Halloween Hangover Meet Election Anxiety via Emily Hughes in Slate

I know the blog-a-thon ended yesterday but ending on a Thursday didn't sit right with me, so I have one final post to round out the week.

With the election coming up next week, I know just what everyone needs-- a viewing of Texas Chain Saw Massacre!

Seriously. I am not kidding and Emily Hughes wrote this piece for Slate, "The Parable of the Chain Saw"-- a serious contemplation of this movie's release into the politically unstable and terrifying world 50 years ago and how similar to now that world seems. And so much more. Please give it a read and take care of yourselves during this stressful time.

If Texas Chain Saw Massacre is too much for you, give Hughes' book a read instead-- Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch.

Click on the image below or here to read the piece via Slate.

The Parable of the Chain Saw 

It’s the bleakest horror movie in American cinema. There’s never been a better time to watch it.

BY EMILY C. HUGHES

31 Days of Horror: Day 31-- Announcing the 2025 Summer Scares Spokesperson and Program Timeline

Happy Halloween everyone. Today is the end of our 31 Days together, but as usual we end with a look forward. Today is the announcement marking the beginning of Summer Scares 2025!

This will be the last you hear from me on the Horror blog until 11/14 when I will return with a new #HorrorForLibraies Giveaway.

HWA ANNOUNCES SUMMER SCARES READING PROGRAM 2025 SPOKESPERSON AND TIMELINE

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with Booklist, Book Riot, iREAD, and NoveList®, a division of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), is proud to announce the sixth annual Summer Scares, a reading program that provides libraries and schools with an annual list of recommended horror titles for adult, young adult (teen), and middle grade readers. It introduces readers and librarians to new authors and helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list, promoting reading for years to come.

Summer Scares is proud to announce the 2025 spokesperson, #1 New York Times Bestselling author Kendare Blake:

"As a proud member of the club of people who read Stephen King too young, I am both honored and absolutely psyched to be this years' Summer Scares Spokesperson. Long ago, in elementary school, I had a beloved librarian with hair as black as night and teeth like Nosferatu. On dreary, wintry afternoons she would gather the children near and read to us from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, her eyes brightening with our every small whimper. She was, in short, THE BEST. I hope to meet many more librarians this year with her same, spooky spirit. So come along, folks of all ages, and let's read the scary stuff all summer long! It's not just for October anymore." 

Blake, along with a committee of six library workers, will select three recommended fiction titles in each reading level, totaling nine Summer Scares selections. The program aims to encourage a conversation at libraries worldwide about the horror genre across all age levels and ultimately attract more adults, teens, and children interested in reading. Official Summer Scares designated authors will also make themselves available to public and school libraries.

The committee’s final selections will be announced on February 14, 2025, Library Lover’s Day. Blake, along with some of the selected authors, will kick off Summer Scares at the 9th Annual HWA Librarians’ Day, Friday, June 13th, during StokerCon® 2025 at the Hilton Stamford Hotel in Stamford, CT. Tickets for this in-person event are available now: https://www.stokercon2025.com/librarian-s-day.

Additional content, including podcast appearances, free webinars with Booklist, and lists of suggested titles for further reading, will be made available by the committee and its partners beginning in March of 2025 and continuing through the Spring and Summer.

Of special note is the annual Summer Scares Programming Guide, courtesy of HWA Library Committee Co-Chair Konrad Stump and the Springfield-Greene County Library, which provides creative ideas to engage horror readers. Centered around the official Summer Scares titles, the guide offers tips and examples for readers’ advisory, book discussion guides, and sample programs, enabling librarians, even those who don’t read or especially enjoy the horror genre themselves, to connect their communities with Summer Scares.

To see past year’s Summer Scares titles, spokespeople, and programming guides, please visit the program archive: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares-archive.html.

