#HorrorForLibraries giveaway: 4 titles from my June LJ Column for 5 winners

I have many titles too give away and I want to make sure they get to you before they are released, so today I have 4 of the titles from my June Horror Review column in Library Journal for 5 winners (I have two copies of one of the books). More details below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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 Beth from Lewis & Clark [MT] Library. Now on today's giveaway. 

My Horror Review column in the June 2024 issue of Library Journal featured 8 books and an author interview. You can click here for all of the details including links to my draft reviews with notes for all 8 titles. 

Today, I have 4 of those books to giveaway. They are:

• STAR REVIEW: Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch by Emily Hughes (expertly crafted, informative, accessible)
• STAR REVIEW: Sacrificial Animals by Kailee Pedersen (contemplative pacing, constant unease, great ending
• The Drowning House by Cherie Priest (then and now timelines, creepy, strong sense of place) 
• The Body Harvest by Michael Seidlinger (illicit, menacing, obsession )-- 2 copies for 2 winners

Click on the titles above or on the cover images at the end of this post for review access.

I will pick 5 winners this week, in the order that you see them listed above. and remember, if you enter now, you are entered going forward. 

But wait, there's more. Next week, I will have 2 more books, but the giveaway will be on Wednesday because of the July 4th holiday.

My hope is to give a better chance to those of you who have been entered for years by giving away 7 books over the next week.

Good Luck!

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias-- SIGNED ARC

Today I have a signed arc of a book I just gave a STAR to in the current issue of Booklist. It I sone of the best books I have read all year in ANY genre. More below, first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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 Andrea from Gail Borden [IL] Public Library. Now on today's giveaway. 

In the June issue of Booklist I have a STAR review for one of the best books I have read all year, in any genre. 

Yes, Iglesias won the Stoker Award AND the Shirley Jackson Award for The Devil Takes You Home, and yes, it was amazing, but House of Bone and Rain is BETTER, in every way. I only had 200 words to officially share how great it is in Booklist, but thankfully, I have this blog post to share my draft review and talk about it some more.

I have much more to say about this book over on the regular blog today. Please go there to read all of the details. But here I will post the draft review itself.

STAR

House of Bones and Rain 
by Gabino Iglesias 

“All stories are ghost stories,” repeats Gabe (until all truly feel its meaning), the narrator of Iglesias’ stellar Horror-Thriller hybrid set in Puerto Rico amidst 2017’s devastating Hurricane Maria. When his mother is gunned down at work, best friends Gabe, Xavier, Tavo, and Paul join Bimbo in his quest for revenge, attempting to take out the biggest drug lord on the island under cover of the storm’s aftermath. The unsettling tone, high tension, and brisk pace are enhanced by striking free verse poems at the start of each chapter that foreshadow what is coming without giving anything away. However, it is Gabe’s engaging narration that will hook readers. He is honest and conflicted, but bursting with love despite the real life horrors that surround him. Intricately plotted, with a strong sense of place, told with awe inspiringly lyrical language and brutal violence, this is a remarkable novel that beams its hope into the darkness; a story that stands on its own as wholly original while confidently inserting itself into a conversation with Horror’s complicated past. A story that will introduce readers to a new favorite author while they wait for the next S.A. Cosby or Stephen Graham Jones.

Three Words That Describe This Book: revenge, lyrical and brutal, engaging narration 

Again, WAY more about this amazing book (with no spoilers) over on the regular blog.

Thanks to Iglesias himself who provided a signed arc specifically for this library worker giveaway. A bigger non-librarian friend to libraries is hard to find.

Enter now and you are entered going forward. I am planning a big multi-winner giveaway on 7/1 -- which is a Monday but because of the holiday and to celebrate my LJ Horror Genre Preview I am changing things up. 

Good luck!

Summer Scares Live on Stage and On Goodreads

 The entire concept of Summer Scares is really catching on and I cannot be happier.

After years of doing Summer Scares on their web platforms and promoting our titles Chicago Public Library is having us do Summer Scares Live on Stage AND online for FREE, 1 week from today. Click here or on the images below for the details.

On 6/26 at 6pm Central you can join us at Harold Washington Library Center or on CPL's Facebook page or on their YouTube Channel. All of the details are here. Please click through for details so you can join us. They will take questions for the authors from the online participants as well.

But it is not just me and my colleagues on the Summer Scares Committee who are out there promoting Horror as a great option in the Summer, Goodreads knows it is too. 

