Bram Stoker Awards: 2022 Final Ballot

Last night, the HWA announced the final ballot for the 2022 Bram Stoker Awards. This is the only award I write about where I actually get to have a vote on who wins, so it holds a special place in my heart. 

I posted the entire ballot on the main blog here, including links to where I reviewed or gave away a title. You can also see it directly from the HWA here.

But first, I wanted to share a few observations about the ballot, since this is a genre and an award with which I am intimately aquatinted.

• I read and reviewed all 5 nominees in the Novel category and am on the record stating which I think is the best of the bunch. 
• I am so proud to have been a part of the first ever award in the category of Middle Grade. I do not have reviews for these titles because as a member of the jury, I did not want to go on the record about any of them; however, I can tell you with 100% certainty, all 5 of these titles is worthy of the haunted house statue. I also want to note that these 5 titles will forever be the first crop of nominees for this category, and that alone is a HUGE honor.
• Just saying, but back in May of 2022, I correctly predicted the nomination of one of the "long fiction" nominees here, in print, in Library Journal.
• I got to read Tiffany Jackson's The Weight of Blood (YA category) and interview the author on a panel for a Library Journal event. This book is GOOD.
• That stacked anthology category! 2 points here. First, every single nominee is a woman! Second, two of the editors were included in an article I wrote for The Lineup, "These Six Anthologists Are Masterful Curators of Terror." By the way, I have another article coming next month about the best Middle Grade Horror for adults. 

In terms of using this award for suggestions, displays, and as a CD tool, the HWA makes it as easy as possible because we have an entire website just for the Awards. Click through to get lists of every nominee and winner. You can even search by author and see every time and in which category they were nominated. It is a library worker's dream as a resource. 

Okay enough lead up. Click here to see the official nominees for the 2022 Bram Stoker Award. You can tune in on Saturday June 17, 2023 to see the winners announced live. Details closer to the event. You might even catch me up on the stage.

Click here to see the Final Ballot

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 114: The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro

Today I am offering a bound manuscript copy of V. Castro's first Big 5 novel. I gave this book a STAR win the January 2023 issue of Library Journal. Details below, 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 #113. Our winner was Lauren from Rutherford [NY] Public Library. Now to this week's giveaway.

The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro is terrifying, both as a Horror novel, but also because all of the "haunting" is written to feel so real. Yes some of that is because it is based on misogyny and colonialism which are very real horror. Yes because Alexandra's pain is not just from generations of haunting and trauma, it is grounded in reality as well. But there is more than that. The way Castro describes Alejandra's life and then seamlessly incorporates her ancestors issue  immersive and terrifying that I felt the terror as I was reading. That is remarkable.

Here is the link to my LJ Star review draft language via Goodreads:

Three Words That Describe This Book: utterly terrifying, generational trauma, engrossing 

Draft review: Alejandra has just moved with her husband and three children from Texas to Philadelphia only months after finally connecting with her birth mother, Cathy. Overwhelmed, lonely, and paralyzed by suicidal thoughts which are manifesting as violent and disquieting visions that seems too real to be only in her head, Alejandra is barely getting through each day. Told mostly from Alejandra’s point of view in the novel’s “present,” and enhanced by well placed and clearly marked flashbacks beginning in 1522 and moving forward in time, readers follow Alejandra and her ancestors,watching helpless as a demon stalks the women of this family for centuries, actively feeding off of and infecting each generation of women. Using the Mexican horror folklore of La Llorona as a frame and expertly updating it for a modern audience, this is a story of generational trauma, colonization, systemic oppression, and the horror at the heart of motherhood. Utterly terrifying and wholly immersive, readers will be wowed by this confident, unflinching, and powerful tale of a woman reclaiming her power, actively fighting to save both herself and the countless women who will come after her. 

Verdict: Castro’s Big 5 debut will bring her critically acclaimed, unflinchingly honest, sensual, and raw horror to a larger audience. Suggest far and wide to fans of unapologetically feminist, thought-provoking, and engrossing horror that gives voice to the voiceless such as works by Carmen Maria Machado or Gwendloyn Kiste.

The Haunting of Alejandra is out April 18th. It is from Del Rey, the same imprint with PRH who published Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Josh Malerman, and more. This book will introduce more readers to Castro and you should go back and make sure you have her other titles which are spread out across the publishing landscape.

Thanks to Del Rey who shared a bound manuscript (this is pre-ARC) with me for the review process and so that I could host this giveaway.

Enter now and you are entered going forward and "forward" includes 2 winners of Eric LaRocca's debut novel (coming in April) and more! Good luck.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 113: Piñata by Leopoldo Gout

Today I am offering an ARC of an upcoming Nightfire title that comes out 3/14/23. I reviewed this title in the January 2023 issue of Library Journal. Details below, 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 #112. Our winner was Jessikah from Syosset [NY] Public Library. Now to this week's giveaway.

