31 Days of Horror: Day 30-- Final Thoughts and a Big Thank You to You, the Library Workers Who Make All of This Possible and Of Course, the weekly #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway

Today is the final day of original posting here on 31 Days of Horror. Tomorrow, as always, is saved for the Summer Scares Spokesperson announcement.

I left this day open for exactly to share my final thoughts. (That is why it didn't post right at 7am). I try to do this every year, but this year, it was more important for me to do this. Why? Because while we went on this blogging journey together, I was also traveling all over to promote WHY I LOVE HORROR. At the same time.

I knew it would be whirlwind, trying to do both, but I needed to get out there to appear with the authors to promote this book AND still fulfill my now 15 year long promise to you-- to give you 31 days of horror posts in October.

And quite honestly, without the 31 Days of Horror blog series, which inspired the "Why I Love Horror" sub-series, I wouldn't be out here with a book at all. I really do owe a lot to you, the library workers who count on me to help you understand the scariest genre better.

In fact, that is why I dedicated the book to librarians everywhere and specifically 4 very special librarians-- Konrad Stump, Emily Vinci, Lila Denning, and Yaika Sabat.

Speaking for Yaika, she just had this personal nonfiction essay about her own chronic illness and horror movies published in Frivolous Comma. I am being very vague on purpose so you go read it here. 

And speaking on Konrad, I just returned from visiting his very successful Oh, the Horror! month-long series of in person events at the Springfield-Greene County Library. I wrote about it on Day 8, here. But the pictures and video from my specific appearances with Grady Hendrix (on stage and on TV) can be seen but visiting my tour page or by clicking here to go to the photos directly.

For each event listed on my tour page (not just this week's event),  I created a shared folder of photos. You can access them all here.

The tour page is pinned at the top of the main blog both so you get easy access and because the tour is NOT OVER YET (more below)

Please also see that page for my podcast appearances. One more dropped today-- Capes and Tights. Here they are all in one place with links now that they are all live.

• Books in the Freezer
• Reading Glasses
• The Scares That Shaped Us
• Circulating Ideas
• Capes and Tights
• Every Library Live via Facebook or YouTube

But back to the Springfield, MO event because it was the perfect example of what I experienced on the road in general. Yes there were people at each stop who were there for the authors I was appearing with-- and that made my heart full, especially the ones who drove long distances. But also, and this shocked me, there were more than a handful of the hundreds of people I met over the last 6 weeks who were there for me. People who wanted to be librarians, those who follow my reviews, and a few who found my textbooks on the circulating shelf at their library and came to thank me for exploding their TBRs and introducing them to new voices.

And then there were the people who had never heard of me, but after hearing me speak with some of my authors told me they were so glad they came and met me so that they could share my book with those they love to let them see why they love horror so much. Or the teachers who are adding the book and specific essays to their curriculum so the students can use it as an exercise for writing their own personal narratives. And there is so much more. 

I knew it would be hard to do this in person tour and my blog, but not neglected all of you while I still got out there to share why we love horror AND get their love back in return was worth every minute of it.

And remember, this year may be coming to an end, but you can relive it all here on the blog a few ways. The easiest way to pull up every 31 Days of Horror post from all 15 years is to use the tag. But you can also scroll down to the blog archive ion think right gutter, below the tags and open any year. Then open October, and right there are the 31 days laid out for you. That is my favorite way to scroll the archives. You can go to a specific year and browse very easily.

Back to the teaser above about more touring!

Please stay tuned to that tour page linked here and at the top of every page on RA for All. I will be in Seattle next week. I have something in the works in NE for late January. And I can confirm that I will be at Scares that Cares Author Con 6 in late February.

Thank you so much for being on this journey for 31 Days of Horror with me, this year and every year. I really mean it when I say that none of this would have been possible without all of you. Everything I do is for library workers first and everyone else second. Without your support and continued encouragement to to this annual event and writing textbooks for you and hiring me to train your staff, without all of it, I would not be in a position to bring WHY I LOVE HORROR out to the readers directly. 

Click here for more
Why I Love Horror,
in book form 

To that end, I have a thank you gift for two of you. To end the month I am giving away 2 finished copies of my book. I will personalize and sign them for you. You do not have to add them to your collection, BUT please make sure you all order my book for your library and their patrons. I am telling people I meet to check the book out from their library. It is available in print (Ingram was just restocked) and as an ebook and audiobook on Libby. I think you need all three to meet your readers where they are.

So that is two of my books for 2 winners. I will draw the winners with this MG anthology from Monday as the first winner and then the the next two names will be my books. Here are your details on how to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American 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.

Good luck!

And remember, the giveaway happens all year, so enter now and you are entered going forward. You might not win my book, but since April 2020, I have given away close to 300 books. That is not stopping anytime soon. Once you are in the spreadsheet, you stay there until you win.

Thank you again and come back tomorrow for the 2026 Summer Scares Spokesperson announcement. Big hint-- the author appears in my book!

Happy Halloween.