Recently, they had this post where they asked the authors of this summer's scariest books for their Horror picks (see graphic below for a preview of who those authors are). This list, alongside Summer Scares is a great vetted list of awesome reads for you to add to your collections and suggest to a wide range of readers.

Keep this Goodreads list and use it to make a display. Feel free to grab our Summer Scares Graphic to use to promote Summer Scares to all ages of readers at your library and then put out all your Horror books! Starting with our Summer Scares titles from this year, using the archive from past years, and the readalikes in the programming guides on the linked pages, plus this Goodreads list is a great place to start.

And don't forget to make it interactive. You should have a way for readers to leave a note about what their favorite scary summer read is in person or as a comment online. Also why not make this your conversation starter question for the next few weeks. Put a book mark in every book of the hold shelf, asking people to return their book with their favorite "scary" book. Reminder, I have a full post about how to encourage answers to conversation starter questions and turn them into displays here.

Embrace the scares this Summer. Horror is hot and people want to read as much of it as possible. And of course, I am here to help with that every single day of the year.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: I Was a Teenaged Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones

Today I have an ARC of a hotly anticipated book which I gave a STAR to in Booklist here. More below, first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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 Rosemary from Queens [NY] Library Now on today's giveaway. 

I am just going to repost my May 16th draft review of I was a Teenaged Slasher with bonus info below. And the you....yes you...all of you, enter now for a chance to win this book or the many others I have piling up here in my office. Thanks to Saga Press for this specific title.

Remember, enter once and you are entered going forward. 

I am planning a multiple book, multiple winner week around the 4th of July. The 4th is a Thursday so I would be offering it earlier in the week to also coincide with my July Horror Genre Preview in LJ. 

More on that soon, but this week I have...

STAR
I Was a Teenaged Slasher
Stephen Graham Jones

Hot on the heels of the conclusion to his Indian Lake Trilogy which introduced the 21st Century’s Final Girl, Jade Daniels, Jones is back with Tolly Driver, the yin to Jade’s yang. Narrated from 17 years in the future, Tolly recounts in an engaging and brutally honest narration, the summer he was 17, 1989, in Lamesa, TX, when he killed 6 (or 12 or 14) of his high school classmates. Beginning with the fateful night he and his best friend Amber attend a house party, and leading readers through Tolly’s transformation from skinny kid with a peanut allergy to an inevitable killer, this novel lays down new ground rules for the Slasher, deeply rooting it in its established tropes, moving it in a new direction, while still making novices feel welcome. Readers will watch something original emerge before their eyes, realizing why everyone needs to be as obsessed with the Slasher as Jones is himself. Suggest to every reader who loves a perfectly rendered time and place or just wants a chilling, captivating, and thought-provoking story where every detail matters and every page is worth their time, but especially those who recently enjoyed The Pallbearers Club by Tremblay and The Eyes Are the Best Part by Kim or have missed Deaver’s seminal sympathetic killer, Dexter.

Three Words That Describe This Book: strong sense of place, dark humor, engaging narration

Further Appeal: The hardest thing about talking about this book is that you cannot talk about any of the amazing specifics. There is a twist early in the book that begins the process of how this book changes the entire Slasher genre in the VERY BEST way. It explains the entire trope as it appeared before this book, in books and movies, and move it forward. It provides the information we never knew, but it makes so much sense and you can never unknow it.

Watching this book all unfold was a joy. I bolded the word "every" as it repeated in my review when I turned n the draft and gave this note to my editor-- "please keep the 'every' repeating. I did that on purpose. I cannot stress enough how there are no wasted words here and even more, how they all matter. To the final page. It is remarkable to have something so entertaining be so well written."

Throw out every slasher you have ever read and just put this novel next to the Indian Lake Trilogy and you have the definition of the slasher genre in the 21st century. I cannot stress enough how well Tolly Driver pairs with Jade Daniels as opposite side of the same coin. Standing alone they are great and can be enjoyed without the other, but together they are masterful, informing each other and enhancing the enjoyment of each other.

The setting is also perfectly rendered-- 1989 which was the year I entered high school, so I felt the time in my bones. But also, Jones set it near the place he lived as a High Schooler in West Texas in 1989. He writes in the acknowledgments about the real spaces and how hard he worked to get it all right. You can feel that. Also the music! All the hair bands.

Tolly's narration was intimate and engaging. You knew he was going to be a teenaged slasher-- the title tells you, he tells you over and over again of the number of dead left in his wake. It is clear he is narrating from the future, in a place where no one knows who he is-- he tells you this. But you come to love Tolly, you want to protect him, you want it all to be okay-- despite knowing it will not be okay. That is masterful storytelling. Jones's unique cadence in how he has Tolly share his story will grab you and keep you hooked for the duration- even when you want to look away and not see what is about to happen.

