31 Days of Horror Day 4 -- What I'm Reading: Booklist Online Only Reviews

I have reviews of a collection by a bestselling author and an anthology highlighting the work of a forgotten classic author, both as e-only reviews out for Booklist right now. As always, draft reviews are below. I highly recommend both for all library collections.

They also both are a great conversation starter to connect new readers to the history of the genre through today's writers-- my theme for everything I do here on the blog as mentioned a few days ago here.

Please note, online reviews have a much higher word count so I don't have much in my "further appeal" section for these books.

In the Mad Mountains: Stories Inspired by HP Lovecraft
By Joe R. Lansdale
Oct. 2024. 256p. Tachyon, paper, $16.95 (9781616964245).
First published September 27, 2024 (Booklist Online). 

Lansdale has captured the hearts of readers with his quirky characters, sardonic wit, and gritty tone. His latest collection gathers 8 stories, published in various anthologies since 2009, stories he describes in the book’s introduction as the “best” inspired by Lovecraft that he has written. Taking on the troublesome racism and sexism of the classic author head-on, Lansdale also actively eschews Lovecraft’s use of cumbersome prose, instead employing his trademark direct and folksy narrative voice to the Lovecraftian concept of “the Old Ones,” terrifying but also alluring beings from another realm, trying to intrude upon our world. The result is a collection that makes the enduring appeal of Lovecraft’s brand of existential dread and terrifying nihilism more accessible to today’s readers. Looking into well mined tropes such as selling your soul, the supernatural detective, and a stranded polar ship, Lansdale adds a layer of Cosmic Horror which makes these stories both familiar and fresh at the same time. There are even characters from across the literary landscape that make some fun appearances from Huck Finn to Auguste Dupin to his own Dana Roberts and more. Readers new to Lovecraftian Horror should start with “The Tall Grass,” the shortest story in the volume, and one that perfectly captures the visceral and immersive pull of Cosmic Horror as a subgenre. A man steps off a train, gets lost in a field, and experiences a terror like he has never known. Lansdale has a wide fan base for good reason, but this book presents a wonderful opportunity to expand it even further by suggesting this collection to fans of 21st Century Cosmic Horror authors such as Hailey Piper and Lucy Snyder.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Quirky Characters, Sardonic, Direct and Folksy Narration

Further Appeal: Lansdale is very popular. Readers, even those who do not read Horror will be interested int his one. Also every story has a great introduction setting it up by Lansdale himself writtenin his distinctive voice.

Readalikes: Any cosmic horror or Lovecraftian story is a good read here. The House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias and The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. But use any resource to find more options for readalikes. This may introduce new people to Lovecraftian Horror, so be ready. (click the link for more titles from me)

Side note: one of the stories here was first published in The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft, an anthology I reviewed for Booklist back in 2015. 

Also, I will have a giveaway of my review copy on the Horror blog next week. Stay tuned.

Where the Silent Ones Watch: Stories of the Borderland, the Night Land, the Sargasso Sea, and More!
 Edited by James Chambers
Oct. 2024. 278p. Hippocampus, paper, $25 (9781614984436).
First published September 27, 2024 (Booklist Online). 

William Hope Hodgson may be the most powerful and the most neglected fantasist and horror writer of the twentieth century, argues Chambers, the Bram Stoker Award Winning editor of this collection of 26, original to this volume, stories and poems that celebrate the author and his legacy. Using the ideas, themes and narrative devices of the classic author, one of the foundational voices in Weird Fiction, as their springboard, the contributing authors showcase how his style of wildly imaginative, atmospheric horror, featuring malevolent, unexplainable, supernatural forces as they enter our known world, told in a confessional first person narration that heighten the unease with every word, still resonates today. Readers can expect strange happenings on trains and boats, in space or isolated towns, even in the shadow of Elvis Preseley’s death and amidst Black Lives Matter protests– some places Hodgson set his own stories and others which he could never have imagined. However, what elevates this collection is in how the authors place Hodgson-esque ideas into modern settings while eschewing the classic author’s tendency to use distractingly ornate prose. These choices work in tandem to heighten the fear for a 21st Century reader both in these 26 pieces and Hodgson’s own tales as well. The table of contents includes a nice mix of authors whose works are already widely available on library shelves such as Steve Rasnic Tem, Linda D. Addison, Wendy N. Wagner, John Langan, and Andy Davidson, but there are also plenty of up and coming voices worth checking out. For example, Todd Keisling’s “Little House on the Borderland,” takes the themes and fear inherent in Hodgson’s own classic novel, House on the Borderland, but frames it in the world of podcasts and social media while the anthology’s unforgettable opening story, “The Events at Apoka Station” by Pete Rawlik and Sal Ciano uses a fateful train ride to tell an unsettling story that is both timelessly terrifying and yet clearly set in our present. A great option for Weird fiction fans new and old.

