Summer Scares Resources

Click here to immediately access the Summer Scares Resource page so that you can add some professionally vetted horror titles into your reading suggestions and fiction collections for all age levels.

Thursday, May 19, 2022

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 83: Dark Stars Hardcover

Today I have a finished hardcover copy of an anthology featuring many of the biggest names in HorrorDetails below, but first, how 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. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. 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 82Our 2 winner was Carrie from Racine [WI] Public Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

This one is super exciting. Back in October, I reviewed the anthology, Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror edited by John FD Taff and featuring a stellar list of authors: Chesya Burke, Ramsey Campbell, Gemma Files, Stephen Graham Jones, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, John Langan, Livia Llewellyn, Josh Malerman, Usman T. Malik, Priya Sharma, and John F.D. Taff.

 It was supposed to come out that month, but it was pushed back.

Nightfire sent me a finished hard cover and I want to give it to one of you to add to your collections. 

Click here for my full, glowing review, in which I say, "the stories take brilliant chances that will be worth the time investment; expect many to be up for major genre awards."

Three Words That Describe This Book: Epic, Imaginative, Genre Expanding

Good luck!

Wednesday, May 18, 2022

Syosset Public Library Shares Their Full Summer Scares Slate

One of the biggest supporters of Summer Scares programming is Syosset Public Library in New York. Community Engagement Specialist Jessikah Chautin plans virtual programming around Summer Scares every year. This year she shared the schedule with us and invites any of your or your patrons to join in.

I have posted the entire schedule below with the Zoom links. It all begins tomorrow with 2022 Summer Scares spokesperson Alma Katsu in an event that needs no registration. 

One of the best things Syosset does with their Summer Scares programming is to use it as a way to feature their local horror authors.  That is a great example of what we are trying to do with the program in general. We want to use it as a way to feature Horror-- all of it-- not just the chosen authors. Chautin gets that. 

So please, check out this programming schedule and consider joining in-- you or your patrons.

Finally, if you want some help planning Horror events at your library anytime of year, email libraries@horror.org.

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SUMMER SCARES KICK OFF EVENT AND BYOB 

Alma Katsu! Virtual BYOB and Author Visit a Summer Scares Event 

Link to join Webinar

Thursday, May 19 2022 at 7:30 PM 

Grab your favorite beverage and zoom in to “meet” Alma Katsu author of THE FERVOR.  This event officially kicks off Syosset Library’s Summer Scares programing. 

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Andrew Joseph White! Virtual Author visit a Pride Month and Summer Scares Event  (Registration Required) 

Registration Link 

(Co-hosted with Teens) 

Thursday, June 16 2022 at 7:30 PM 

Zoom in to “meet” Andrew Joseph White, author of HELL FOLLOWED WITH US, a YA/Crossover novel about a Sixteen-year-old trans boy Benji is on the run from the cult that raised him—the fundamentalist sect that unleashed Armageddon and decimated the world’s population. 

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PC Cast! Virtual Author visit and BYOB a Summer Scares Event 

Thursday, July 14, 2022 at 7:30 PM 

Link to join Webinar

Grab your favorite summer beverage and zoom in to “meet” PC Cast, author of INTO THE MIST and many other favorites.

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American Gravestone Symbolism 101 with Dr. Elise Ciregna 

Thursday, June 9 2022 at 7 P.M. 

Link to join Webinar

Have you ever wandered through a cemetery and wondered about the motifs and symbols carved into them?  Join Dr. Elise M. Ciregna as she presents a talk on American gravestones and symbolism over the past 400 years. Symbolism on American gravestones can tell us a lot about attitudes towards death, religious belief, contemporary thought, social and popular culture, literature and artistic endeavor, and many other areas of interest. We will look at some of the most common themes and how to interpret the symbols and motifs on gravestones, and link these to their time, their places and the people who used them to mark their loved one's burial site. 

 

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Voices from Gilgo: The Hunt for the Long Island Serial Killer. A Summer Scares Event. 

Thursday, August 11 at 7:30 PM 

Link to join Webinar

Join local author and host of the VOICES FROM GILGO podcast Robert P. Ottone as he discusses the mystery of the Long Island Serial Killer. 

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Write your own Gothic Horror/Romance with Erin Coughlin 

Thursday, June 30 at 7 P.M. 

Register in advance for this meeting here:


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#Trending Summer Scares Wrap Up! J.W. Oker! Virtual BYOB and Author Visit

Thursday, August 25 7:30 PM ET


Welcome to the United States of Cryptids, where mysterious monsters lurk in the dark forests, deep lakes, and sticky swamps of all fifty states. From the infamous Jersey Devil to the obscure Snallygaster, travel writer and chronicler of the strange J. W. Ocker not only uncovers the bizarre stories of these creatures but investigates the ways in which communities have embraced and celebrated their local cryptids.


