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Thursday, July 25, 2024

No Giveaway This Week

I am traveling for a long weekend so there will not be a giveaway this week. Check back next week for a FINISHED HARDCOVER of a nonfiction book you will want to add to your collections. 

Thursday, July 18, 2024

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Devils Kill Devils with a Bonus Tenebrous Press Book

Today I have a copy of a book I reviewed in the current issue of Booklist and bonus book-- all for 1 lucky winner. More details below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

  1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
  2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
  3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
  4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see the previous giveaway. Our winner was Megan from St Joseph County [IN] Public Library. Now on to this week's giveaway.

As I did last week, I am once again pairing a bigger title with a small press one and giving it all to a single winner. First up, one of the books I have a review for in the July 2024 issue of Booklist:

Devils Kill Devils
By Johnny Compton
Sept. 2024. 288p. Tor Nightfire, $28.99 (9781250841681).
First published July 2024 (Booklist). 

Compton [The Spite House] returns with a tale that will keep readers glued to the page; a high stakes, violent novel, epic in scope, populated by fascinating characters (both good and evil) and an original cast of demons. Sarita’s guardian angel, Angelo has been there since she was 9 years old, saving her life a total of four times, but when the menacing giant busts into her room on her wedding night and murders her beloved groom, Sarita is devastated and confused. As she seeks to uncover the reasons behind her protector’s betrayal, Sarita is forced to confront the horrific truth hiding in the shadows and her place at the center of it all. Channeling Sookie Stackhouse vibes, Sarita is sympathetic and tough, fighting for herself and her loved ones against an immortal evil that mistakenly thought it could use her as its pawn. For fans of American Gods by Gaiman, and those who enjoy vampire stories that broaden the trope’s established conventions, with viscerally terrifying results such as Fledgling by Butler or Nestlings by Cassidy.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Epic in Scope, Vampires, Violent


Thanks to Nightfire for providing the ARC for me to give away.


And for the second book, I have a copy of a writer whose work I have already enjoyed previously, Carson Winter and his novella due to come out from Tenebrous in August, A Spectre is Haunting Greentree:

REAP WHAT YOU SOW

In the wake of a series of panic attacks, isolated and introverted Carina takes a friend up on an offer: go to Greentree, Oregon, escape her abusive ex, and start a new life.

But upon arrival, the town is stranger than Carina could have ever imagined.

For one, they still have a video store. For two, everyone is rich.

For three, what’s up with all these scarecrows?

As Greentree’s secrets begin to unravel, as the autumn sun bends below the corn, as scythes sharpen in the night—a violent revolution stirs.

Thanks to Tenebrous Press for the copy to give away.

And that is this week's giveaway. Enter once and you are entered going forward. Random.org has been liking lower numbers recently, so many of my entrants who had forgotten they were even in the running have been getting some pleasantly surprising emails.

Want to join the fun and get a happy surprise email for a change? It may contain a terrifying book, but for those of us who love Horror, that is definitely our definition of fun.

Good luck.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Dear Hanna by Zoje Stage Plus a Bonus Brian Keene Finished Book

Today I have a copy of a book I reviewed in the current issue of Booklist and bonus book-- all for 1 lucky winner. More details below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

  1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
  2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
  3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
  4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see the previous giveaway. Our 2 winners were Justin from Lemont [IL] Public Library and Ken from Bath Township [MI] Public Library. Now on to this week's giveaway.

After sending out 7 books in the last 2 weeks, I did manage to pair down the backlog of books and give more people a chance to win. Now we are back to 1 winner a week, but today, I have 2 books for that 1 winner. In fact, I am going to be doing this more often. Pairing a bigger title with a small press one. First up, one of the books I have a review for in the July 2024 issue of Booklist.

Dear Hanna
By Zoje Stage

Stage has become a popular voice in the space where Psychological Suspense and Horror overlap; however, readers have long clamored for a sequel to her debut novel, Baby Teeth. She has finally thoughtfully obliged with a standalone sequel, a story that can be read either before or after that first book, with each informing the other. In Dear Hanna, Stage brings readers into Hanna’s life as a 24 year-old phlebotomist, married to a 40 year-old widower, and stepmother to his 16 year-old daughter. Told from Hanna’s clearly unreliable perspective, as she shares her troubled past and dark thoughts, readers see how Hanna’s meticulously constructed “normal” existence is put to the test by raising a teenager and being a wife. As things spiral out of control, readers' feelings about Hanna fluctuate between disgust and sympathy, all will squirm uncomfortably, and yet, be unwilling to look away, furiously turning the pages, until the final twist is revealed. A great choice for those who enjoy the work of Sarah Pinborough, Catriona Ward, and Katrina Monroe.

Three Words That Describe This Book: squirm inducing, disturbing, trauma

Click through to read everything I had to say about this book on the general blog. But this is one that your patrons will be asking about and it will make an awesome prize come Spooky Season or for the end of Summer Reading.

But wait....there's more!

Also, for this week's winner, I have a finished copy of Brian Keene's Island of the Dead courtesy of Apex Book Company. From the publisher description

World Horror Grand Master Brian Keene returns to zombies in this relentless sword and sorcery horror epic!