Three Words That Describe This Book: confessional narration, malevolent forces, fantastical Horror

Further Appeal: This anthology gave me a brand new appreciation for Hodgson. Just as the Lansdale Collection above will draw people to Lovecraft, this book will bring people back to Hodgson.

Also, Hippocampus Press is a very trustworthy press. Click here to learn more about them.

Readalikes: Any books by Chambers, the editor, or anyone in the TOC will be a great place to begin-- besides Hodgson himself. I have reviewed books by many of the authors.

Here is the list of authors from the publishers website:

Linda D. Addison • David Agranoff • Meghan Arcuri • Sal Ciano • Michael Cisco • L. E. Daniels • Andy Davidson • Aaron Dries • Patrick Freivald • Teel James Glenn • Maxwell Ian Gold • Nancy Holder • Todd Keisling • John Langan • Adrian Ludens • Lee Murray • Lisa Morton • Peter Rawlik • Sam Rebelein • Ann K. Schwader • Steve Rasnic Tem • Tim Waggoner • Wendy N. Wagner • Kyla Lee Ward • Robert E. Waters • L. Marie Wood • Stephanie M. Wytovich

31 Days of Horror: Day 3-- Scary Vampires Are Back, a Booklist by Me for The Lineup

It is Rosh Hashana today, the Jewish New Year, and I am off work. But, thanks to the ability to plan and pre-post materials, I have a brand new "From the Haunted Stacks" column for the Lineup. It is on the resurgence of the scary vampire.

Below you can access the introduction. Click here to read the annotated book list at The Lineup and click here for every article I have written for them over the past few years. There is a lot of Horror reading goodness at that link.

Shout out to my friend and colleague Lila Denning for posting this to social media for me today. Check out her blog as well.

From the Haunted Stacks: Scary Vampires are Back

So long Twilight. 

By Becky Spratford | Published Oct 2, 2024

Undead creatures who attack humans by sucking their blood have appeared throughout the history of human storytelling. Still, there is no denying that the way today’s readers understand “the vampire,” comes from its most famous incarnation ever—Dracula.

First published by Bram Stoker in 1897, Dracula has never been out of print and has been translated into every major language worldwide.

Throughout the 20th century, authors such as Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), Anne Rice (Interview with the Vampire), and Stephen King (Salem’s Lot) took Stoker’s inspiration and expanded upon it, playing with the archetype, even stretching the reader’s sympathy for the vampire itself. And yet, still always making sure the audience knew when push comes to shove, the vampire is a menace, it is out not only for their blood—but also their allegiance for all of time.

However, with the turn of 21st Century, there came a new sexy, sparkly vampire, one that threatened to change the entire subgenre from being centered on vampire menace to one that was about falling in love with a misunderstood immortal being.

Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight and Edward Cullen burst into the mainstream in 2005 and many horror readers feared the trope would never be the same again.

Well, it took almost two decades, but as 2024 has shown us, the sparkly vampire has been staked through the heart and some truly terrifying creatures have clawed their way back into heavy horror rotation.

Some of the more notable vampire books out this year include Immortal Pleasures by V. Castro, First Light by Liz Kerin, Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton, So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison, and All the Hearts You Eat by Hailey Piper. 

But we did not get from Meyer to Piper overnight.

Since the vampire menace is back and haunting our shelves, I thought it would be fun to take a stroll back in time from 2005 to the present and revisit a few key titles that reminded readers how much more they preferred their vampires menacing rather than sparkling—and as a result, convinced other authors and their publishers to give us more!

Click here to read the full article

Or click here for the archive of all of my articles at The Lineup.