Tuesday, May 17, 2022

2021 Bram Stoker Awards Winners

Click here to enter the awards database

Please click here to see the full list
of this year's nominees and winners and every nominees and winner throughout the history of the Bram Stoker Awards.

Also, if you would like to watch this year's ceremony you can see me get to stand up and be recognized in person for winning the Richard Laymon President's Award for Service during virtual StokerCon last year and me announcing Superior Achievement in A Novel with Jennifer McMahon. Plus everyone else. 

The Bram Stoker Awards Ceremony is one the HWA's YouTube Channel.

Sunday, May 15, 2022

StokerCon Librarians' Day Links w/ Summer Scares Video Links

As promised during the live event here are some links from Librarians' Day available to all:

Konrad's program slides on Promoting Collections Through Horror Programming with contact info from all participants can be access here.

Click on the image to enter the slides

Also as promised here is the list of contact info for all of the HWA Diversity Grant Winners and the books and podcasts and websites they all mentioned:

The HWA Diversity Grant is open to underrepresented, diverse people who have an interest in the horror writing genre, including, but not limited to writers, editors, reviewers, and library workers. Like the Diverse Works Inclusion Committee, the Diversity Grants have adopted the broadest definition of the word diversity to include, but not limited to, gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disabled, and neurodiverse. 

The Horror Writers Association (HWA) believes barriers—often unseen but very real—exist which limit the amount of horror fiction being published by diverse voices. The goal of these Grants is to help remove some of the barriers and let those voices be heard. 

You can find more information about the HWA’s Diversity Grant Scholarship here” http://horrorscholarships.com/diversity-grants  

Each year, the organizers of  Librarians’ Day at StokerCon invite the current recipients of the Diversity Grant to participate in a panel to introduce themselves and their work.

This year’s recipients: Eugen Bacon, Somto Onyedikachi Ihezue, Jonathan Maurice Kincade, Tonya Liburd, Juan Manuel Perez, joined Diversity Grant committee members Violet Castro and Larissa Glasser to talk about their work.  

Links to their personal websites as well a list of the authors and resources each mentioned during the presentation are below. 

2022 HWA Diversity Grant Recipients:

  • Tonya Liburd:

    • My website: https://www.Tonya.ca

    • My Twitter: @somesillywowzer 

    • My Patreon: www.Patreon.com/TonyaLiburd 

Resources and authors mentioned during the panel:

Finally, I have made the Summer Scares Author panels available on the YouTube channel. From the Summer Scares Resource page:


Thursday, May 12, 2022

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 82: A Pre-StokerCon Prize Pack

Today I am leaving for StokerCon in Denver, but because I know many of you cannot join us, I am giving away 3 ARCs by people who will be presenting for Librarians' Day tomorrow. But first, how 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. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. 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 #81Our winner was Mike from North Canton [OH] Public Library. Now on to today's giveaway:



That is a picture of the actual ARCs I am giving away today as they were spread out on my dining room table earlier this week.
  • I gave The Ghost That Ate Us by Daniel Kraus a STAR in Booklist
  • You will see the STAR I am giving The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias in Library Journal in June
  • I am reading Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman right now for Booklist review [but Quirk sent me 2 copies so you get one early.]
All three authors will be appearing at Librarians' Day tomorrow. You can see the full schedule here

I will be giving away more copies of these books after StokerCon as well, but I thought I would use today's giveaway to get everyone excited.

I will draw the winner from StokerCon but will not get the package in the mail until Monday.


Good luck! And remember, enter once and you stay entered. I will have MANY excellent post-StokerCon giveaways. Get in on the fun now. 

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

50 Best Horror Books of All Time via Esquire and Comments on Diversifying Your Lists

Click here to enter the list via Esquire's webiste

Normally, when main stream magazines do a list of Horror books, I roll my eyes before diving in and I predictably, end up disappointed. But this time, I had high hopes because friend of the blog and podcaster, Neil McRobert did his list of the 50 Best Horror Books of All Time for Esquire Magazine and it is awesome. 

Last October, I invited McRobert to participate in my 31 Days of Horror: Why I Love Horror series. McRobert has the top notch Talking Scared Podcast and holds a PhD in Gothic Literature. He has spent years studying Horror as a scholar, yes, but he is also a fan. Click here to see McRobert's appearance on my blog and learn more about him. 

Anytime someone posts a best list of any kind, there are going to be haters. In this case, I saw some criticism that this list has too much of a recency bias. But I loved that recency bias for a couple of reason and applaud McRobert for it.

