31 Days of Horror: Day 19-- Backlist Suggestions from Emily Hughes and the Bram Stoker Awards Website

As we creep closer to Halloween more and more readers are coming through our doors looking for a suggestion for spooky season. And as more and more come through our doors, our displays get more depleted and our brains start to go blank with fresh suggestions. 

But never fear. The backlist is always there to help us.

Specifically I have two resources you can use right ow to find some excellent suggestions of titles that are probably on the shelf.

First up, you may know Emily Hughes' list of all the upcoming Horror books on her site-- Jump Scares-- but do you remember to use her posts not just to plan what you should be buying for your collection but also to consult lists from past years to find suggestions for readers right now. Well, Hughes makes it easy to remind you as at the top of the landing page, she offers easy access to all of her previous lists.

Right now, right here, you can access 5 years of lists, by month, of the Horror books that were released. And since 2024 is almost over you literally 5 almost 5 full years of possible suggestions with a quick note on what the book is about-- a mini annotation.

Start at 2020 to find the backlist options with the best chance of being on the shelf and make your way forward in time. There are hundreds of titles, so you have no excuse to have run out of solid Horror recommendations for the increased Horror reading traffic. 

Second, is the Bram Stoker Awards website, specially the excellent and easy to use page of every nominee and winner that is all available at one click here.

Click through and choose a year to look over the nominees in a variety of categories. All of them are a great sure bet options.

And please note-- the 2023 winners are the most recent. They were given out in 2024 to books and stories published in 2023.

There are many places where you can find great backlist suggestions as we make our way through the month and your displays begin to get picked over. Do not give in to lazy temptation and simply fill the holes with Stephen King. Give people titles they would not find without your help. And those titles are in resources like the two I have presented today.

We have under 2 weeks left. Keep those displays filled. Even more readers are bound to come in next week and the week after.