My 2022 Horror Book Highlights via The Lineup and News About More To Come

For the last two years, I have been hired to do a look back from the Horror fiction perspective by The Lineup. Here is a link to my 2022 Horror Book Highlights. It is organized into 4 major trends with 4 books in each category. Click here for the full article with annotations for each title, but for your immediate purposes, here are the 4 trends:

1. Short Scares Are Going Strong
2. Retellings: Everything Old is New Again
3. Verisimilitude is Terrifying
4. The Most Breathtaking Debuts are By Women

For context, here is 2021's Horror Book Highlights where the trends I presented were:

1. Queer Horror Moves Front and Center
2. Horror Fiction Framed as True Crime
3. Final Girls Fight Back
4. Marginalized Voices Reclaim the Troops of Old

Just like with awards and best lists, it always important to include a peek further into the past than just the immediate year in order to see larger trends emerging. Yes, I am talking once again about the backlist because the backlist is ALWAYS key to everything we do. It is not a shiny and sparkly as the new books, bit it is key to serving readers.

I have another announcement that involves The Lineup. As you can see here, I have written a column for The Lineup sporadically over the last year. But as of yesterday, I have agreed to a formal contract to write 4 pieces for them in 2023 as part of my "From the Haunted Stacks" column. The agreed upon topics for 2023 are:

• Middle Grade Horror for Adult (March)
• Stoker Awards Wrap-Up (June)
• Horror Cover Artists (September)
• 2023 Horror Trends and Highlights (December)

We are also still discussing another series of posts which focus on.....you guessed it....backlist titles!

I am very excited about  my formal arrangement to be a part of what editor Lisa Quigley is doing with this website. It is reader focused, and they love promoting the backlist, so the content is extremely useful for you as you help patrons. The Lineup covers True Crime, Horror, and the Paranormal, so the reach is broad and popular.

Please consider signing up for their newsletter as well.

Until Thursday when the #HorrorForLibraries giveaway returns with a chance to win a hotly anticipated 2023 title from Nightfire.

31 Days of Horror: Day 14-- Becky Presents Her Horror For Libraries Training for PCI

Later today I will be presenting my newest version of my basic Horror RA training. This has been even further refined from its huge overhaul this past spring. 

I purposely made the slides to be helpful even if you are not part of the live session. There are many links and resources embedded throughout.

I have also posted it on my Original Horror Lists, Articles, and Presentations archive page for easier access.

If you are a library worker new to horror, or even not super comfortable with the genre, this is the single link you need right now to get up to speed in the genre today.

Click here or on the image below to enter [if you dare]. And I will see some of you real soon.

Becky's Top 20 Horror for Libraries of the 2010s

As part of the updated edition to my book, on which I am currently working, I have created a top 20 list of horror for libraries published from 2010-2019.

I want to be clear about the "for libraries" part. Those of you out there reading this from the general horror fiction world may have some disagreement with my choices, and I would say to you, you are absolutely correct.

This is NOT a list of the very best horror written by any person in these last 10 years, rather, it is a list of titles that are important to libraries for a variety of reasons, reasons I will expand upon in the book [I mean I have to give you a reason to buy it].

As the library world's horror expert, consider this a "must have" collection development list. If you have neglected your horror sections over the last decade, this list can help you get back in horror shape.

I will give a little bit of commentary on some of the titles and have comments about the overall state of horror over the last decade afterwards. Links go to my review where possible on Goodreads.

Finally, please note, I have no Stephen King listed here. He did have some great novels in the last decade, but you don't need me to tell you to buy his books. For the most part, they come into your collections automatically. I am here to help you improve and learn, not to tell you what you already know.

Here, from 20 to 1, is Becky's Top 20 Horror for Libraries of the 2010s

20. In the Valley of the Sun by Andy Davidson
19. Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste

• These are 2 important debuts from the last 2 years and it is why I put them at the start of the list. Davidson and Kiste are names that will continue to reverberate in the next decade. Get their books in your collections now. Davidson's second novel is out early 2020.

18. Rot and Ruin by Jonathan Maberry

• Yes a YA title, but for libraries, this is the perfect entry zombie novel for adults who are curious about the trope but are also a little nervous about it being "too much." Also, this novel has one of the most beautiful endings to any book I have ever read. Seriously. 

17. The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes

• When writing the second edition of my book, I argued with one of my editors that horror was moving to include science fiction, and not just fantasy, as the speculative origin of the horror. I stood my ground on that change and I think it is safe to say, I have been proven right many times over the last 10 years. The Shining Girls is an excellent example. This is a terrifying serial killer novel, but the fear is increased and amplified by the time travel. 

16. Children of the Dark by Jonathan Janz

• The title that got him into library collections. This decade Janz established himself as the new "King of Pulps," and libraries should carry every title he puts out to serve this readership.

15. The Hunger by Alma Katsu

• Historical horror of the previous decade was dominated by Dan Simmons, but Katsu is now the leader in this subgenre, one that also happens to have a wide cross over appeal with those who do not consider themselves horror readers.

14. The Troop by Nick Cutter

• A brilliant pulp horror modern classic, also with a SF origin to the monster. But also here because it is an example of well respected literary authors who feel the need to use a pseudonym in order to write horror. This is a trend that is still going strong. Cutter is actually Craig Davidson. Another title I loved this decade, The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell is the pseudonym for Joshua Gaylord. And in early 2020 a new title The Chill will come out by Scott Carson who is really Michael Koryta. In this article, Koryta shares why he thought he needed a pseudonym for a supernatural story. It's a sad state that I hope the next decade fixes. I hope people are loud and proud about the horror they are writing. But that doesn't take away the fact that The Troop is awesome pseudonyms or not.

13. Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin

• A short novel [technically a novella?] that reads exactly like the title says it will. You will read it in one or two sittings because you won't be able to stop. And it will never leave you.... Another title that pairs well with Fever Dream is The Grip of It by Jac Jemc

12. Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

• Dutch horror master whose first novel in English was a huge hit. It came out of nowhere to claim the top spot on the 2017 RUSA CODES READING LIST for Horror. It used techniques from classic horror of the past and incorporated new technology very well. Also, looking back, it was one of the first examples of the reemergence of the popularity of the witch trope. And it is scary as heck.

11. Bird Box by Josh Malerman

• If you work in a library you know this book needs to be on the list somewhere. It was a phenomenon both when it came out and then a few years later when it was a movie. Malerman is now one of the best known authors in the genre.

10. The Passage by Justin Cronin

• Another example of the growing use of science fiction in horror during the decade. The first in a trilogy and, in my opinion, the best in the trilogy. When The Passage came out it was so different than anything that came before it. And it has since inspired many more like it, most recently, Wanderers. This is the big horror novel that began the decade and it is still having reverberations.