First, and the most important part for libraries, the recently bias of this list means you can be assured that these are titles that will be enjoyed by today's readers. I loved that about this list. Yes there were a few old classics, but it is focused on what books a general Horror reader today would most connect with and enjoy. This is VERY important both because the venue is a mass market magazine, not a Horror specific publication, and because as a library worker, you can check your shelves for these titles [most of which you already have], add those you are missing, and most importantly, promote them to your general readers. This is a list you can use anytime of year, not just to target Horror readers. It is a list for everyone who wants to feel the fear, even if just a little. This is not for Horror fans; it is for readers [full stop]. 

This is also a list that you can build a display from today! And Add a QR code to access the list. Or post it on your website. Even better, if you have Esquire in your print or digital magazine collection, use this list to promote that holding and increase circulation on it as well.

Second, by giving his list a recency bias, McRobert's list is not only white men. This is a diverse list of excellent Horror. Many "best" list makers use the fact that the "classics" were from a time when only white males published in order to argue for why their lists are not diverse. This is not an  acceptable excuse any longer.. Making sure our best lists represent marginalized voices is more important than anything. As I say frequently, classics change. Not only do people not want to read many books that are 100 years old anymore, but they also need to see an established genre in a modern light where all voices are represented. Because of systemic oppression, we only have the voices of non-white males from a more recent time. That is a societal problem that people  who make these best lists can actively help  to fix.

In the introduction to the list, McRobert mentions that there are some big names missing and says straight up something I wanted to point out:

"Certain big names are missing ...because their books tread ground better travelled by others."

I think a great example of this on the list is including Victor LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom over the Lovecraft original it is based upon. LaValle's excellent novella is a rewrite of Lovecraft's most racist story. "The Horror at Red Hook." As I said here, in this novella it is as if LaValle is giving Lovecraft a hug and the middle finger at the same time. It is brilliant classic for today's readers.

Kudos to McRobert for being willing to consider the contributions of systemically marginalized voices and judge them by the quality of their work, not the era in which they were published.

I also have two observations from my point of view. Not really criticisms but just points I wanted to make about the list.

  1. Anyone who listens to McRobert's podcast knew that IT by Stephen King was going to hold the number 1 spot on his list. He is unapologetic about his love for this book and I applaud that. It would not be my number 1 but I do love consistency. Also, you have got to own your biases when you do these lists. I would have been disappointed if a list by McRobert did NOT have IT number one.
  2. As much as I love the addition of more marginalized voices here, we also have to work to keep hateful humans and their books out of our lists. This is the other side of the anti-racist RA Service coin that must work in tandem with diversifying our lists on order for any progress to be made. It would be hard to argue that The Terror by Dan Simmons is NOT one of the best Horror books; however, he is a horrible human being. Click here for a sampling of reasons and examples. I have stopped supporting him in anyway. I left any mention of him out of my book, even choosing to not include him in my lists of important Horror authors of the late 20th Century-- which he most definitely was. This choice is a glaring omission, and that is 100% the point. By not including him, I make people think about why he was omitted. Clearly, if you read my book, it is clear I know my stuff, so his omission forces you to ask, why he isn't there. I would have replaced The Terror on principle with my favorite recent Horror book from that era, The Ruins by Scott Smith. 
But those are small quibbles. This is an excellent list, one that is especially useful for library workers. I hope you check it out and use it sometime soon for a display. Don't wait until October, these are excellent year round reads.

And finally, big props to McRobert. Going out on a limb to make a list of the best of anything is a brave activity. I know, I have done it many times. He did a great job.

Thursday, May 5, 2022

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 81: The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay

Today I have a print ARC of on of the most anticipated, and quite honestly, best Horror novels of the year. Details, including links my Booklist STAR review and my podcast conversation with the author below, but first, how 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. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. 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 #80Our winner was Leigh from Aurora Public Library District [IL]. Now on to today's giveaway:

See below for my full post about this title from RA for All when the review went live and it includes the podcast I did with Tremblay. Good luck!

TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 2022

Today I have my STAR review of what is hands down, the best Horror novel of the year, I am not sure if it can be dethroned. Also, originally, I was told they were holding this review for the May 1 issue, but it did run last week. Don't sleep on this book!

Seriously, order it now because the first run will be in two color ink-- with Mercy's comments in red. I already pre-ordered a copy for myself on Bookshop.Org.

Also, last week I taped an interview with Tremblay for the Library Loveliest podcastListen now!

Below is my draft review with extra appeal info.


STAR

The Pallbearers Club

Paul Tremblay

July 2022. 288p. Morrow, $27.99 (9780063069916)
First published April 15, 2022 (Booklist).


