#HorroForLibraries Giveaway: Womb City

Today I have a book that I reviewed in the October 2023 issue of Library Journal and now that it is closer to coming out, I thought I would promote it again with a giveaway of my ARC.  Details below, but first, here is how you 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 the previous giveaway. Our winner was Addison from Portage County [WI] Public Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

In the October 2023 Issue of LJ, I reviewed Womb City by Tlotlo Tsammaase: 

Three Words That Describe This Book: strong world building, compressed time frame, psychological horror

This book is a lot, but in a good way. There is much here to enjoy.

Give easily to your fans of Blake Crouch. They will love it. Similar pacing and world building and themes. It is Africanfuturim with SF and Horror combos. A strong revenge horror frame and lots of psychological suspense. Strong world building but also time stamps for a compressed time frame. Keeps pacing up. Race against time aspects.

Universally thought provoking, on so many levels. AI, dystopian, spiritual, personal relationships, love, family, motherhood, body horror, deadly secrets, political intrigue, so much.

Touches of Philip K. Dick but reminded me a lot of Nicky Drayden [Prey of Gods and Temper] and Oghenechovwen Donald Ekpeki as a writer and editor.

Going to be easy to get into people's hand's if you say Blake Crouch set in Botswana. Marketing copy says Handmaid's Tale. I don't agree. Much more Blake Crouch.

Please note: Author uses xe/xem/xer pronouns

Draft Review: Critically acclaimed Motswana* author, Tsamaase’s strong debut combines African Futurism and Revenge Horror to tell the story of Nelah, a woman living in a near future Botswana, where crime, especially murder, is nonexistent, but that is only because most people have a microchip that monitors their behavior. Readers are swept into the story immediately, as the complicated details of the world and its characters are relayed with confidence, and the dangerous plot, including Nelah’s race against time, unspools at a compelling pace with intrigue coming at them from multiple angles– the thriller-esque twists, deadly secrets, and the history and mythology of the place itself. But like the very best dystopian tales across the subgenre’s history, Womb City is universally thought provoking as it seriously contemplates topics such AI, spirituality in modern society, bodily autonomy, grief, love, motherhood, and family. Verdict: Tsamaase, like Oghenechovwen Donald Ekpeki, is a rising star in African Speculative fiction whose work will appeal to readers from across the globe especially because while the influence of Philipp K. Dick and Margaret Atwood are easy to see, this novel is a perfect suggestion for fans of Blake Crouch. 

*I had to look it up but “Motswana” is a person from Botswana

Enter now. And remember, you enter once and you are entered going forward. 

Also, if you are reading this and you entered a while ago, feel free to use the directions above to check in on your entry and/or update your contact info. I have had people who retired and or changed libraries enter and not update me, so they have missed out. 

Good Luck!

#HorroForLibraries Giveaway: The Daughters of Block Island

Today I have a book that I reviewed in the October 1, 2023 issue of Booklist and now that it is coming out next month, I thought I would promote it again with a giveaway of my ARC.  Details below, but first, here is how you 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 the previous giveaway. Our winner was Emily from Springfield-Greene County District Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

Today's book is The Daughters of Block Island by Christa Carmen.  I first posted the review during 31 Days of Horror, but it was buried with 4 titles. Today I have reposted my longer review with commentary about this must buy book.

Blake heads to Block Island, 14 miles off Rhode Island, to confront her birth mother. Arriving in a winter rainstorm, she heads to a haunted mansion, now a Bed and Breakfast, where she sets out to untangle the complicated history of her family. Blake feels like the heroine in a Gothic novel, that is, until she is murdered, but not before she got a letter off to the sister she never knew. A few weeks later, Thalia returns to Block Island, the home she left behind ten years ago, to finish what the sister she never met started. However, whoever silenced Blake will stop at nothing to keep the secrets of the island and its generations of sisters quiet. Told in two parts, from Blake’s and Thalia’s perspectives, no one is safe in this compelling and atmospheric thriller that pays homage to classic Gothic novels while still adding something fresh to the beloved genre. An easy sell to fans of the Brontes but also, those who enjoy the creepy, psychological suspense of Simone St. James or Gwendolyn Kiste's LAMBDA award-winning Reluctant Immortals.