9. The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All by Laird Barron

• Barron's stories are technically brilliant and immersive for the reader. He is also one of the most influential writers for today's new voices. This is one a few story collection he released in the decade, but it is also his most accessible.

8. My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

• Hendrix has to be on this list somewhere. Not only have his books been ubiquitous throughout the decade but he has also become on the the genre's spokespeople to the wider world. From his award winning Paperbacks from Hell to his essays on Tor.com, on NPR, and all over social media, Hendrix proudly beats the drum for horror and its importance to all. I have chosen this title, his second because I feel like it proved that HorrorStor wasn't a one-hit-wonder. 

7. The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan

• Kiernan is a horror master. One of the genre's greatest living writers. She is also one of its best practitioner of Lovercraftian and weird fiction. She has many novels, novellas, and story collections over the course of this decade but The Drowning Girl, is one of her best novels, period. It also is a great example of how she writes, both technically and the themes she explores.

6. Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones

•  It's a werewolf tale yes, but it is also a coming of age story and about the underclass in America. This is the novel that brought Jones into libraries. 2020 will be his breakout year, but Mongrels foreshadowed this.

5. The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

• The best horror novella Tor.com has put out in the last decade, and they have put out a lot of them [Mapping the Interior by Stephen Graham Jones is a close second]. LaValle is becoming one of the biggest and most critically acclaimed horror novelists of our time, but this novella is also an example of the trend of the reclaiming of Lovecraft by people of color and women. In this case, LaValle is retelling an actual Lovecraft story from the POV of a black man. As I like to say about this novella [you can hear me say it here too], it is as if LaValle is giving Lovecraft the middle finger while at the same time acknowledging his importance and influence.

4. NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

• Hill has to be on this list somewhere, and NOS4A2 was what he called, his "horror thesis." I know this book is divisive. Personally I love it, but that is not why it is so high on the list. It's here because it is THE epic horror novel of the decade and Hill is one of the decades biggest names. 

3. The Fisherman by John Langan

• A near perfect example of cosmic horror. Universally proclaimed the best horror novel of the year when it came out. A great introduction to modern cosmic/Lovercraftian horror for both readers and writers.

2. Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

• I mean it was a finalist for the National Book Award and it 100% horror stories. Do I need to say more? This book was dark, weird, sexy, thought provoking, scary, and imaginative. 

1. A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

• While this novel came out right in the middle of the decade, I feel like it marks a HUGE turning point for the genre. It is a story that harkens back to the genre's classics [most obviously We Have Always Lived in the Castle and The Exorcist, but also many other titles are referenced here] and yet is also completely new. The way Tremblay crafts a horror story is gut wrenching. He breaks you, the reader throughout the course of the story and yet, you are glad you read it. You also never know if what you read was 100% real or if there was supernatural elements, and that is on purpose. I charged myself with picking THE NOVEL of the decade by creating this list and I honestly didn't argue with myself on this one.

Some general commentary about the make up of the list and what is says about the genre as a whole; again most of these topics will be explored in much greater detail in the new book:

• It is 30% women and 30% own voices. However, one of the biggest trends in horror that I am seeing is the rise of women and diverse voices producing some of the best work in the genre today. I predict that in 10 more years, these numbers will inch toward 50%.
• There are 2 works in translation on this list [Hex and Fever Dream] and one foreign author who writes in English [Beukes]. American audiences are going to start seeing a lot more horror from all over the world.
• Stories are still important in horror. As are novellas.
• Lovecraftian/Weird fiction got its foothold in this decade and has only continuing to grow. It is the most common trope right now.
• I will not use the term "literary horror" because it is a term that demeans all horror in its assumption that only select titles within the genre have literary merit, when in fact every single horror book has literary merit. Instead, I think it is important to note that the "literary" world is finally noticing horror as worthy of their esteem. This list contains multiple titles that have been nominated for or won national literary awards.

I will have much more about this list and the current state of horror in the new book. It will be done by the end of 2020 and out for libraries to purchase in mid 2021. But this is a lot of useful information for you to use right now.

Finally, I would also like to thank librarian and horror author Corey Farrenkopf, for giving this list the once over and giving me invaluable feedback that improved this list.

31 Days of Horror: Day 6-- Understanding Some Current Trends

A few days ago I wrote about the current trend of the history of horror having a strong pull on the works of the present. Today, I wanted to point out a few more current trends in horror, and give you a link where you can read more about it.

First off is Cosmic Horror because it is similar to the Lovercraftian influences I talked about in that history post, but it is a bit different in that cosmic horror includes works that came before Lovecraft and those since which have taken it in a different direction that no longer points back directly to Lovecraft himself.

I have two resources here. First here is an excellent Intro to Cosmic Horror that was published by Book Riot. And second, if you want to learn about Cosmic Horror through a discussion of its works in many mediums [but mostly stories] listen to author Mary SanGiovanni's Cosmic Shenanigans podcast.

Another popular trend in horror right now is Body Horror, specifically how it is being used by female authors to reclaim the subgenre. You can read the wikipedia article on Body Horror but I especially liked this recent piece by author Julia Armfield entitled, On Body Horror and the Female Body, via PW.

Finally, Splatterpunk is a subgenre of horror that was popular, fell out of favor, and is making a huge comeback. This is Horror is starting a multi-part series on the subgenre that began with this piece outlining its history and listing some key titles. You can also use this link to pull up all of their posts about Splatterpunk in reverse chronological order.

31 Days of Horror: Day 4- The Pull of Horror's Past

Most of my work in helping you to assist horror readers focuses on living, currently publishing  authors so that you can keep up to speed on the current state of the genre and its trends, while understanding what you should be ordering to create a collection you can use to make suggestions and for your horror readers to browse on their own.

However, I do want to peek into the past a little bit today because one of the biggest trends in horror is the pull of the past and its influence on the present. Specifically as seen in 2 HUGE Trends.

The first, is the return of the classic paperback horror titles from the 70s and 80s. The trend entered the mainstream with the publication of the award winning Paperbacks from Hell by Grady Hendrix, with help from Will Errickson from Too Much Horror Fiction. You can see what I said about this amazing book in my ALA Annual Read 'N Rave back in 2017. And since it's publication, people cannot get enough of these paperback titles.

In response to the demand for more of these books to come back into print, Hendrix and Errickson have teamed up with Valancourt to produce the "Paperbacks From Hell" reissue line. Now in its second year, the line pairs some of the best gems from this era, titles that have been out of print of decades and many, lost to history, with brand new introductions by Errickson and Hendrix.