And not only does every detail matter, but the ending was perfect-- heartbreakingly beautiful-- done

with love and care.

Amber and Tolly-- BFFSs 4EVER! That should be spray painted in the Lamesa graffiti wall. Someone in TX get on that.

Readalikes: The above books made the cut into the review. But I do need to say people who are not as obsessed with Jones or Jade Daniels should read this BEFORE starting the Jade trilogy. Maeve Fly by CJ Leede is also a good readalike here. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite an even better one though.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Youthjuice by E.K. Sathue

Today I have an ARC of a book that just came out; a title for which I have a review in the latest issue of Booklist and on the general blog here. More below, first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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 Veronica from Wheaton [IL] Public Library Now on today's giveaway which is also featured on the general blog.

Youthjuice

By E.K. Sathue 

In this illicit, fast paced, and scathing satire of the beauty industry readers meet Sophia as she begins her dream job 3 months before her 30th birthday at Hebe, a women run lifestyle corporation, pushing “essential” products focused on allowing women to look as young as possible for as long as possible. When charismatic CEO Tree Whitestone asks Sophia to test their newest product, “Youthjuice,” the immediate and miraculous results suck her further into Tree’s orbit, even as their young interns are disappearing without a trace. Told exclusively from Sophia’s point of view in two time frames, at Hebe and in 2008, readers are able to see the skeletons in Sophia's past emerge, figuring out what is “going on” very quickly. But Sathue is not trying to obscure the twist here, rather she is laying bare the chilling truth, as readers sit with that knowledge, and watch the visceral Horrors unfold, without remorse. Fans of intensely unsettling stories about unlikable but captivating women such as in Gone Girl by Flynn and Maeve Fly by Leede will flock to this debut. 

YA Statement: With its focus on “healthy lifestyles” and the corporate marketing machine behind it. Youthjuice will appeal to teen girls. They will recognize themselves in the dark, sardonic, and honest deep dive into their own complicated thoughts on and connections to the beauty industry.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Dark Satire, Chilling, Body Horror 

Further Appeal: The opening line I wanted but had to cut for word length: Sathue pulls no punches in this illicitly alluring, fast paced, scathing satire of the beauty industry, a story so terrifying it will make readers second guess their own skin case routines. That is the Sound bite to handsell this book.

A few reading notes because this book is about watching the horror all unfold, knowing it is going to get worse with every page turn, but NEEDING to keep watching it spiral:

• She is part of of the “Storytelling” team. This is interesting as well. Since she is telling us the story. So unreliable and yet she tells us from start that she is. Her job is spinning it all.
• The cover gives away the “twist” but there is a reason for that. It is almost more horrofic that the reader knows from the start what is happening. Ending is CHILLING.
• This is Body Horror in the most literal of ways– it is visceral by the end. That is important to note
• “Clean living” is the cover for it all. Pushing that lifestyle at all costs. The descriptions of the food they eat it is gross. It is supposed to be. The lengths they go to are extreme even before the most visceral and literal scenes.
• By following Sophia and furiously flipping the pages– the reader is implicated in the horrors. 
• Who is Hebe? The Greek Goddess of Youth. Tells you before the story begins. Gets you into the world immediately.
• Ending is chilling. Not for Sophia’s evil choices, but the doubling down on the need of these products. Not remorse, just finding a new way to make money off the keeping women looking as young as possible market. Nothing is going to change, NO lessons are learned, and it is actually getting worse.
• But the most chilling and terrifying thing about this book overall...it is not that far from reality.
• Try applying any lotion or skin care after reading this book without feeling icky…..you can’t. Even a boring moisturizer.
• Finally, it is important tot note that this is one of the first books from Soho Press's new Horror imprint-- Hell's Hundred

Readalikes: The two above but also clearly, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. A quote from this classic is an epigraph for the book, but even if you skipped that page, clearly it is an influence.

Also, I recently read and reviewed The Z Word by Lindsay King-Miller. Youthjuice is similar in what it says about the skin care industry to what The Z Word does for the corporate PRIDE machine, but Youthjuice is less laugh out loud funny and more chilling and dark. The Z Word is laugh out loud satirical. This novel, is way darker but the satire is there in spades.

Why I Love Horror the Book and a New Essay by Izzy Lee

Last week on the general blog, I announced the above deal to turn "Why I Love Horror" into a book, a real book with a major publisher. 

I added the details and context in this post.