31 Days of Horror: Day 2-- Why I love Horror by Ally Russell w/ a Giveaway of IT CAME FROM THE TREES

As I mentioned yesterday, while I am going to have a slew of Why I Love Horror reruns this year, I did solicit a few people to bring their perspectives to the long running conversation. Ally Russell is one of those authors. Her bio:

Ally Russell is the author of It Came from the Trees. She grew up on a steady diet of Halloween parties, horror films, Unsolved Mysteries, and Goosebumps books. She has always loved scary stories, and got her MFA from Simmons University and, eventually, a job working in children’s publishing. She hails from Pittsburgh—ground zero for the zombie apocalypse. Ally lives with her husband and her two black cats, Nox and Fury. She’s afraid of the woods, the dark, and heights.

I first met Russell a handful of years ago through Sadie Hartmann and Emily Hughes. She wrote about Horror for both of them at that time. 

This past July her Middle Grade Horror novel, It Came From the Trees came out. Here is the publisher description:

The legend of Bigfoot gets a bone-chilling update in this scary story about a young girl and her scout troop who are willing to brave the woods to find her missing friend when no one else will. Perfect for fans of Daka Hermon and Claribel A. Ortega! 

The wilderness is in Jenna’s blood. Her Pap was the first Black park ranger at Sturbridge Reservation, and she practically knows the Owlet Survival Handbook by heart. But she’s never encountered a creature like the one that took her best friend Reese. Her parents don’t believe her; the police are worthless, following the wrong leads; and the media isn’t connecting the dots between Reese’s disappearance and a string of other attacks. Determined to save her friend, Jenna joins a new local scout troop, and ventures back into the woods.

When the troop stumbles across suspicious huge human-like footprints near the camp, scratch marks on trees, and ominous sounds from the woods, Jenna worries that whatever took Reese is back to take her too. Can she trust her new scout leader? And will her new friend Norrie—who makes her laugh and reminds her so much of Reese—believe her?

After the unthinkable happens, the scouts, armed with their wits and toiletries, band together to fight the monster and survive the night.

I love Middle Grade Horror. I think it is where some of the best stories are being explored in the genre right now, and this book is a stellar example of that.

I am offering a giveaway of a hard cover, finished copy, courtesy of Russell, that you can add to your collections immediately.

Click here for rules on how to enter. The winner of this book will be the second winner picked this coming week.

And while you wait to see if you won, why not help me welcome Ally Russell to share Why I Love Horror. 

💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀

Why I Love Horror 

by Ally Russell

Why do I love horror?

Because...

Why limit yourself to just one spooky season when you can live in dread all year?

Who doesn't like the sound of their heartbeat in their own ears? As Ash might say, that's the music of life, baby, live and in stereo!

Why sleep peacefully when you can read just one more page and have heinous imagery delivered to your brain right before you turn out the lights? It’s called nightmare fuel and it’s delicious…if you like the taste of cough syrup.

Why settle for the next "great” American novel when you can read splatter punk or body horror or gothic fiction?

Who doesn’t enjoy watching movies through the gaps in their fingers?

Why watch an Oscar “worthy” film when you can watch The Omen? And actually, The Omen is an Oscar-winning film thanks to its original score.

Who doesn't like walking through their home after midnight to lock every door and window after watching a home invasion flick?

Why wouldn’t someone want to be a part of something so scary that it triggers their gag reflex? (Dear, Allison, that gag at the prospect of splitting up the group was warranted.)

Why wouldn't you want to be paranoid to the point of habitually checking the back seat and under the bed and the closet because of every urban legend and slasher and babysitter story you’ve ever heard?

Who doesn't want to be pranked and discover if they're a freezer, a faller, or a final girl? I’m a freezer. Any fallers out there? Despite what you shout at the TV screen, none of you are final girls. Sorry.

Why relax when you can gasp?

Who needs a good skincare routine when you can simply rake your fingers down your face for that flushed, youthful look?

Why wouldn't you want sweaty palms? Moisture is good for your skin.

Why wouldn't you want your stomach to be full of caterpillars that never turn into butterflies? They’re just in there…wriggling.

Why be happy when you can worry about the uncanny?

Why calmly contemplate life when you can panic from existential dread, especially after the US government was like, “there are UFOs and we don’t know what they are.”

Why fawn over cute, cuddly wildlife when you can fear the many reported sightings of cryptids from all around the globe?