As Hendrix told me, Valancourt was prepared for these to sell well and even they were surprised by the demand. The books are priced well and you can buy the entire set at once. I would highly suggest adding these vetted titles to your collections.

Even academic libraries are getting in on the trend. University of Indiana Librarian Rebecca Baumann has long been an advocate for these classic paperback pulps, and in the current issue of Fine Books Magazine, she has a fascinating, academic article about collecting paperbacks from hell and why these titles "bewitch" collectors. This article also addresses the appeal of these titles to readers.

This trend is worth noting not only because you should be aware of the reissuing of older titles that you can add to your collections, but also because you should be aware of new authors who write in this style. Understand that readers are looking for a modern, 21st Century take on the pulp horror experience too. For libraries, the best place to find quality [both in writing and book construction] works to satisfy these readers is through Flame Tree Press. Click through to see their authors, books, and read reviews. Of their crop of new authors, the best one for libraries [if you can only get a few] would be Jonathan Janz. But all are a great and appropriate choices for all library collections.

The other trend, and it is one I have written and talked about for a while now but it is still growing and gaining in momentum, is the reemergence of Lovecraft in horror fiction. Click here for a book talk I did a few years ago on the topic.

Look, it needs to be said that Lovecraft was an awful human being. He was a racist, sexist, anti-gay, basically, he hated everyone. But, he created themes, images, characters, and an entire subgenre of horror fiction whose influence can no longer be ignored.

As a result, today's authors who are writing in that Lovecraftian style are very open about contending with his problematic legacy. And it is the people Lovecraft hated the most who are leading the charge-- women, LGBTQ, and authors of color.

As I describe one of the best piece of modern Lovecraftian fiction, The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor Lavalle in that book talk linked above, it is as if LaValle is both giving Lovercraft the middle finger and honoring him all in one great story.

Speaking of LaValle, over on Goodreads, he has this piece about Lovecraft's long lasting influence. It also has a great book list and a shout out to the new annotated collection of Lovecraft stories to which LaValle wrote the introduction. Add the titles you don't have and use LaValle's annotations to book talk the others.

Debut author, Shaun Hamill, whose novel A Cosmology of Monsters [which I am currently reading] also deals directly with Lovecraft, both the author and his influence, wrote this article about contending with the Lovecraft legacy for Crime Reads. Even if you don't enjoy horror, this essay will introduce you to the current spate of Lovecraft retellings and allow you to understand this trend better.

These are not the only instances where the pull of horror's past is effecting the present, but they are the most obvious.

If you want to know more about the history of horror and specifically how it plays out in our present, maybe even preemptively get in on a few trends, I would highly suggest following horror author Brian Keene's fantastic History of Horror Fiction series hosted by Cemetery Dance.

Eventually, it will all be gathered into a book, but for now you can read it online. What I like about this series is that it not only considers the history of the genre in the context of today, but it is also very readable. The essays themselves are fun to read and they are not presented in a typical order. The series itself makes for a very useful tool at understanding the appeal of horror in general, so it is a great resource for all of you library workers who are too afraid to try a book on your own.

To wrap up today, know that I understand the past's pull on the genre, but my place here on this blog is to help you stay current. Use the past to help you help readers, but do not only suggest Dracula or Frankenstein or Lovecraft. Today's post should help you reconcile the past's pull on the present, and give you some fresh collection development, display, and suggestion ideas.

My Conversation with Legendary Horror Editor Don D'Auria

For this year’s Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror Spotlight issue of Booklist magazine, I interviewed Don D’Auria about the launch of Flame Tree Press. I have included the full text from the magazine below, but you can also pull up the interview directly here. I have also added Flame Tree Press to my list of the Best Independent Horror Publishers for Libraries archive here.

This is the third year in a row I have contributed an original piece to the annual spotlight issue. Please refer to my Original Horror Lists, Articles, and Presentations page here on the horror blog to access all three at any time, or to see other original pieces [not reviews] that I have published in a variety of places. Reviews are archived separately here.

In general, don’t forget to use all of the pages in the right gutter of every page of the blog. They contain a lot of useful RA and collection development info, including plenty of ready made book talks for you to share with horror fans immediately.

And now-- What’s Hot in Horror: A Conversation with Don D'Auria

What’s Hot in Horror: A Conversation with Don D’Auria.

 

Spratford, Becky (author).

 
FEATURE. First published August, 2018 (Booklist).

Readers’ advisors around the world know: horror is having a moment. Well, more than a moment; it is red hot. But why? It might have something to do with our uncertain times. As Stephen King noted in Danse Macabre, his 1981 analysis of the genre: “Every 10 to 20 years, [horror movies and novels] seem to enjoy a cycle of increased popularity and visibility. These periods almost always coincide with periods of fairly serious economic and political strain.” In other words, in tough times, some people look for escape by reading about something even worse. As bad as life seems, at least you aren’t being chased by a pack of brain-eating zombies.

Readers are clearly thirsting for terrifying tales right now. Recently I had the chance to talk with Don D’Auria, the executive director of Flame Tree Press, a new imprint from Flame Tree Publishing, about the resurgence of the genre and about his 25 years editing horror.

D’Auria first made a name for himself when he was at the helm of the Leisure Books horror line back in 1997, launching the careers of such best-selling authors as Sarah Pinborough and Brian Keene and making classic novels by masters like Ramsey Campbell and Edward Lee available to a whole new generation of fans. He noted that horror is similar to all genres in that it’s constantly shifting in response to the attitudes of its readers. “Its popularity rises and falls, and right now I’d say it’s certainly risen. You only have to look at movies like A Quiet Place or Hereditary, or TV shows like Stranger Things, to see how horror is capturing the public imagination more than it has for years.”
Three years ago, British-based Flame Tree Publishing saw which way the cultural wind was blowing and put out a series of gothic anthologies focused on ghosts, horror, and sf. The response was better than projected, and publisher Nick Wells, a dark-fiction fan himself, tapped D’Auria to start an entirely new, U.S.-based imprint.​ 

D’Auria is casting Flame Tree Press’ net wide in terms of content, style, and authors. The launch season covers the breadth of horror: from a classic haunted house (The Siren and the Specter​, by Jonathan Janz) to dark fantasy (The Mouth of the Dark​, by Tim Waggoner) to sf adventure (The Sky Woman​, by J. D. Moyer) to urban thrillers (The Bad Neighbor​, by David Tallerman), along with new fiction by household names including Ramsey Campbell (Thirteen Days by Sunset Beach). Flame Tree Press plans to release 13 titles from the September launch through December 2018, and, by 2020, 40 original titles per year.
If it sounds ambitious, it is. D’Auria knows that Flame Tree still has some issues to work through to truly represent the imprint’s tagline, “Fiction without Frontiers.” “The full shape of the list will take a couple of years to become apparent. We’ll have crime and science fiction from China, epic fantasy from Finland, and we’re exploring ways of encouraging more diversity in our submissions. I’d like readers to feel they can trust us to publish books they will love.”