This year, Summer Scares is excited to announce a brand new sponsor– iREAD, an all ages Summer Reading Program developed by librarians for libraries. iREAD is used by libraries across the United States and around the world through their partnership with the US Department of Defense, bringing Summer Scares to our military families stationed across the globe.

iREAD Content and Development Manager Becca Boland shared her excitement:

“As a new sponsor of Summer Scares, iREAD is thrilled (and chilled) to support the Summer Scares program guide that will help libraries ‘unearth’ a love for reading. As part of this partnership, every summer you'll find one spine-tingling book for each age range and category that aligns with the iREAD theme. iREAD will also help to provide programming assistance for the guide ensuring everyone has a ‘fang-tastic’ time! Let’s conjure up some excitement and make this summer a real ‘scream’ with Summer Scares and iREAD."

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates coming soon from Booklist, Book Riot, iREAD and NoveList®, as well as at the HWA’s website: www.horror.org and RA for All Horror: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html.

Questions? Reach out to HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump via email: libraries@horror.org. 

Summer Scares 2025 Committee Members: 

Kendare Blake is the author of several novels and short stories, most of which you can find information about via the links above. Her work is sort of dark, always violent, and features passages describing food from when she writes while hungry. She was born in July (for those of you doing book reports) in Seoul, South Korea, but doesn’t speak a lick of Korean, as she was packed off at a very early age to her adoptive parents in the United States. That might be just an excuse, though, as she is pretty bad at learning foreign languages. She enjoys the work of Milan Kundera, Caitlin R Kiernan, Bret Easton Ellis, and Richard Linklater. She lives and writes in Gig Harbor, Washington, with her husband, their cat son Tyrion Cattister, red Doberman dog son Obi-Dog Kenobi, rottie mix dog daughter Agent Scully, and naked Sphynx cat son Armpit McGee.

Becky Spratford is a library consultant and the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, third edition which was released in September of 2021. She reviews horror for Booklist Magazine, is the horror columnist for Library Journal and runs the Readers’ Advisory blog, RA for All: Horror.

Konrad Stump is a Local History Associate for the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library, where he co-coordinates Springfield-Greene's popular “Oh, the Horror!” series, which attracts hundreds of patrons during October. He created the Donuts & Death horror book discussion group, featured in “Book Club Reboot: 71 Creative Twists” (ALA), and co-created the Summer Scares Programming Guide. Library workers who are interested in cultivating horror programming can contact him at konrads@thelibrary.org for free assistance.

Carolyn Ciesla is an academic library director in the Chicago suburbs. She has worked as a teen librarian and reference librarian, and has reviewed horror titles for Booklist Magazine. She’s currently teaching horror to first-year college students. You can find her all over the internet as @papersquared.

Kelly Jensen is an editor at Book Riot, the largest independent book website in North America. She covers all things young adult literature and has written about censorship for nearly ten years. She is the author of three critically-acclaimed and award-winning anthologies for young adults on the topics of feminism, mental health, and the body. She was named a person of the year in 2022 by Publishers Weekly and a Chicagoan of the year in 2022 by the Chicago Tribune for her anti-censorship work. She has also earned commendation from the American Association of School Librarians for her censorship coverage. Prior to her work at Book Riot, she was a public librarian for children, teens, and adults in several libraries in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. She is currently enrolled in a clinical mental health counseling master's program to bolster her work with mental health.

Julia Smith joined the Books for Youth team at Booklist in 2015, where she is now a senior editor. Her love of middle-grade literature and all things unsettling and strange draws her to creepy children's stories. You can follow her at @JuliaKate32 on Twitter.

Yaika Sabat (MLS) comes from a background in public libraries of various sizes. She now works at NoveList as the Manager of Reader Services, where she trains library staff nationwide on readers’ advisory, creates genre-focused content, and works on reader-focused products and services. As a Horror Writers Association’s Library Advisory Council member, she works to help librarians understand and embrace the horror genre. Her other passions include writing, graphic novels, film (the scarier, the better), and folklore.

31 Days of Horror: Day 30-- Promote Horror All Year Long by Lila Denning

Today is the last day of programming here before tomorrow's annual Halloween announcement of the Summer Scares Spokesperson. That means it is the perfect day to talk about what happens from November 1-September 30.

