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Thursday, January 19, 2023

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 109: The Shoemaker's Apprentice by Cynthia Pelayo

Today I am offering a copy of one of the books I gave a STAR review to in the January 2023 issue of Library Journal. But first, here are the details on 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 #108. Our winner was Merrilee from the Buffalo and Erie County (NY) County Library.

Now on today's giveaway.

I gave The Shoemaker's Apprentice by Cynthia Pelayo an unequivocal star in the January issue of LJ. Not only is this a compelling, gripping and haunting supernatural thriller, it is also filled with historical details about Chicago and its film industry history, AND it is a love letter to the genre of Horror itself.

Here is a link to my star review. It is free to access because it is a STAR.

But also, here is the text of my draft review:

The Shoemaker’s Magician by Cynthia Pelayo 
Bass, a homicide detective in Chicago, is called to a brutal murder on the stage of the Chicago Theater. The body was laid out with a poster for a famous occult film, one of the first horror movies ever made, a film with a dangerous mythology. Bass’ wife Polly, a horror film expert, is writing her dissertation on Chicago’s most elusive and famous horror host, Grand. Polly, the child of immigrants and a survivor of child abuse, has always found comfort in horror movies and magick and she has passed he love on to her autistic son Bela. But someone else is sharing dark stories with Bela, ominous fables that seem to connect the murder to his family, the history of horror films, and Chicago’s deteriorating movies palaces. The second in her planned series of connected novels, Pelayo employs the same enchanting mix of Chicago history, folklore, and haunting atmosphere, anchored by a strong female protagonist, as she takes readers by the hand, crafting a tale that fascinates and frightens, as awe and wonder battle darkness and evil, with an outcome foretold but still unexpected. Verdict: A gripping story filled with ghosts, mystery, and history that is a celebration of Horror itself, this novel has many excellent entry points of a wide range of readers, but especially those who enjoy creepy retellings of western folklore as written by authors like Helen Oyoyemi and books about occult movies such as Experimental Film by Files.
Pelayo also did an interview with me and I think it is one of the best I have offered to you all. Here is the link.

Enter now for your chance to win this ARC. The book comes out in February. Place your orders now, if you haven't already. And thanks to Polis Books for sending me a copy.

Over the next few weeks I will be offering many of the titles from my January LJ Horror Review column, so stay tuned.


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