As readers of this blog know, the Why I Love Horror posts are a huge feature of my October, 31 Days of Horror blog-a-thon. But to celebrate the book, I will have a few sprinkled throughout the summer.

Today is an example. I first met Izzy Lee through her work, specifically, her amazing comedy/horror short film, Meat Friend, which was the audience award winner at the Final Frame Film Festival during StokerCon 2022. You can watch the film here. Seriously, step away from this post, watch it, and come back. It's under 9 mins.

Welcome back. Along with films, Lee recently published a first novella, I Can See Your Lies. From the Goodreads entry: 

FOR LOVE. FOR VENGEANCE.

Fin's reality is crumbling. Her husband has abandoned her, she's now a single mom to a nine-year-old daughter, her Los Angeles home is sweltering, and she's being haunted by disturbing hallucinations that make life a waking nightmare. Are the visions a product of stress, trauma, psychosis, or something else? The answers to those questions become more clear when Fin starts digging up dark secrets connected to her mother's cold-case disappearance, a once-rising actress who mysteriously vanished in 1979. Will Fin slowly unravel the truth? Or will it remain hidden forever beneath the glitz and glamour of illusion?

This novella is getting rave reviews and I highly suggest you seek it out to add to your collections. In the meantime, I wanted to let Lee introduce herself to all of you. Here is Izzy Lee's entry into the Why I Love Horror series.

Horror is Home 
by Izzy Lee

 Horror understands me, and I, it. It’s a genre that I’ve been drawn to from a very young age, and no other comes close. Horror was there for me when adults were not, it is there for me now when my country and government is not, where I have the misfortune to live in the “land of the free,” but they really meant that it is only free for those who rule it, who look like them, who have their means. They are the ones who hold elections on what I can do with my own body, who allow their own to do terrible things to my kind and those around me, to those they cannot possibly understand because they do not have the capacity. Or they will not, they refuse it.

Horror is a place where I can go to escape from the feeling of that invisible boot against my neck, crushing out my air and my voice. It’s where I go to get away from the constant nonsense that bombards me, whether that’s an inner voice or the society raging against me because I refuse their lies. Horror’s black embrace is there for me on those dark days when the noise is too much, that cacophony that tells me that I’m not good enough, smart enough, rich enough, thin enough, talented enough, normal enough, enough, enough.

The dark velvet void is always waiting for me when I need it. This is the one place that listens when I need to cry out, sob, or even whimper to be heard, and it does not judge, because it knows I speak my truth. This special place is where others like myself go to find each other, because it’s probably the only place where we can exist without having to explain why we’re “like this.”

Horror will not tell you to feel better, to snap out of it, or try to force a cruel sense of optimism down your throat. This is not a genre that will try to sell you falsities or paradoxes, it will not proselytize. It will be real with you, it will be simply be there, it will nod to you in solidarity for having the courage to exist in so much pain, and hold out a chair for you at its vast table.

That is a comfort we don’t really find anywhere else, but the black lights burn just up ahead, if you know where to look for them. If you’re new to this particular darkness, don’t be afraid. It feels funny to tell you this, but what you fear isn’t us, it isn’t this island of misfit toys. We take the fear around us and wear it like a shroud, or a cloak. You can sometimes see it swirling in our stares.

If you want it, it’s yours, this place that is not a place, this home that is not a home. You will be welcomed, understood, and will find friendship and kindness there. But you must be open, you see, and that can be the scary part. But if you have nothing to lose because it’s all been taken from you, you’ll find a calm stillness, kind of like the eye of the storm.

Am I okay? Christ, no. But that’s fine, I’m among friends here. And simply because of that fact, I’m more okay than I would be otherwise. Granted, it’s an X-ray version of a vision of what “okay” means to everyone else. Again, I’m more than fine with this. They cannot understand horror. At times, they’re the ones who perpetrate it due to outsized feelings of superiority and outdated ideas that were never, in fact, all right.

These kinds of people don’t understand that we’re on an infinitesimal speck of rock hurtling through cosmic dust and gamma rays, and that we don’t exist for very long, if we even exist at all.

Apologies, you’re reading the rantings of someone who decided to check out all the available Nietzsche books at her local library when she was only 14. I’m actually fun at parties, if you’re into horror and like real conversations.

So no, I’m not okay, it is nearly impossible to exist in this world. However, writing this has made me feel almost okay, and for that, I’m grateful.

Horror has given me this release from the maelstrom of madness we find ourselves in. As Oliver Reed once said in my favorite Cronenberg film (The Brood), “go all the way through it.”