I first read Leopoldo Gout back in 2009 when I listened to Ghost Radio [click here for my review from way back then]. That book, especially in audio, blew me away. I still suggest this title to readers. Although I will note from that review, I no longer list Dan Simmons as a readalike for anything because he is a horrible human being. 

Piñata is his return to adult fiction and horror (after success in YA). It is out March 14, 2023, from Nightfire (who you can thank for this giveaway copy). My review of Piñata appeared in the January issue of Library Journal. You can read my draft review here or below.

Piñata by Leopoldo Gout 

Three words That Describe This Book: vengeance is mine, horrors of colonialism, immersive dread

Draft review: A New York architect originally from Mexico, Carmen Sanchez has raised her family in the states, but when her firm needed someone to oversee the renovation of an old Mexican church into a hotel, Carmen jumped at the chance to bring her 11 and 16 year old daughters for the Summer. However, from the start of their trip, an angry force from ]seems drawn to Luna, the younger daughter. When the renovations open up a hidden room, revealing an ancient piñata, made of pottery and filled with viscera, part of the complex religious practices of the conquered Nahua, the wronged spirit is able to seep out into the modern world with very real consequences. A slow burn where the omniscient narration is spread around allowing the characters and historical details to realistically build and laying a strong foundation for the dread that permeates every page. Gout succeeds in presenting a thought-provoking, violent and immersive revenge horror story, but he excels in restoring the rich history of an erased people.

Verdict: A great choice for readers who enjoy novels where the true horrors of colonization and human rights atrocities are corrected in gruesomely riveting fashion while retaining the utmost respect to the victims as seen in the works of V. Castro, Stephen Graham Jones and Tananarive Due.

Enter today and stay entered until you win. If you are a past winner (and there are a LOT of you), as long as it has been a month since you won, you can enter again. Good luck.

Summer Scares 2023: Title Announcement Press Release

In celebration of National Library Lover’s Day, the Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist, is delighted to announce the fifth annual Summer Scares reading list, which includes titles selected by a panel of authors and librarians and is designed to promote Horror as a great reading option for all ages and during any time of the year.

This year Summer Scares welcomes New York Times Bestselling author, Daniel Kraus as their 2023 spokesperson. "My love of reading began at a public library -- but I had to hunt for the horror,” said Kraus. “I would have been giddy to have a slate like our 2023 choices presented to me when I walked in. I am, in fact, giddy about it right now. It's a tremendously far-reaching group of titles that epitomizes the breadth of creativity going on in the genre." 

The goal of Summer Scares is to introduce Horror titles to school and public library workers in order to help them start conversations with readers that will extend beyond the books from each list and promote reading for years to come. In addition to the annual list of recommended titles, the Summer Scares committee will release themed lists of even more “read-alike” titles libraries can suggest to readers. And, in order to help libraries forge stronger connections between books and readers, the Summer Scares committee will be working with both the recommended list authors and Horror authors from all over the country to provide free programming to libraries. 

Every year, three titles are selected in each of three categories: Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade. For 2023 those selected titles are: 

Adult Selections: 

• Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark (Tordotcom, 2020)
• Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas (Custom House, 2020)
• The Merry Spinster: Tales of Everyday Horror by Daniel M. Lavery (Holt Paperbacks, 2018) 

Young Adult Selections: 

• In The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (Amulet Books, 2013) 
• Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle (illustrator) (Greenwillow Books, 2021)
• Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu (illustrator) (Oni Press, 2019) 

Middle Grade Selections: 

• Small Spaces by Katharine Arden (G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2018)
• Living Ghosts and Mischievous Monsters: Chilling American Indian Stories by Dan SaSuWeh Jones Weshoyot Alvitre (Illustrator) (Scholastic Nonfiction, 2021)
• A Small Zombie Problem by K.G. Campbell (Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2019) 

The Summer Scares Programming Guide, created each year by the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library, and free for libraries anywhere to access, is back with the tools libraries need to connect with their communities.

“The 2023 guide is packed with ideas that library workers can use to engage their communities with these great titles, whether they're putting up book displays, hosting author events, or planning an entire Summer Scares program series,” states Konrad Stump, co-creator of the programming guide. The guide will be available beginning March 15, 2023 on the Summer Scares Resource page at http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html

This year Summer Scares is excited to announce two new partnerships to join our existing partnerships with EBSCO’s NoveList database and the Horror Studies Collection of the University of Pittsburgh Library Systems. First, Summer Scares welcomes the Books in the Freezer podcast (https://booksinthefreezer.com/), which will be featuring Summer Scares committee members and authors beginning in March 2023 and continuing throughout 2023.

Second, Summer Scares is excited to join iRead, a summer reading program that has been adopted by nine states and across the globe by the Department of Defense for libraries on military bases. “While there is nothing scary about Summer Reading, there is no better time than summer to scare up some great books. iREAD is thrilled (and chilled!) to partner with Summer Scares to introduce Horror titles to school and public library workers in order to help them start conversations with readers that perfectly aligns with our mission to bridge the summer gap, while inspiring literacy and life-long learning,” shares incoming iREAD Content and Development Manager, Becca Boland. “We look forward to working with Summer Scares to help people find their voice - even if it is to scream!