The short answer is....still Horror. But I know that it not intuitive to everyone. To help I invited Lila Denning, acquisitions librarian, book display guru, horror reviewer, and much more to tell all of you how to promote Horror all year long.

Take it away Lila. And after reading this, visit her blog-- Passively Recommending Books for book display advice all year long. [Spoiler alert, Horror shows up all the time.]

As October ends, Halloween Librarians may grow sad as the time to have horror shine comes to an end. The rest of our collections can come out of hiding in November as the calendar moves towards the winter holidays. That sort of thinking is increasingly obsolete as horror’s profile in publishing continues to rise. Libraries need to change the marketing of their collections to demonstrate an understanding of horror readers, from the most intense to casual fans. If you are skeptical, ask yourself when is crime fiction or science fiction season? Horror fans deserve the same year round attention that other readers receive. 

Passive readers advisory tools such as book displays and book lists both help your patrons find their next great read while allowing your library to bring backlist titles to your patron’s attention. View them as a marketing tool to show off the depth and breadth of your library’s collection. That includes horror outside of October (as well as romance outside of February but that’s for another blog.)

Winter and holiday horror is released every year. Recent titles include the collections Christmas and Other Horrors: A winter solstice anthology (2023) and The Darkest Night: A Terrifying Anthology of Winter Horror Stories (2024) as well as novels like Candy Cain Kills (2023), Dead of Winter (2023), Where the Dead Wait (2023), and the forthcoming Our Winter Monster (2025). A book display or list with winter themed crime fiction and horror would give your patrons plenty of options. There are horror titles that you can match up with almost any holiday or season. When you set up displays or lists, include horror. There are plenty of terrifying thrillers and mysteries that are released throughout the year. People love to read frighting and suspenseful fiction all year. Spring break and summer are great times to promote horror. As someone who lives 15 minutes from the beach, I can promise you that “beach read” doesn’t mean light and humorous to everyone.

The Bram Stoker Awards occur every year in summer. The long list as well as the previous year’s nominated titles make for a great midsummer book display or list. Don’t forget Summer Scares, a joint effort between iRead, NoveList, Book Riot, and the Horror Writers of America, designed to promote horror reading in the summer. There are middle grade, young adult, and adult titles chosen every year. The current and past selections, as well as other titles from the authors who have been chosen also make for a great summertime display.

Pick a trope or theme and add books from across your collection. Witches, shifters, haunted houses, grief, unexplained death, and dysfunctional families can be found in many fiction and non-fiction titles. Someone who loves a theme in one genre already has an entryway into finding a horror novel they will love. These kinds of displays and lists can be put up year-round. Don’t worry about mixing up genres in a list or book display. If you check the bibliographic record for crime fiction or horror, you will see multiple genres listed. Even publishers will list several genres on their own sites, promoting individual titles. 

Horror is being blended with other kinds of fiction regularly now. Those readers you may have decided don’t like horror are watching horror movies and streaming series. Harness a popular horror story in another medium to promote your horror backlist. Horror themed movies and streaming shows are released all year. Find read alikes in your collection and allow things that are already on your patrons’ mind to help move your backlist titles. Think broadly when you consider how similar a title is to a given movie or show; don’t get trapped into thinking readalikes need to be a precise match.

Enjoy mashing up genres in your book displays and lists! I hope I have shown you that you can add horror to your passive readers advisory efforts all year. Many of your patrons seek out scares and thrills as part of their regular reading. While October is peak time for scary tales, let your spooky collection shine every month.

31 Days of Horror: Day 29-- Neil McRobert's (Talking Scared) Best Horror of the Year via Esquire

As Spooky Season is ending, I will begin to shift the conversation here on the blog  toward what you can do all year long to support Horror, but today I wanted to take one last look back at what a great year it has already been through Neil McRobert's 2024 Best Horror of the Year for Esquire magazine.