In his brilliant new novel, Tremblay takes on the well mined small town, coming of age Horror trope, transforming it into something so original, it elevates the entire genre. From the title page, readers are introduced to the unsettling construction of this memoir, [or is it a novel?] by Art Barbara, a stand-in for the troubled man Tremblay could have become, as text is crossed out and replaced by the story’s other protagonist, Mercy, who also caps off each chapter with own commentary and context. Art recounts his life from 1988-2017, from an awkward High School Senior creating a club to assist at poorly attended funerals, meeting Mercy, his only clubmate, one with a vampire obsession, and growing into a man, with prematurely declining health and a passion for punk rock. The intimate and playful nature of their conversation on the page draws readers in immediately, but as the novel continues, the chapters get longer and more immersive as an intense unease envelopes the narrative. Everyone’s reliability is questioned [reader included], and all are held captive until the extremely disquieting conclusion. For fans of thought- provoking, pervasively creepy Horror that crawls under the skin and won’t let go like works by Hendrix and Kingfisher.

Further AppealMy notes from Goodreads, written immediately after I finished reading it, but  before I sat down to write the review:

Here is an example of a note I took: This book is Tremblay's take on coming of age, small town horror first made popular by Stephen King, but like he did for the "Exorcism" novel in A Head Full of Ghosts, he has taken on a tried and true trope as his foundation and transformed it into something so new and original that it elevates the entire genre as a result.

But in true Tremblay form, it will upset you at your core. It may not break you as badly as Cabin at the End of The World, but it is close. [That title  is  also a masterpiece]

An intimate novel told as a conversation between its two main players-- Art and Mercy-- as Art writes his "memoir" and Mercy provides her commentary on his "novel." Told from 1988-2017, readers get to know both characters very well, enough to know that while we want to give both a big hug, we cannot trust either.. The result, a story that is both touching and terrifying, snarky and serious, immersive and compelling.

Oh and bonus-- vampires, of the New England variety, well maybe vampires, well yes for sure we learn about a historical vampire. But are they left to history? Or are they real? So cool.

This back and forth is also one of Tremblay's signature touches, one I always appreciate. As I wrote in my book, Tremblay is the defining author of 21st Century Psychological Horror and this is another stellar example. Does everything that happens have a rational explanation or is there a supernatural element at play? All the answers are there for either answer and the reader is left to decide. And this leaves a long tail of unease and creepiness, one that will follow the reader for weeks after finishing the book.

Another note: as the book goes on, the playfulness decreases and the terror increases. It's like a sound mixing board. The playful slide moves down and the terror one up and up. With the music frame of this novel, I tried so hard to fit this into my review, but I could not.

This is also underscored by the physical book itself-- The first chapter is short and punchy and then each chapter gets a little longer, and longer, and longer. This works so well on so many levels, First, the book hooks you into Art, Mercy, their conversation and the story-- their meeting and the origins of the Pallbearers Club. And it is playful. But with each passing chapter, the length and discomfort increase. You are already hooked, and Mercy's margin comments keep you reading, even as the story darkens. You need to keep going, you don't want to stop reading, and then you get to the end of a chapter and look up. Time has passed, you are feeling unsettled, Mercy also sums it all up. You know you should take a break, the next chapter will be longer and you cannot stop in the middle-- but you know what? You can't stop. You take a deep breath and dive back in. When I write in my book about how all Horror books increase in pacing as you read and that by the last third, I dare you too be able to put out down.... that is true for most Horror novels. But somehow, in this one, Tremblay does it better than I have even seen. What kind of novel gives you longer chapters as the book goes on and yet the pacing increases? None. How did he do that?

A few more notes before I write the review: Frame is the punk rock and Indie rock scenes of the late 80s thru the 90s. I happen to be around the same age as Tremblay and went to college in New England-- so while I knew most every band he mentions, some may go over readers' heads [Yeah Dinosaur Jr.] but Husker Du, the band that frames the entire novel-- chapter titles are from song titles-- most people know them [I hope] and at least can pull up some of the songs on Spotify. That helps to enrich the novel and its atmosphere but if you don't know them or look things up, no big deal. Mercy is there with her commentary to help guide the reader and fills in Art's blanks, especially regarding the music.

Three Words That Describe This Book: original, immersive, pervasively creepy 

Readalikes: Tremblay fans will like a lot of horror, but when I thought about this book in particular I really thought that the Venn Diagram overlap of people who like both Grady Hendrix and T. Kingfisher will like this book, even if they were not Tremblay fans before this.

Here is the readalike statement from my book from the section in Chapter 2 where I break down Tremblay as one of today's "Heads of Horror":

Tremblay will appeal to older horror readers who have enjoyed Stephen King, Peter Straub, Robert McCammon, and Joe Hill for years, but he is also a great gateway to the other Heads of Horror listed here (Stephen Graham Jones, Victor LaValle, and Carmen Maria Machado) and newer voices like Jac Jemc, Andy Davidson, and Ania Alhborn. Horror today starts and stops with Paul Tremblay.