Further Appeal: This is a classic Gothic fiction fan's dream of a book. It is consciously a book about books and a book about storytelling itself. Everything Gothic is perfectly rendered. It is Rebecca dialed up to 10. 

Other themes explored, family secrets (so many both secrets and families interconnected in those secrets), addiction issues, lesbian MC. The setting is the biggest character: the island, the weather, the house, its place on a cliff, all the other buildings. Carmen double down on the atmosphere and it shows; it enhances the reading experience. 

The novel also has some modern psychological suspense twists that work very well with the Classic Gothic frame.

This book will have wide appeal to a huge swath of library patrons.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Gothic, Psychological Suspense, Atmospheric

Readalikes: Of course the dozens of books mentioned in the book-- the classic Gothic titles. Jennifer McMahon is another good option here. I would not suggest to every fan of Mexican Gothic or The Hacienda though, because those have supernatural monsters at the center of the story; this does not.

I would like to note, I called out Carmen's story in Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror edited by Mark Matthews as amazing. I said it would be on year end best lists, and I was correct. It was nominate for a Stoker this past year. This is Carmen's first novel, an it is with Amazon so it will have wide distribution. You need to be aware of it.

Speaking of her publisher, she is joining Zoje Stage who I would also list as a readalike, especially Mothered, which I reviewed here.

Enter today and for an advanced reader copy of The Daughters of Block Island, and add at least one copy to your collections. It is a perfect winter Horror story filled with atmosphere and chills-- real ones because the weather plays a big role here. 

And remember, you enter once and you are entered going forward. 

Which reminds me, if you are reading this and you entered awhile ago, feel free to use the directions above to check in on your entry and/or update your contact info. I have had people who retired and or changed libraries enter and not update me, so they have missed out. 

Next week we are off for Thanksgiving but after that I will be back with a SF-Horror cross over, set in Botswana that is a great readalike for your Blake Crouch fans. 

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Never Wake: An Anthology of Dream Horror

The #HorrorForLibraries giveaway is back after a busy October where 16 books were given away and I lost track of what number giveaway this is. So going forward, I am no longer numbering these weekly giveaways. Besides that, nothing else has changed.

Today I have a finished book. An anthology by one of my vetted small presses you can trust, featuring some of you patron's favorite Horror authors. Details below, but first, here is how you 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 the previous giveaway. Our winner was Sara (who entered back in 2020) from Marshall County [KY]  Public Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

Never Wake: An Anthology of Dream Horror is edited by Kenneth w. Cain and Tim Meyer and includes stories by Eric LaRocca, Cynthia Pelayo, Gwendolyn Kiste, Lee Murray, Philip Fracassi and more. Please note I have given multiple stars to all four of those authors for their work.

Even without know what the anthology's theme is, this a book you need in your general Horror collections. 

However, that theme is also a draw and will bring people who don't always consider themselves Horror readers to this book. From the publisher's description:

Where do we go when we dream?

Since the beginning of time, people have argued the meaning of dreams. Are they symbolic visions that hold great meaning and personal significance? Are they portals into other worlds? Or are they just a series of random events our mind shows us when we fall asleep? Whatever the case, this much is true—the mind can be a scary place to venture, even for a few hours.

NEVER WAKE is an anthology of dream horror, bringing you several mind-bending tales of nightmares, hallucinations, and phantasmagoria from some of the hottest talent in horror fiction. But don’t worry—when you (wake up screaming) flip the last page, just remember to tell yourself, “It was only just a story…” Unless it wasn’t.

Featuring an introduction from Sadie “Mother Horror” Hartmann and stories Cynthia Pelayo, Philip Fracassi, Gwendolyn Kiste, Eric LaRocca, Lee Murray, Todd Keisling, Laurel Hightower, and many more!

Thank you to Amanda (who is also a library worker) from Crystal Lake Publishing, I am offering you a finished copy of this book that you can add to your library collections immediately. But everyone should consider buying a copy, in case you don't win.