McRobert, the host of Talking Scared, knows his stuff. He is entrenched in the world of Horror like very few others. And his work in Esquire, bringing a knowledgeable and serious discussion of Horror to a mainstream media platform-- one that is not solely book focused-- is very important.

This best of the year list is one example of why McRobert's voice is necessary for us library workers to be aware of. Unlike me and my fellow library world reviewers, he does not have to worry about how easily a library can get a book and add it to their collection. He does not have to worry if the physical copy will stand up to multiple checkouts. He does not have to make sure his list does not, for example, have too many picks from the same publisher. And, he can include as many books as he wants.

This is awesome for us. To have another expert's opinion on what is "best" and why is priceless to us. There are too many yahoos online who want to yell about how their opinion is the only one that matters. However, they are not literal students of the genre like myself and people like Emily Hughes, or the other librarians who do this work day in a day out. McRobert has a degree in this; he reads the books; and he engages in deep conversations with the authors. His opinion matters to us and our readers.

Back in 2021, I invited McRobert to become part of the Why I Love Horror family. Click here for his essay. And click here to learn more about Talking Scared (if you don't know already).

And of course, the main reason for this post-- here is McRobert's top 38 Horror books of 2024. The list is annotated so you can use McRobert's words to share these titles with readers. You can see the introduction below or just click here and go to the Esquire site now. 

The Best Horror Books of 2024

Our favorites are digging grim tunnels into territory old and new, from haunted houses to whimsical horror comedies.

by Neil McRobert

There’s a long-standing theory that in times of real-world strife, readers lose their appetite for fictional horrors. That has never been true. The carnage of pulp magazines only gained popularity after the world wars, while Vietnam and the end of the hippie dream led directly to The Exorcist, Rosemary’s Baby, and the ascendancy of Stephen King. And now our freshly unstable world is proving fertile ground for the growth of new budding nightmares.

So far, 2024 has been brimming with fantastic horror stories. I’ve done my absolute best to curate a list of the must-read titles released up to this point. The most promising element of the list below is in the breadth, depth, and variety of the darkness at play. Unlike in previous “golden” eras of horror, there is no dominant trend. Rather, horror writers are digging their own grim tunnels into territory old and new. Retro haunted-house stories sit alongside extreme body horror. Whimsical horror comedies work in tandem with serious political subcurrents. Horror is not just responding to the perma-crisis we’re all living through; it’s providing respite and escape from it. Horror teaches as much as it terrifies. It heals as much as it hurts.

This list contains titles from the whole spectrum of the genre. There are stories to satisfy the most bloodthirsty tastes and some that will lead the uneasy on their first forays into the shadowy end of the library.

Enjoy. It’s good to be scared.

Click here to see the annotated list.

31 Days of Horror: Day 28-- Librarians' Day is Coming in June on Friday the 13th and You Can Sign Up NOW!

As we approach the end of our 31 days together I wanted to remind you that Horror Season is all year long. And just because it is no longer October, that does not mean we stop talking about your Horror readers. 

On Thursday, I will be hosting the official start of Summer Scares 2025 with our press release of the spokesperson and details on the timeline for the program.

But today, I am going to get you excited for something else. This year's Librarians' Day, on Friday, June 13, 2025 in Stamford, CT. It is a full day of continuing education and learning for all library workers for only $60.

Below and at this link you can see the schedule and sign up right now. We are expecting a big crowd as the location is close enough for hundreds of libraries to attend.

If you know you will have 5 or more people to register, email me at libraries@horror.org so we can get you a group discount as well.

Real talk time-- in a few days you are going to miss this daily dose of Horror talk. You can help you, help yourself and limit your own withdrawal by registering today for Librarians' Day. Then you will have something to look forward to.

Click here for the full schedule on the StokerCon website or see below.

Librarians’ Day Schedule for StokerCon 2025, Stamford, CT
 
Librarians’ Day
Friday June 13, 2025
8am-4pm
Librarians’ Day only ticket - $60

BUY TICKETS HERE

Please note: Librarians’ Day is open to all StokerCon ticket holders. If you already have a regular ticket, we invite you to attend any of our programming at no extra cost.  

