star for the June issue of Library Journal, but Castro was kind enough to do an interview with me for that issue too. I have some notes for that upcoming review here. I will post the review and the interview when they become available.

Three Words That Describe This Book: revenge, unflinching, voice to the voiceless.

By the way, those three words describe everything Castro writes. 

Castro will be appearing on the first panel of the day at Librarians' Day, along with last week's giveaway author, Grady Hendrix and more, to talk about the appeal of the genre. I worked very hard to have a variety of voices on this panel both to make it a worthwhile experience and to kick off the day right. We have multiple writing teachers, authors from across the spectrum of their careers, authors with completely different writing styles, and three separate marginalized view points. You cannot discuss the appeal of an entire genre without probing into the depth of said genre.

Enter for a chance to win this ARC of The Queen of the Cicadas/La Reina De Las Chicharras courtesy of Flame Tree Press. All of this publisher's books are great all library collections and available through your normal ordering sources.

And signup for Librarians' Day if you haven't already. I have 2 more LD themed giveaways planned!

Using Awards Lists as a RA Tool: This Is Horror

This is part of my ongoing series on using Awards Lists as a RA tool. Click here for all posts in the series in reverse chronological order. Click here for the first post which outlines the details how to use awards lists as a RA tool.

This is Horror, one of my favorite Horror resources as noted on the page I have dedicated to those favorites, is not only a fantastic general Horror resource for library workers [I especially love the weekly news roundup to keep you quickly and accurately up to date], but it also hosts the second most important awards for the genre [The Bram Stoker Awards being first].

Last week, the This is Horror Awards finalists were announced in a variety of categories. You can click here to see the full slate of nominees AND access backlist winners and nominees. Please refer to the series note at the top of this post to see my advice on how to use all awards lists as your best RA tool.

Note that I also keep an easy to access archive page of all of the most pertinent Horror and Horror adjacent Awards in this page always found in the right gutter of the blog.

As you will see noted in my new book [preorder now and use the $5 off coupon and link at the top of this page], one of my favorite things about all horror awards-- none of them come out in October. Why should they? Horror is worth celebrating other times of the year and the mere positioning of these awards announcements subconsciously reinforces that.

Check out the This is Horror Awards finalists for this year and year's past. Consider adding some of these titles to your collections. Honestly, scanning the top 4 categories [Novel, Novella, Story Collection, and Anthology], you should have every single one of these books in your collection. Most you already have. These are not niche titles. These are mainstream, excellent works. I personally have reviewed many of them.

And don't forget to check out my Horror Awards page anytime you are looking for ideas on suggestions or for some new display ideas.

Click here or on the image to enter the site