As for where horror is going in the future, D’Auria notes that, in general, horror fiction has been moving away from gothic castles and far-flung places and toward realism. “Increasingly, horror is set in our own world, in the suburbs or cities where we live today. Horror reflects more of our own experience. We can identify with the characters and feel their terror more personally, even if they’re battling vampires or other monsters. And, of course, since Robert Bloch wrote Psycho, monsters can literally be the guy next door.”

D’Auria is committed to keeping libraries well stocked with diverse, new voices that respond to the genre’s constantly evolving trends and keep the ever-growing number of fans of these dark tales reading with the lights on high and loving every moment of it. Those of us helping readers on the front lines know we can use all the scary books we can get our hands on—especially with Halloween coming up—and the fact there is a seasoned veteran well positioned to help us is very good news indeed.

Becky Spratford is a horror reviewer for Booklist and the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror​, 2nd edition (ALA Editions, 2012).

31 Days of Horror: Day 30-- The State of Horror 2017

This is Horror has posted their annual State of Horror Address here. Every single one of you should read this because it talks about horror in the mainstream world and how it is doing overall. This is horror as seen through the eyes of your patrons, how they consume horror, and what they have been most interested in. It is the view of horror from above.

This is Horror is one of my favorite overall horror resources in general. They understand the genre in all of its incarnations, and you can trust them.

In this Address trends in horror are also discussed at length both right this minute trends and some suppositions about next year too.

As you can probably guess, the Address notes that the state of horror is very strong- especially in fiction and television. So that leads to my final plea for this haunting season for you-- the library worker:

KEEP YOUR HORROR DISPLAYS UP PAST HALLOWEEN!!!!

This is one of the best things you can do to help your patrons.  Keep these displays up at least 1 week past Halloween because many people let the season slip by without nabbing a scary read, and on Halloween they will realize they forgot. Then a few days later when they finally have time to come in a get something, you will have taken the displays down. 

Leave them up for people who “missed the boat” to still find horror easily. They may be so embarrassed that they forgot that they won’t want to ask for help.

Just wait another week to take the cobwebs and creepy books down. And if your supervisor thinks you are slacking, send them to this post and said Becky commanded you to do this.

See you back here tomorrow for HALLOWEEN!

Horror on Audio is HOT

Most of you know that Audiobooks are one of the fastest growing segments in the book world, but the way you can tell it is really catching fire is when genre fiction starts seeing a huge surge in audiobook production.

Recently, I heard from Christopher Payne, the President of JournalStone publications and he wanted me to know that they were ramping up production of their own line of audiobooks. He is investing heavily in it, and along with their current stable of audiobooks you can find here, they are currently working on 7 titles by NYT Bestselling author Christopher Golden, some titles by Richard Chizmar including his new novella with Stephen King [review of the print coming to the blog soon], among others.

Brian Keene is also seeing a renewed interest in audio, and as he reported here, the backlist of some of his most popular books are being turned into brand new audio books as I write this.

The trend is gathering momentum when you see the smaller, independent presses investing money in producing their own titles. As Payne told me, it is surprising how expensive starting up a serious audio catalog can be.

But, since he is not the only one doing it, for right now, it appears to be a worthwhile investment.

You don’t have to wait to start being a part of this trend at your library though.

Click here to see what audio is available on Audible.

And click here to look at an general overview of the almost 1,000 titles Overdrive has available for horror in audio.

And don’t forget to check Baker and Taylor and Ingram. JournalStone distributes through both directly.

This is not a trend you want to be left out of. Order some horror on audio for your libraries right now. You won’t need much help getting the titles into patrons’ hands either. Readers are clamoring for it.

31 Days of Horror: Day 24-- Trend Alert: African Horror

Today marks the beginning of a 3 day series on the very hot trend of African Horror. While this trend is still emerging in America, it has already begun to move into the mainstream as a popular subgenre of British horror thanks in large part to the work of Nigerian-British author, BBC contributor, and lawyer, Nuzo Onoh. Onoh is not only one of the most heralded writers of African horror, she is also its biggest promoter. She has made it her goal to educate the world on this thriving and vibrant subgenre.

We will hear from Onoh herself in a guest post written to you, the American library worker, tomorrow, but for today, I wanted to give you a very quick primer on African horror, point you to a few resources to explore on your own, and give you authors to check out.

 Let’s start with a primer. What is African horror? Well, in 2015, Onoh had this wonderful top 10 list explaining what African horror is and also, very importantly, is not: 

1. African Horror is not a reference to AIDS, famine or Ebola, just as Indian Horror is not a reference to rapes or honour killings. African Horror is a literary genre in its own right, a sub-genre of horror that has existed for centuries, albeit without a formal title till my book, The Reluctant Dead, began spearheading the term, African Horror. 

2. African Horror encompasses several horror sub-genres like supernatural horror, psychological horror, demonic/occultic horror, sci-fi horror (popularised by Nnedi Okoroafor) slasher/gore/splatter horror and paranormal romance to mention a few. My books are focused on African supernatural horror, specifically, ghosts and hauntings. 

3. Just like the old Japanese Kaidan tradition, African Horror stories are geographically targeted, depicting the core traditions, beliefs and superstitions of a particular village/tribe within a horror context. Thus, my books, The Reluctant Dead and Unhallowed Graves will resonate with anyone familiar with The Ring or The Grudge. 

4. African Horror is usually steeped in the moral values of individual tribes, with most stories reinforcing these values and the dire consequences of ignoring or abandoning them. Thus, in Unhallowed Graves, we witness the terrible events that befall a grieving mother who goes against the village traditions and attempts to resurrect her son buried in Ajo-ofia, the unhallowed burial ground of people deemed to have died an unclean or bad death. 

5. African Horror has a strong cinema presence in Nollywood films, a Nigerian film industry that produces popular drama, depicting terrifying supernatural events within an Igbo/African setting. 

6. Amos Tutuola, the famous author of The Palm-wine Drinkard and My Life in the bush of Ghosts, is the father of African Horror. His books are considered modern classics today and have been translated into several languages. 