ABOUT: On the Friday of StokerCon, the Horror Writers Association (HWA) offers "Librarians' Day" -- a full day of horror-focused continuing education programming for all library workers. Topics include readers' advisory, programming featuring the conference's guest authors on timely topics, information on how you can work with the HWA, and more. Below you'll find this year's special program for the on-site conference. Librarians' Day ticket holders will have access to the dealer's room and other areas of the full conference throughout the day. ​

SCHEDULE

8 -8:25 a.m.: Welcome to Librarians’ Day!: Meet the Librarians’ Day team and fellow librarians from across the country while enjoying coffee and bites courtesy of the University of Pittsburgh Library System.

8:30-9:20 am: Brains! Brains! Brainstorming Ways to Engage Your Community, Moderated by Jocelyn Codner and Meghan Bouffard: Join HWA Library Advisory Council members in small group discussions to meet some of your fellow librarians, share experiences, and gather ideas for how to engage your community with the horror community.

9:30-10:20 am: How to Feature Horror at Your Library, Moderated by Corey Farrenkopf: Hear librarians from across the country share their experiences featuring horror at their libraries, from book discussions to writing groups to author events and more.

10:30-11:20 am: Buzzing About Horror Books, Moderated by Emily Vinci: Join librarians and book reviewers as they share the buzz about a slew of exciting new and upcoming horror titles. Come for the booktalks; stay for the free books and swag!

11:30 am-1 pm: Lunch Break: Explore Stamford and enjoy a nearby restaurant.

1-1:50 pm: What Horror Means to Me, Moderated by Lila Denning: Join StokerCon 2025’s Guests of Honor for a lively discussion about why readers of all ages enjoy a good scare, from fictional frights to all-too-true terrors. Featuring Scott Edelman, Paula Guran, Adam Nevill, Joyce Carol Oates, Gaby Triana, and Tim Waggoner.

2-2:50 pm: This Book is Haunted: cursed objects and texts in film and literature, Moderated by Ben Rubin. An old tome with archaic writing, an unmarked VHS, a doll with an unsettling gaze, a camera through which the viewfinder shows a reality that seems just a bit off…Cursed objects provide not only an intriguing plot device but their uncanny realism can also make the reader or viewer feel complicit in the haunting. Join us as we explore the popularity of cursed objects and media and why these stories are essential for library shelves. Featuring Clay McLeod Chapman, Adam Nevill, and Emily Vinci with more panelists to be announced soon!

3-3:50 pm: Summer Scares: A Thrilling Summer Reading Program, Moderated by Yaika Sabat: Join Summer Scares current and past selected authors, spokespeople, and partners to learn more about the HWA’s popular summer reading program, how to get involved, and how to use Summer Scares resources to better serve your patrons. Stay tuned for our full list of panelists! ​ ​

I hope to see you there on Friday the 13th, this coming June.

BUY TICKETS HERE

31 Days of Horror: Day 27-- Weekly Links Round-Up

Each Sunday during 31 Days of Horror I will be sharing the links, articles, and such that other resources and media put out into the world this October so that you can use them as a resource both right now and all year long:

• A really great discussion on reading today's Horror or just how to talk about it via the LitHub Podcast 
• Barnes and Nobel Best Horror of 2024
• Goosebumps: The Vanishing trailer releases via Deadline
• Dracula Author's Lost Story Uncovered After 134 Years via BBC 
• Book Riot's Check Your Shelf Newsletter (for library workers) did a round up of all the Halloween Reading Season lists for all ages of readers. A MUST BOOKMARK link.
• The ARC Party podcast talks about the year of SGJ-- new works and the big backlist republish. 
• Watch Scare Up the Vote replay (Horror for Harris event). All your and your patrons' favorite Horror authors presenting for 2.5 hours.
• My interview with M.M. Olivas from the 10/1/24 issue of Library Journal is now live.
• link to review of Sundown in San Ojuela is here
• All of LJ's Prepub Alert Coverage but you can easily scan for the Horror ones. Use it both to plan ahead and to go back to see what you missed.
• Horror Movies and the Books You Should Read With Them This Spooky Season via Book Riot's Fright Stuff newsletter

31 Days of Horror: Day 26: Horror Covers As a Conversation Starter

Yesterday, I reposted a Why I Love Horror essay by Lynne Hansen, one of the best and most prolific Horror novel cover artists working now. 