Einar, an enslaved barbarian, plots his escape from a war galley transporting troops and a mysterious weapon to far enemy shores. But when an apocalyptic storm at sea leaves Einar and his fellow captives shipwrecked on a strange, uncharted island, friend and foe alike must band together against a steadily growing horde of the undead ... and even worse dangers.Not even death is an escape from the Island of the Dead!

Brian Keene is one of my favorite authors and humans. He is also the ANCHOR of my upcoming book, so as far as I am concerned, the more Keene you have on your shelves, the better. And, since this is a finished copy, you can add it immediately before going out to buy more. 

The best way to get your Brian Keene books is through his independent bookstore-- Vortex Books.

So that is this week's giveaway. Enter now and you are entered going forward until you win. Have you won recently? You can enter again 4 weeks after winning. And I have a lot of books to giveaway from some HUGE names, so you definitely want to be in this one.

Good luck to all!

Wednesday, July 3, 2024

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: 2 ARCs, 2 Winners

 I have many titles too give away and I want to make sure they get to you before they are released so I am doing another multi-book, multiple winner week here on the blog. And because of the July 4th Holiday, I am posting it one day early. More details below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

  1. You need to be affiliated with an American public library. My rationale behind that is that I will be encouraging you to read these books and share them with patrons. While many of them are advanced reader copies that you cannot add to your collections, if you get the chance to read them, my hope is that you will consider ordering a copy for your library and give away the ARC away as a prize or pass it on to a fellow staff member.
  2. If you are interested in being included in any giveaway at any time, you must email me at zombiegrl75 [at] gmail [dot] com with the subject line "#HorrorForLibraries." In the body of the email all you have to say is that you want to be entered and the name of your library.
  3. Each entry will be considered for EVERY giveaway. Meaning you enter once, and you are entered until you win. I will randomly draw a winner on Fridays sometime after 5pm central. But only entries received by 5pm each week will be considered for that week. I use Random.org and have a member of my family witness the "draw"based off your number in the Google Sheet.
  4. If you win, you are ineligible to win again for 4 weeks; you will have to re-enter after that time to be considered [I have a list of who has won, when, and what title]. However, if you do not win, you carry over into the next week. There is NO NEED to reenter.

Click here to see the previous giveaway. Our 5 winners were Katie from Seekonk [MA] Public Library, Julieanne from Bloomingdales [IL] Public Library, Kat from Coyle [PA] Free Library, Rebecca from Racine [WI] Public Library, and Derek from Redwood City [CA] Public Library. Now on today's giveaway. 

Today I have 2 hotly anticipated ARCs from trusted presses and I will be giving them away to 2 winners, picked in the order they are listed below.


First up, The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson coming from Quirk on August 6, 2024. Emily Hughes talked about this one on the ARC Party Podcast that we were both a part of last week. Details and link to listen here

From the publisher's description:

In this emotionally raw and propulsive folk horror-mystery, a journalist goes to a small town and unravels a dark secret that the women have been keeping for generations.

Marshall is still trying to put the pieces together after the death of her husband. After she is involved in a terrible accident, her editor sends her to the small, backwards town of Raeford to investigate a clearly ridiculous rumor: that a horse has given birth to a healthy, human baby boy.

When Marshall arrives in Raeford, she finds an insular town that is kinder to the horses they are famous for breeding than to their own people. But when two horribly mangled bodies are discovered in a field—one a horse, one a human—she realizes that there might be a real story here.

As she’s pulled deeper into the town and its guarded people, her sense of reality is tipped on its head. Is she losing her grip? Or is this impossible story the key to a dark secret that has haunted the women of Raeford for generations?

Unbearably tense and utterly gripping, this atmospheric tale of female rage, bodily autonomy, and generational trauma hails the arrival of a masterful storyteller.

This novel is part of a larger trend in Horror right now which I am calling, "The Terror of Womanhood." The current print issue of Library Journal (July 2024) includes this trend and this book in my Horror Genre Preview. It is not available online yet, but once it is I will be posting everywhere.

Next up, That Which Stands Outside by Mark Morris coming from Flame Tree Press on July 16, 2024. It is a great cold read for long summer days. From the publisher's description:

A new chiller from multi award winning author of over 50 novels, winner of the New York Festival Radio Award for Best Drama Special and Festival Radio Awards.

That Which Stands Outside is a horror novel inspired by Nordic folklore. After Todd Kingston rescues Yrsa Helgerson from muggers one rainy London night, their resulting friendship quickly develops into a romance. When Yrsa’s mother dies, Todd accompanies her back to her childhood home, an isolated Nordic island. The reception they receive there is one of suspicion and hostility. The islanders believe Yrsa to be a child of a mythic race called the Jötnar, a claim which Yrsa dismisses as superstitious nonsense. But as the island is rocked by a series of devastating events, Todd finds himself caught up in a terrifying battle, one which possibly threatens the future of the world itself.

Good luck to all. I will still pick the winner after 5pm Friday so get your entries in. I will have had 7 winners over the last 2 weeks after this, and some of the backlog of entrants is getting addressed.

If you won more than 4 weeks ago, you can enter again. If you are new to all of this, enter. I have many books still to give away, well I have to read and review them first, but then after that, they are yours.

Good luck and enjoy the holiday.