7. Africans respect, fear, revere or abhor their Medicine men. Some cultures refer to them as Juju-men, Root-healers, Voodoo-men or witchdoctors. By whatever name they go, they all boil down to one thing - powerful men (and at times, very rarely, women) whose actions, good or bad, always impact on the daily lives of their people. No African Horror story is ever complete without reference to these powerful and controversial Medicine-men. 

8. The Gullah culture of the American South has very strong ties to African culture and their horror stories are very similar to African horror. Today, Eden Royce, author of the book, Spook Lights and one of the few people that still speak the Gullah language, is spear-heading the Southern Gothic Horror, steeped in Gullah beliefs and culture. People that love Southern Gothic Horror will enjoy African Horror too. 

9. African Horror stories are not Folktales, contrary to popular conception. These days, modern African Horror is written in prose and style similar to mainstream horror, which readers from all over the globe can relate to. My last book, The Reluctant Dead, enjoyed wide readership from fans worldwide, proving that true horror does indeed cross all boundaries. My latest book, Unhallowed Graves, follows in the same style, while retaining its distinct African voice. 

10. Finally, African Horror books and films are out there for anyone interested in discovering the terrifying tales from our mysterious continent. Unfortunately, due to the unsatisfactory classification of literary works, one is likely to find African horror books under "Multicultural" rather than under "Horror". Hopefully, in the near future, an overhaul of the classification system will see more horror works by Africans writers and non-African writers writing African Horror, classified under their rightful category - Horror.

In that list, Onoh mentions the late, Amos Tutuola whose works can be found in many American public libraries, but I would bet you don’t have a horror sticker on them.  Back then, we classified these books as African “Mythology,” but they are horror-- loud and proud. Yes, Tutuola’s works, like many African horror writers use the monster from folklore as a starting point, but so do Western authors.  How soon we forget that the entire concept of a zombie began in Haitian culture. Yes, it has evolved from that kind of zombie in the last few decades, but that is where it began. Yet, we do not call zombie tales “mythology.”

Also, since humans have lived on the African continent far longer than here in America, they have a huge number of awesome monsters in their storytelling tradition to draw off of.

In fact, I would like to argue in this post today that if you have a typical American horror fan, especially one who has “read it all,” your best place to take that reader is to the rich and vibrant history of African horror and its awesomely terrifying world of monsters. 

Click here for a list from Mental Floss on 11 legendary [and terrifying] monsters from all across Africa with an attribution to their country of origin. This is just a glimpse into the source material for an entire continent of horror fiction inspiration.


Please do not worry about a white person from a typical American suburb not being able to relate to these African tales. That is a cop out. If your reader is a horror fan already, that is all of the necessary background he or she will need to fall right into these stories and love the terror that follows. It all is based on the same appeal factors. It is just the monsters themselves who are a little different.


I should also point out that I am mostly writing about African horror written by authors from Nigeria and South Africa because their work is the most easily found in English.

You can click here to read about a brand new anthology of African horror writers with 10 authors you can read right now, including Onoh. Here is the table of contents with links to the authors’ Goodreads pages [where applicable]. The links will lead you to more authors and more story compilations by the very best African horror authors today:

“Daughter Dearest” by Chioma Odukwe – A woman who has just lost her husband finds herself in danger of losing her daughter as well and goes to desperate lengths to keep her in this unusual zombie story.

“Shame” by Nerine Dorman – A biracial couple try to find acceptance during South Africa’s post-apartheid transition period but find themselves confronted with a devastating horror instead. 

“Sleep Papa, Sleep” by Suyi Davies Okungbowa – A mistake made during a taboo trade leaves a young man in modern Lagos desperate to rid himself of something terrifying from beyond the grave. 

“Blood and Fire” by Sawaleh – Religious corruption in one of Africa’s largest Megachurches provokes an ancient and unspeakable horror that seeks to punish, corrupt and feed. 

“Koi-Koi” by Raymond Elenwoke – One of Nigeria’s most prevalent and persistent urban legends is given an origin story in this frightening interpretation of the Lady Koi-Koi mythos. 

“Eaters Of Flesh” by Ezeiyoke Chukwunonso  – A young university student is confronted by mysterious events involving his parents that threaten his sanity and his life. 

“Afin” by Edwin Okolo – Twisting the Snow White fairy tale in surprising ways and transposing it to pre-colonial Nigeria, the court of a king is thrown into disarray when his older wives pit themselves against his youngest. 

“Hadiza” by Nuzo Onoh – A man’s greed and lust lead him to divorce his faithful and loyal wife, an action that has dire consequences in this Nollywood-Horror style tale.
“The Wild Dogs” by Mandisi Nkomo – A Swedish woman volunteers to help fight a strange disease consuming Cape Town and comes faces to face with monstrous inhumanity. 

“Udu” by Damilare Falowo – A village girl and her newborn child are thrown into a cursed forest to die but in the forest she finds vengeful things that are worse than death. 

with an Introduction by Wole Talabi

I wanted to end by reminding you that there are some bigger name African writers of dark speculative fiction who you have in your libraries and who take the time to promote their lesser known colleagues including Lauren Beukes, Sarah Lotz, and Nnedi Okorafor. [Not surprisingly, 2 out of those 3 are white.] Let’s start with the known authors, and begin to branch out from there. You don’t want to miss out on this trend. Take advantage of its spike in popularity to grab some new reads for your patrons.
Tomorrow, Onoh, the true expert, will be here with a guest post, and then Wednesday, I will have a review of her latest novel, The Sleepless, which has already garnered heaps of praise across Great Britain. 

Becky on the Five Things to Know in Horror

Back in April I was part of a presentation on the top things to know in top genres for Booklist and NoveList. The genres were Thrillers, Horror, and Science Fiction.

The video is now available for anyone and everyone to view.

Click here for the video [horror is second]

Click here for the handout

This is an excellent resource for collection development for all three of these genres. I also provide a quick tutorial at the end of the genre specific presentations about how to use NoveList to stay up to date in ALL genres.

Finally, I have reposted my horror specific portion of the handout here on the horror blog so that it can be searchable in the future. I strive to make this blog a useful tool for those helping horror readers in a library setting. But please note, the written resource makes more sense if you watch the video too.

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Becky Spratford on Horror: 

“Horror is a story in which the author manipulates the reader’s emotions by introducing situations in which unexplainable phenomena and unearthly creatures threaten the protagonist and provoke terror in the reader.”