I wanted to include her in this year of looking back at some of my best entries in the series because as we all know covers matter so much. Horror covers, even more.

Last Fall I wrote this article for the lineup featuring six Horror cover artists not to miss with annotations of the books they have covered.

Below I have the introduction, but I want to remind everyone that talking to patrons about covers is a great conversation starter. Readers care about covers, but they don't think they should admit that to us. When we bring it up, we lighten the mood and get them more relaxed as we ask them to share what they are in the mood to read. Starting an interaction with a reader with a conversation starter like-- have you seen the awesome cover on this book?-- is a great option.

You can also look to the general blog where I post often about how to use conversation starter to build interactive displays at this post. A great option to build a display is to formally ask patrons to answer the question-- what is a book you picked based on its cover alone? Again directions on how to do this are here.

But I want you to stop for a moment and think about this question. Because most people think judging a book by its cover is taboo, you asking this question will be noticed by your patrons. They will find it a bit illicit even. And, most importantly. it will who them that you understand how readers actually pick books. It will remove their discomfort about asking for their next good read. It shows them that you care and want to help. And finally, it shows you have a sense of humor about it all.

Here is the intro to that article from September of 2023 to help you get started with using Horror book covers as part of your work with readers.

A Librarian Wants You to Judge These Horror Books by Their Covers

From the haunted stacks: Six horror illustrators not to miss.

By Becky Spratford | Published Sep 22, 2023

Psst…. I have a dark, dirty library secret for all of you. I think we have been doing this column long enough that I can trust you enough to share it with you. Here it is… 

 I judge books by their covers.

I will give you all a moment to recover from shock, but it is 100% true. And not only do I judge books by their covers, but I train library workers all over the world to do the very same thing.

Now I know all of you probably heard from a librarian or teacher at some point in your childhood, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” and I am sure some of you have taken this as fact and carried it into your own adult reading life, even passing it on to new generations of readers. Well, I am here to tell you to forget it.

Why?

Well let’s start with this actual fact: Publishers want their books to have a cover that sells the book to its best reader. They need the cover to do the heavy lifting of attracting readers as they walk by.

But they also want them to be the right readers, ones who if they are attracted by the cover, stop and read the back and then decide to buy the book.

If publishers are putting that much effort, money, and thought into the covers of their books, why aren’t we using the covers to help readers find the best book for them as well? It actually seems irresponsible for me, someone whose job it is to match books with their best readers, to NOT consider the covers. A cover can never tell you exactly what will happen in the book, but those covers created by the very best artists can absolutely tell you quite a bit about the feel of the book to follow, setting the tone for the story that follows.

Which leads us all to this column. Today, I am going to present six of today’s best Horror book illustrators with two example books, titles that you can 100% judge by the superior art gracing their covers. I have spoken to numerous illustrators, authors, and publishers to make sure I have found artists who are both talented and trustworthy. However, the one disappointment I have encountered throughout this process is the overwhelmingly white and male representation in today’s horror cover art world. In fact, those I spoke to know it is a problem and many have been seeking out more marginalized artists to highlight and support as well.

Therefore, this article serves two purposes. One: to help you break the taboo and get out there to judge a book by its cover. It’s fun and slightly illicit, and since I have vetted the titles for you, I can promise you that the books will be worth your time. And two: to serve as a call to action for horror artists from marginalized perspectives to reach out, leave a comment, and let us know who you are so the community can help lift you up. Then, as people encounter this article, they can explore your art as well.

Click here to read the full article and start using Horror covers as a conversation starter all year long.