Remember, when you enter now, you are entered going forward.   

Good luck! 

31 Days of Horror: Day 32-- Promoting Horror All Year Long with Lila Dennning

I wanted to remind you AFTER October Horror is still worth promoting. As reported in Publisher's Lunch in January 2023, Horror is up 79% in sales as its own category over the previous 2 years. 

While we see an increase in seasonal readers in the Fall, there is a steady amount of all year long Horror readers, and that number is growing.

I asked my colleague Lila Denning, a national expert on Book Discussions, and part of the HWA's Library Team, to share how she highlights Horror all year long.

Even if she does not convince you, at the very least, leave those displays up for another week as people trickery in who meant to read a Horror title this fall but forgot. They will be relieved that you are sill thinking of them.

Thank you to Lila for helping out here. To read other guest posts by her, click here. And now, Lila Denning:

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

It’s the day after Halloween and you may be tempted to set aside the horror titles in your collection until next October. You may be sad that spooky season is over as we head into the winter holidays. But remember that it’s always spooky season because horror circulates all year and given the current rise in popularity, it is part of good patron service to include it in your passive and active readers advisory outside of Halloween season. By expanding how you think about genre and blending similar themes, you can continue to market horror to your patrons throughout the year.

Winter is dark, silent, cold and kind of scary. Look for those horror novels that take place in the winter and the snow. Lists like this one on Goodreads can guide a search of your library’s collection. There is also at least one winter or winter holiday themed short story collection released every year. Some readers may appreciate a small break from the push of joy and family visits to dive into something scary.

A theme like “Not Such a Happy Home” could include domestic thrillers, psychological suspense, haunted houses, and dysfunctional families. This would allow you to blend mysteries, suspense, and horror on one book display or online list. There are plenty of books with broad appeal that could be included. Using generic terms like murder for the title of the list or display, is another way to expand beyond one genre.

Witches cross genres – add paranormal romance, historical fiction, and horror. There are also creatures like shifters that appear in more than one genre. Add a sign that says “Shift Into Summer” and you can help circulate those titles in that time in between spring and summer. Of course, human monsters like serial killers appear in a variety of books, movies, and TV series.

When movie or series gains popularity during the year (studios don’t save all their horror features for October), remember to put up a display or list with read-alikes for that title. Bird Box was released in December 2018 and was a huge success. Netflix released Wednesday in November. That series could be used to promote your backlist YA titles in addition to adult books. Harness the energy of things with momentum in popular culture to draw attention to your backlist horror.

Springtime is the season for baby birds, melting snow and…folk horror. The movie Midsommer demonstrated that people will flock to stories set in rural places about folk religions, paganism, and witches.

Don’t forget about scary beach reads. Not everyone wants light, humorous books while they are on vacation. I have book displays with horror empty out in the summer as patrons take them down the road to the beach to enjoy as they sit in the bright sun. One of the more iconic summer creature films is Jaws. Recently there have been some great beach/ocean/shoreline related horror released that could jump start a summer display – What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman and Whalefall by Daniel Kraus. Additional evidence for the allure of scary books in the summer is the number of big mystery and suspense titles that are released every summer.

Speaking of summer, don’t neglect horror on your YA and youth summer reading suggestion list. There are a lot of great middle grade and YA horror titles available. Seeing their favorite kind of books promoted in the library could be just what a child needs to draw them back into reading and the library. The Bram Stoker Award nominees are an excellent place to start.

There are also juvenile fiction titles and picture books that can be suggested to help younger fans keep reading while school is out. The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist present Summer Scares every year. Three adult, YA, and middle grade titles are selected and can be worked into book clubs and displays. The most up-to-date resource page is here. Use these titles and the annual programming guide to make next summer a spooky one.

Hopefully, these ideas will give you a jumpstart on adding horror to your displays and lists all year. While Halloween is a wonderful celebration of the dark and spooky, horror can easily be worked into readers advisory year-round. If you are one of the library workers who loves horror, take it forward into every month.