Five Classic Authors 

* Stephen King (The Shining)

* Dean Koontz (Odd Thomas)

* Anne Rice (Interview with a Vampire)

* H P Lovecraft (Cthulhu Stories)

* Ramsey Campbell (Nazareth Hill)

Five Must-Read Books (To understand 21st Century Horror) 

* The Rising by Brian Keene

* The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle

* John Dies at the End by David Wong

* The Keeper by Sarah Langan

* The Terror by Dan Simmons

Top Five Trends in Horror 

*Weird Fiction Re-Emerges As a Subgenre: Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer; Kelly Link

*Science Fiction and Horror Team Up: Justin Cronin Passage Trilogy; David Wellington

*Horrific Women: Tananarive Due and Sarah Pinborough

*A Return to a Pulp Sensibility: Richard Laymon and Brian Keene

*Horror on Audio: Ghost Radio by Leopoldo Gout and Locke and Key by Joe Hill

Five Up and Comers 

* Joe Hill (NOS4A2)

* Jonathan Maberry (Rot and Ruin)

* Sarah Pinborough (Mayhem)

* Jonathan Janz (Children of the Dark)

* Paul Tremblay (A Head Full of Ghosts)

Becky’s Five Favorites [Besides NOS4A2] 

* The Ruins by Scott Smith

* House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

* Bird Box by Josh Malerman

* Anything by Shirley Jackson

*The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell

2012 Year in Review and 2013 Preview

Later this morning I will be taping an episode of the podcast Circulating Ideas. Steve Thomas, the host has invited me to talk about what happened in horror in 2012 and to preview 2013.

I have written this post as a companion to the interview.

Let's talk about 2012 first.

• 2012 was a year in which horror broke through to the mainstream.  The Walking Dead was one of the most watched television shows of the year, and it was the best-sellling comic of 2012 too! Horror movies came out all year long to big box office numbers.  But in print, this was a year in which it was easy to find a wide range of horror titles, one for just about every type of reader.  I detailed these in Library Journal back in October, and you can use the link to see more, but from this group there are 2 standouts I want to mention:
• Brett Talley's The Void.  Talley is a new writer, only on his second book, but he is already a force to be reckoned with.  The Void specifically harkens back to the science fiction tinged horror of H.P. Lovecraft. Enter a world were people can easily travel through space while sleeping. There is a catch however. Travelers are held hostage to their nightmares while in flight; nightmares customized to their own fears; nightmares that have been know to drive people mad. Six travelers, each with a secret encounter an abandoned aircraft, and bad things begin to happen. But is it a dream, their paranoia, or a monster?  Talley creates a creeping sense of unease from the start of The Void, an anxiety that never lets up, continuously builds, and leaves the reader looking over his or her shoulder while frantically turning the pages to find out how it all ends. 
• The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle. La Valle's literary horror tale made many of 2012's best lists.  Imagine One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest meets Frank Peretti’s Monster.  Pepper is unjustly committed into a Queens mental hospital. He quickly realizes that not only are the inmates more sane than the staff, but an animal headed monster is stalking and killing the patients at night. Characters are king here as the action comes in quick spurts between Pepper’s interactions with others and his internal struggles. The omniscient narration is also very eerie. It mostly follows Pepper, but it does switch occasionally, including an unsettling turn showing things through the eyes of a rat.  This novel is terrifying, but it also asks you to ponder larger societal questions of race, class, and madness; just keep the lights on while thinking about it all.
• As with all fiction, the YA audience grew exponentially for horror in 2012.  Many adult authors are writing YA novels, and many of them are quite good.  In fact, after having too many excellent YA novel options, last year, the Bran Stoker Awards officially added a YA category so those books could be honored.  The best of the bunch is Jonathan Maberry's award winning YA Rot and Ruin trilogy, the final book of which, Flesh and Bone came out in 2012.  Here some other 2012 YA titles that are worth a read:
• A Bad Day for Voodoo by Jeff Strand (one of my personal favorite horror authors)
• Such Wicked Intent, Book Two in Kenneth Oppel's Bram Stoker nominated The Apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein series
• The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater
• Paperback horror came back because independent publishers emerged as its savior.
• In 2011 things looked bad for horror. Leisure books, one of the biggest publisher of horror paperbacks for the mainstream market went under in late 2010.  Many publishers were switching to all ebooks to try to survive, but horror readers love their paperbacks.  Yes, they read ebooks, but it was not their preferred format. Amazon snapped up the rights to Leisure's back catalog and has started a sf, fantasy and horror imprint (47North), but so far the horror writing community (and with them follow the readers) is not behind this new Amazon venture.  After a few books, I would say only Seed by Ania Ahlborn has looked promising. But it is worth keeping an eye on.  
• The real reason the paperback horror title returned from the dead in 2012 is because of the diligence of independent publishers.  Leading the pack is JournalStone. I spent a lot of time talking about JournalStone during my 31 Days of Horror feature here, so click through for more details. But if you just want the short version, what JournalStone has done is to go out and find the best horror to publish and then they promote the heck out of it. In 2012 they got multiple titles in the hand of reviewers for BookList, Library Journal, and PW, with the spectacular Brett Talley leading the way in their catalog. And once these reviewers were made aware of the titles, they really liked them.  JournalStone also runs a fiction contest and publishes the winner.  This year's winner, The Devil of Echo Lake, was a fantastic read (my review here) and got picked up in the mainstream review journals where it also received positive reviews. However, they did not only fight for niche popularity or online book store sales.  JournalStone also succeeded in getting some of its paperbacks to be placed on the shelves at Barnes and Nobel's throughout the country. By focusing on the printed book and not ebooks, JournalStone has made a name for themselves in 2012, and this can only help drive more interest in horror.
• Horror readers like the paperback format. After a premature obituary in 2011, it is back and in 2013, I predict it will continue to rebound and grow.

Now let's look forward to 2013....

• 2013 has a lot for librarians to look forward to.  First, under the leadership of dark fiction writer J.G. Faherty, the Horror Writers Association has made working with libraries part of their 2013 goals.  They have secured a booth at ALA Midwinter in Seattle and ALA Annual in Chicago. They want to work with us. I foresee an increase in library interest in managing and improving their horror collections. If you are at either conference, stop by the HWA booth.  I will be at the booth in Chicago, but more on that later this year.
• This increase in interest will also be fueled by the fact that there are some HUGE releases coming in 2013, releases that will have many readers talking about horror.  Here is short preview:
• Jonathan Maberry has a brand new entry into his New York Times best selling  Joe Ledger horror-esque technothriler series coming in March.
• Joe Hill has a busy 2013
• The long awaited new novel NOS4A2 will be out in April
• The movie version of Horns featuring Daniel Radcliffe in the lead role of Ig will be out this year. Click here for my review of the novel.
• The conclusion of Joe Hill's popular and award winning Locke and Key graphic novel series (drawn by Gabriel Rodriguez) concludes this fall.  In my opinion, not only is this series the very best horror story in the world right now, it is the best graphic novel series out there.  Don't be fooled though, this is true horror with bad things that happen to good people, but it is realistic, original, and scary as heck.  Go to my review index to read a review of the first 5 bound books in the series.
• And the most anticipated horror release of 2013, Stephen King's long awaited sequel to The Shining (still the best "start here option for people new to King) is coming out -- Dr. Sleep (9/24/13).  Even people who stopped reading King years ago will be flocking to this one.  Make sure you have enough copies available.  I would also suggest preparing readalike lists and other horror suggestions to help to promote your other horror offerings while people wait for this one. In August I will have multiple posts to help you get ready here on RA for All: Horror.

