One of the findings in the article I posted yesterday was that genre fiction was the most popular in these collections. Yup, that's right, not nonfiction or literary fiction but mysteries, romance and speculative fiction. Those of us in public libraries are not surprised by this, but our academic friends were.
Well, not all. There are many professors and librarians in our Colleges and Universities who not only write horror, but offer it as a subject worthy of academic study.
Let's start with Dr. Stephen Graham Jones, a well known horror author [he was one of the NPR Summer Reads moderators] but he is also a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder.
One of his most popular classes is about zombies in popular culture. Click here for a local news story where Dr. Jones was interviewed.
Not only is he one of my favorite authors, Jones is also using his status as an acclaimed member of academia to help elevate the genre and give it the attention it deserves. But he is not the only academic person setting out to prove that horror is worth more serious study.
Michele Brittany and Nicholas Diak have been running the Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference during StokerCon [and previous to StokerCon's existence] for many years now. From their website:
The Ann Radcliffe Academic Conference is an opportunity for individuals to present on completed research or work-in-progress horror studies projects that continue the dialogue of academic analysis of the horror genre. As in prior years, we are looking for completed research or work-in-progress projects that can be presented to with the intent to expand the scholarship on various facets of horror that proliferates in.The research they have amassed through this conference is astounding. I know this because they are gathering the best of their papers into an anthology to be published in 2019 and I wrote the afterward. I was blown away but the topics they receive proper academic papers on.
And finally, I have an example of a major university library hosting a serious exhibit on horror. The Lilly Library at the University of Indiana has mounted an amazing exhibition on Frankenstein that is truly a 360 view of the book, the author, and its influence. Rebecca Baumann, the Head of Public Services, organized this amazing exhibition. You can see her being interviewed on the local news about it here.
I have invited Rebecca to present at StokerCon during Librarians' Day to talk about this exhibition and how others can do similar ones revolving around popular fiction at their libraries. Click here to register now and guarantee your spot.
But even if you cannot join us in May for StokerCon, this post is very important for the work we do every day in public libraries. Popular genre fiction matters and is worth or attention. These are but three high profile examples. Libraries can join the fray here by having programming around horror, genre fiction, and fandoms. If your administration is wary of allowing you to do this, point them to this post.
The green light from two major universities and a published book of academic papers on horror should be enough to convince even the most stubborn of genre snobs.
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