How else would you spend your time if not cowering beneath your blankets as you consider the few inches of glass that separate you from things that aren't supposed to exist? Because what if vampires don't actually need an invitation? What if they just need a reason?

Who doesn't enjoy working up a cold sweat as they lie in bed in the dark trying to figure out if that thing across the room is a balled-up sweatshirt or a head? (Did it just move?)

Why sleep alone when you can share a pillow with your worries? Don't have any worries? Not to worry! Horror will give you something to worry about.

Why tremble with delight when you can do so with terror?

Why would you want peace of mind when you can have pure adrenaline and panic?

Why take deep, calming breaths when you can pant like a terrified cat?

Why smile when you can scream? Better yet, why scream when you can cry?

If these things don't sound terrible to you...you might love horror too.

I'm sure there are a lot of good reasons to love horror, and you'll get to read about them throughout this blog post series. But I like horror because I'm always afraid—like, all the time—and at least horror makes some of that fear justifiable.

I would love to live life much further from the edge of terror, but that’s just not who I am. Never has been. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love horror, and if I could sum it up in a few succinct paragraphs, this blog post would have been much easier to write.

Anyway, it’s nearly 2:00 AM and the cats just perked their heads up to look toward the stairs. I don't see anything but that doesn't mean they don't. Some things exist outside the spectrum of human vision.

See?

You live for the horror too. 

31 Days of Horror: Day 1-- Welcome to Today's Horror from the Library Perspective

Hello and welcome to 31 Days of Horror, a blog-a-thon series entering its 14th year. Every single day for 31 straight days, I will have a post here focused on Horror during its most popular season.

While we all know that people read Horror all year long, I spend this, our spotlight month, where the rest of the world and media pays closer attention, intensely focusing on Horror as it is right now. 

This is NOT the place to find long thought pieces about the history of the genre or list of books by dead writer. Rather, it is the place to find out about today's writers, what today's readers are looking for, and most importantly, conversations about why I love Horror. My entire focus here on 31 Days of Horror is to give you a snapshot of Horror and its appeal. In fact, the entire point of the "Why I Love Horror" essays is to offer you, the library worker, an example of why someone loves horror so that you can understand even if you are not a fan yourself. It is also to give you a chance to get to know a current author, add their books to your collection, and/or suggest them to a reader.

Recently, I did a live event with my publisher, a book discussion of my library textbook, The Readers' Advisory Guide to Horror, third edition. It was me, writer/poet Linda Addison, librarian Lila Denning, writer Gabino Iglesias, writer Hailey Piper, and writer Matthew Salinas. The video of that 60 min event is now available here for free. I think it does a very good job explaining the current state of Horror and what I see as my part in it. You can watch it here or below

 

Now, what can you expect day to day here during 31 Days of Horror? Well, it will be similar to previous years, with a few changes to note:

First, I am going to move my links roundups to every Sunday. Mostly you will not see lists and posts from other places here on 31 Days of Horror as I tend to focus on original content, but I don't want those awesome lists and articles to get lost either. Expect those on 10/6, 13, 20, and 27.

Second, giveaways will not happen on Thursdays only. During this month, giveaways can be offered on any day of the week, but all winners are pulled Friday after 5pm. For example, I have already announced one giveaway this week and there will be another one tomorrow. So, if you want to be eligible to win, enter now. Click here for the rules.

And third, and this is the biggest change. I normally have over a dozen new entries into the Why I Love Horror essays that debut this month. But good news, bad news here. As was announced back in June, next Fall I will have a a book of new essays, by 18 authors, on why they love horror, edited by me. Currently, I have those essays and am actively working to turn it into a draft of that book (due before the end of the year). Click here or on the book announcement below for more details. 

Now, I want to be clear, this does NOT mean that I will not have new essays this year. I do have some very good new entries, including one tomorrow, but I will also be reposting essays from the past 10+ years. I want to pull out some of the very best essays that have appeared here on the blog over time and highlight them for you in 2024. 

As I was working on the pitch for my book, I spent time combing through the backlist of Why I Love Horror essays (which you can access anytime here), and I realized there are some amazing essays worth revisiting. But you will have to wait to see what I pick out.

In the meantime, I also have all of the resources that are here all year long. See the pages in the side bar for lists, resources, approved publishers, and of course the link to  my reviews of hundreds of horror books.

I can't wait to do this with you-- 31 Days of Horror 2024!