You can help kick off Summer Scares 2023 at the HWA’s Librarians’ Day, taking place in person on June 16, 2023, in Pittsburgh as part of StokerCon. Details at: https://www.stokercon2023.com/librarian-s-day. Summer Scares content will also be available for free on the HWA’s YouTube page, including panels with all of this year’s selected authors.

The HWA is a non-profit organization of writers and publishing professionals, and the oldest organization dedicated to the horror/dark fiction genre. One of the HWA’s missions is to foster an appreciation of reading through extensive programming and partnerships with libraries, schools, and literacy-based organizations.

The 2023 Summer Scares program committee consists of author Daniel Kraus, HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump, as well as Academic Librarian Carolyn Ciesla, Book Riot Editor and YA specialist Kelly Jensen, and Booklist Editor and Middle Grade specialist Julia Smith.

For more information about the Summer Scares reading program, including committee member bios and how to obtain promotional materials and schedule events with the authors/committee members, please visit The Summer Scares Resource page: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html or email HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump at libraries@horror.org.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 112: Destroyer of Worlds by Matt Ruff

Today I am offering a an ARC of a highly anticipated sequel that comes out on 2/21. I reviewed this title 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 #111. Our winner was Ken from Bath Township [MI] Library. Now to this week's giveaway.

On February 21st, fans can return to the world of Lovecraft Country with Matt Ruff's new book The Destroyer of Worlds. 

I reviewed it in the January 2023 issue of Library Journal and you can read a draft here or below. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: Reclaiming Lovecraft, intricately plotted, though provoking 

Draft Review: It is the summer of 1957, 3 years after the events of Lovecraft Country, and Montrose, Atticus, George, Hippolyta, Horace, Letitia, and Ruby are still having Lovecraftian inspired adventures tied to their family history and escalating racial tensions in America, but this time, they also have to grapple with the knowledge and consequences from their previous confrontations with Winthrop and Braithwhite. Readers can expect the same genre blending, dark humor, and creepy atmosphere from the first book, but this time, the storytelling style is different. Rather than laying out the action as distinct but linked episodes, Ruff presents the different characters and their compelling journeys in alternating chapters. As they overlap and come together, readers will be held captive until the thrilling conclusion, one that ties up loose ends but leaves room for another installment. A worthy sequel, but where this series excels is in how it continues to draw parallels between its pulpy plot and the entire Civil Rights Movement. Their cosmic dilemmas make for a great read, but the unease is amplified by readers’ knowledge that these Black characters are about to be thrust into a very real fight for freedom.

Verdict: The popularity of the Lovecraft Country television show means more readers will be eager for this return. A great suggestion for fans of titles that grapple with racism in stalwart horror tropes such as Ring Shout by Clark and Mexican Gothic by Moreno-Garcia

The copy of this highly anticipated book is courtesy of Harper. Enter to win today and you are entered going forward.

Good luck!

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 111: Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy Snyder

 Today I am offering a an ARC of a highly anticipated psychological suspense-horror hybrid by a rising star author. I reviewed this title 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 #110. Our winner was Rachel from Reddick [IL] Library. 

Now on today's giveaway, a book that I loved, Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy Snyder. As  you can see below and here from my draft Library Journal review, I gave it 4.5 Stars. But more importantly, I am moving this title to be my "start with" for Cosmic Horror-- for literally everyone who wants to know what this popular subgenre is about, this is THE BOOK.

Here is more info from my Goodreads review to introduce you to the novel:

Three Words That Describe This Book: body horror, Cosmic, strong world building

A new virus is quickly spreading across the globe, affecting people so differently that they are being sorted into types. Type 3’s like Erin, now need to eat a diet that includes mammal brains to survive or Types 5’s like Savannah who are now “archivists,” ingesting the memories and knowledge of others before they are all lost, or Mareva, whose pre-pandemic condition makes her a pivotal figure in the impending apocalypse. Told in three sections, each focusing on one of the women, Snyder meticulously builds a realistically, unnerving science fiction-horror hybrid world, where the increasingly horrifying yet utterly enticing details compound upon themselves. As the plot keeps moving compellingly forward and the novel moves to its climax, the stories of the individual women overlap and intertwine, making it all abundantly clear that the virus is not an accident, and the goal of its inventors is to transform humanity forever. 

Verdict: Snyder, a critically acclaimed, indie Horror vet, steps boldly into her major press debut, setting a new “start-with” standard for readers looking to try 21st Century Cosmic Horror. Fans of the subgenre new and old will be delighted, awe-struck, and terrified in equal measure much like when they read Cailtin Kiernan or Hailey Piper.

Enter today to win this book, and all others going forward. Good luck!

Thanks to Tor Nightfire for the ARC.