I am looking forward to a great year for horror in 2013.  Check back here regularly for more horror news, tips, resources, and reviews throughout the year.

31 Days of Horror: Day 4-- Monster Librarian Guest Post

I have mentioned Monster Librarian on this blog before.  This resource is the only one out there that focuses on horror in the library for all ages. (I focus on adult with a little YA.)

After doing a guest post for their Monster Movie Month celebration back in June, I asked Kirtsten Kowalewski, one of the Monster Librarian editors to write a piece for 31 Days of Horror on the current trends in the genre. Below is her guest post.

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TRENDS IN THE HORROR GENRE

By Kirsten Kowalewski

Many of the trends in horror fiction right now reflect trends in publishing and reading in general. Anyone who follows books at all, or has been to the bookstore recently, will note an overwhelming number of YA titles devoted to the supernatural, as well as dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction. So results of a recent study by Bowker Market Research, that show that 55% of  YA books (targeted at ages 12-17) are purchased by adults reflect a notable trend not just in general but for the horror genre.  The trend towards adults reading YA books is now so strong that popular writers of adult horror, such as Jonathan Maberry are now writing YA titles, and publishers of adult horror are now starting YA imprints--ChiZine Publications recently announced that it will introduce a new imprint, ChiTeen, in 2014.

Something to remember as you consider these numbers is that teens also read a lot of adult fiction. In her book Shelf Discovery, Lizzie Skurnick touches on this, as she recalls reading adult books like Jaws and raiding her parents’ bookshelves , in addition to reading contemporary YA fiction (and as Becky noted in this blog post, as teens are new to the genre,  introducing them to these more mature titles is a great way to circulate your backlist). Many, many people start reading Stephen King and other adult horror novels as teens. What young adults read isn’t necessarily fiction targeted at young adults, any more than what adults read is targeted to them.

At MonsterLibrarian.com, we’ve reviewed books with monsters in them that fall all along the spectrum, and the most popular searches for book lists are for YA vampire books and paranormal romances. These are so popular that we started a blog, Reading Bites, just for this audience. However, there seems to be agreement between horror readers and librarians that the vampire novel, for the most part, has lost its bite; as one middle school librarian noted to me recently, middle school girls aren’t scared by a vampire who will take them to the prom. As vampires bleed into the genres of romance and mystery, hardcore horror readers, who prefer their monsters to be monstrous, have started to turn away from this subgenre.  Make sure you know what a reader wants when he or she asks for a vampire book.

The trend in YA fiction towards dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction, influenced by The Hunger Games, also seems to frequently take on a romantic angle, and often portrays the main characters as catalysts for societal change. Post-apocalyptic fiction seems to be mainly reflected in adult horror in the subgenre of zombie fiction, where the focus is usually on the survivors of a post-apocalyptic event doing their best to survive a zombie invasion. Lovers of this subgenre are sometimes content to read the same kind of story over and over—they like the fast-paced action and gore and aren’t necessarily interested in character development—but in recent years there have been some fresh takes on a genre that, while popular, was starting to get a bit stale (you can see what I mean by checking out our list of zombie titles).  Mad science is also taking off in interesting directions, with plague viruses, technology gone mad, genetic manipulation, and man-made monsters showing up with frequency in both YA and adult fiction. One of the scariest books I’ve read in the past twelve months was Kenneth Oppell’s This Dark Endeavor (reviewed here), a prequel to Mary Shelley’s classic horror story Frankenstein. Both Oppell’s short novel and Shelley’s original appeared together in the same ebook.  Now that’s a hook! The Frankenstein story takes a totally different turn in Neal Shusterman’s UnWholly, due out later this month. And these days many zombie books start with some kind of virus or plague, with the search for a cure a significant storyline.

Another trend in publishing and reading that is affecting horror fiction is the popularity of ebooks and self-publishing. At the time that we started MonsterLibrarian.com, horror fiction had more or less lost its home in mainstream publishing and migrated to small presses that often specialized in printing collector’s editions—beautiful, but expensive, and not easily available to the average consumer. Some of them, like Cemetery Dance and Bad Moon Books have done very well, but many times books from small presses are only available by direct order, which makes them hard to find. 

As ebooks and self-publishing have exploded, horror fiction of all kinds has become much more readily available. Short pieces that weren’t exactly what a publisher was looking for, or were by unknown authors, could be (and are) presented in ebook format, and find an audience. This is great for horror readers who are loyal to a subgenre that isn’t being promoted in mainstream publishing , like werewolf fiction. There is a strong minority of readers who love werewolf horror (enough that we hosted a Werewolf Month for several years), but there are few current werewolf horror books (here’s our list of werewolf titles). A search for “werewolf horror” on Amazon.com brings up over 1,000 titles, mostly self-published ebooks. It’s hard to know what the quality of a self-published book will be before you read it, but many ebooks are very low-priced. Some authors are now publishing serials, with an attempt to hook an audience with episodes of a continuing story.  Authors whose rights have reverted to them can introduce their books to a new audience.  Small presses sell books in ebook format as well as collector’s editions, making those available to a wider audience. And current mainstream authors (like Stephen King) are finding a demand for shorter pieces . The ways that ebooks are changing publishing in general and horror in particular are many, and it’s very exciting. Unfortunately for libraries and their readers, most of these won’t be easily available through a service like Overdrive. The conundrum of how libraries can help horror readers connect more easily with ebooks doesn’t seem like one that can be solved easily.

A final trend that I see affecting the way people experience horror fiction is the way it is sweeping the media. Television shows like The Walking Dead (originally based on a series of graphic novels) have made zombies more mainstream. Movies such as Joss Whedon’s Cabin in the Woods draw in reluctant viewers (see what blogger Barbara Vey wrote here). Apps allow you to take the experience along with you.  The brand-new book Horrible Hauntings by Shirin Yim Bridges uses augmented reality technology to extend the reading experience; ghosts leap out at the reader when you point your cell phone camera at the pictures! Horror is such a visual genre that the way other media are giving readers to experience it is nothing short of amazing.

Getting the horror reader in the door can be a challenge. But the real challenge is this: with so much horror outside mainstream publishing, once you get the reader in the door, how are you going to manage to give them what they’re looking for?

Kirsten Kowalewski  has worked as a children’s librarian and school librarian and is now editor for MonsterLibrarian.com, a review website dedicated to helping librarians with readers advisory and collection development in the horror genre, and to help horror readers find another good book to read.  In addition to cajoling reviewers and editing and writing reviews, she also runs the blog Musings of the Monster Librarian, which you should definitely visit. Kirsten can be reached at monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com.

Pinning Horror

One of my summer projects is to get on Pinterest.  My first goal is going to be a transfer of the BPL annotated lists onto Pinterest.

The whole Pinterest thing is new enough that many people are still unsure what it is and how to do it.  Ahh, this is why I love teaching; I have eager students to look into the newest technology for me.  Last semester one of my students wrote her final paper on the site from the Readers' Advisory perspective.  Click here to read the details.

From the RA horror perspective though, Monster Librarian has already gotten their boards up.  Click here to see what they are pinning for the horror reader.

Trends in Horror Series

I was invited to speak on a panel at the Pubic Library Association Conference this March.  The topic is "Trends in Genre Series," and I am happy that horror is going to be included along with Romance, Gentle Reads, and Mystery.

So in preparation, I started making a list of the newest trends in horror series offerings.  Here are the three I am going to concentrate on:

• Just the fact that series are becoming a staple in horror is a trend on its own.  Horror rarely had long running series before the 21st century.  More often we saw trilogies, a stray sequel here and there, or a newer writer taking a classic and writing a sequel or prequel years later.  But just like all fiction these days, series are becoming the norm.  Readers like entering a world populated with characters the already know they will like.  With so many reading options, series are a way for readers to focus on a group of books they can count on.  Publishers and authors have learned this and they are cranking out the series offerings in every genre.

• While there are physically more series, some of the best horror writing in general, series or not, is happening in the format of the graphic novel.  This has a bit to do with the fact that horror lends itself nicely to the visual form; you can say a lot with pictures in horror.  However, it is not only the fact that these works are illustrated that makes them better.  I have been finding that the most interesting characters and the richest story lines are coming out in the comic format.  I am not alone in this opinion.  Take for example the most recent Eisner Awards for the entire comics industry and click here to see that Joe Hill won for best overall writer of any comic, for his horror series, Locke and Key.  In my opinion, there really isn't a better horror series, in any format, right now than Locke and Key.

• A larger trend in all fiction is how some traditional horror elements are creeping into other genres.  Specifically, the supernatural thriller is big these days.  There are now many series that are just past the physical boundary line of traditional horror, and they are gaining popularity and readers all of the time.  These "not quite horror," series are frightening, fast paced, and hitting The New York Times Bestseller List with regularity.  Finally, in a link to the trend above, these "not quite horror" series are also starting to shine in graphic novels.

So as you can see, the current trends in horror series is like on big circle, where each trend appears to be feeding off of the others.  I don't know what the future holds, but for now, it is a great time to be a fan of horror.

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some more of my thoughts and lists that I will be including in the actual talk.  There will be many examples of these trends with a lot more detail.  However,  I only get 15 minutes to speak my piece, so I will cram more info into my handouts which I will be posting here along with the handouts for my co-panelists.

One author, who is figuring to be a major player in the talk (as he also is in the new book) is Jonathan Maberry.  I recently finished his latest book, Dead of Night.  Maberry has also signed up to visit RA for All on his "Shambling Zombie Blog Tour."  So early March will also bring an interview with him and a review of his latest book.

But what about you? If you have a current trend in horror as it pertains to series books, leave a comment and share it with me.  It might make it into my talk.

31 Days of Horror: Day 2--Horror Flash Fiction

On Day 1, I made you read what I wrote, now it is your turn to write whatever you want, as long as it is under 1,500 words.

Over on my general readers' advisory blog, RA for All, I recently posted here about flash fiction.  Click through if you want more information about this emerging format, but for the aspiring horror writers out there, I wanted to pass on this call for submissions from horror publisher Dark Moon Books.

For those of you out there who aren't writers, take note that the publishers plan to put out an anthology in March.  Flash Fiction is building quite a following (again, click here for more details).  I would highly suggest ordering this book at any library with a popular horror collection.  So basically, if you are a librarian and reading this, you should be ordering the collection.


Now on to the official press release:

Call for Submissions

Slices of Flesh HORROR FLASH FICTION ANTHOLOGY My name is Stan Swanson and I am editor/publisher of Dark Moon Books, a small press currently publishing Dark Moon Digest (a quarterly literary horror magazine/anthology) as well as other collections and novels. My priority over the next few months is to collect flash fiction horror pieces (1500 words or less) to launch as an anthology at the 2012 World Horror Conference. The collection, although published under the Dark Moon banner, would be a non-profit project with proceeds going to a combination of programs with the Literacy Project of America being our primary charity. Although we are still early in the process of gathering authors, Jack Ketchum, Graham Masterton, Joe McKinney, Tim Lebbon, David Dunwoody, Simon Clark, Jonathan Maberry and Ramsey Campbell have already signed on to participate in the project. Mike Mignola (of Hellboy fame) has also agreed to provide cover artwork. THE PROJECT IN A NUTSHELL: Project: Horror Flash Fiction Collection Working Title: Slices of Flesh Submission Deadline: November 31, 2011 Publication Date: March 2012 Book Launch: 2012 World Horror Convention Story Length: Between 250 and 1500 words (flash fiction) Category: Subject matter open as long as it falls into the horror category. Rights: Authors retains all copyrights; the collection will be available in print and electronic format. Editing Process: Dark Moon Books currently has four highly-skilled editors on staff. Your story will be lightly edited by one of these editors, then returned for your approval. Payment: Authors accepted into the collection will receive an e-version of the book in either PDF, Kindle or Nook format; net proceeds will go to charities to be determined by participating authors and Dark Moon Books. (Primary charity at this time is the Literary Project of America.) Other: Dark Moon Books reserves the right to use the author’s name for promotional and advertising purposes. All authors should also submit a short bio, (up to 100 words), which will appear with their story. Questions? E-mail DarkMoonDigest@gmail.com I would love to have you on board as one of the potential authors and look forward to hearing from you. Stan Swanson Editor/Publisher Dark Moon Books & Dark Moon Digest Issue #5 of Dark Moon Digest is now available at Amazon and other online bookstores.