31 Days of Horror Begins Tomorrow: Here is a "Fragile" Preview With Special Giveaway

It is September 30th, but it is also a Monday. What does this mean? Well for me it means I get a bonus 31 Days of Horror post. I could start tomorrow, but it is a Tuesday. Monday feels like a better day to start, and since I am in charge of this madness, I a going to do what feels best to me.

And I have the perfect post to mark the start of my 31 days blog-a-thon.

Fragile Anthology is a high concept anthology by a brand new micro press, run by Michael Allen Rose, a library worker here in the Chicago burbs, a dear friend, multiple Wonderland Award winning author himself, (for context., Gabino Iglesias has won this award), and President of the Bizarro Writers Association. Before I get to a review of the book itself, I asked Rose to talk about his press. Here is what he had to say:

RoShamBo Publishing takes its name from RoShamBo Theatre, the little theatre company I started after moving to Chicago around 2019. Coming from a theatre background, community and collaboration are core values for me, and it makes sense to bring the sensibility that a rising tide raises all ships to this new publishing venture.

My plan is to release things as they happen, carefully curated, high concept books, one at a time as I see fit. I have seen so many wonderful small presses over the years come out with a fiery statement of purpose, release a load of books, and burn themselves out. The plan is to take it slow and just put cool things out into the world. I have a tattoo on my shoulder that's a sigil meaning "Make Art Happen amidst chaos." We're going to try to do that.

My approach to conceptualizing an anthology is really encapsulated in Fragile Anthology, so it serves nicely as a first declaration of intent. You'll find everything in here from psychological horror, to 1980's Short Circuit/Batteries Not Included sci-fi, to cosmic horror, to metafiction, to gross-out humor, to deeply philosophical literary fiction. You'll find big authors and small ones, established names and underground stalwarts. I've always believed in kindness, honesty, and not being an asshole. I've been very lucky to develop that reputation in my career thus far, and so when I asked these authors to write a story for me, every single one of them said yes, including some of the big names that never need to write anything for free again. When I asked, I heard a lot of "For you? Hell yeah." To me, that demonstrates that my long term plan of being someone that's nice and fun to work with seems to have worked

For more from the extremely talented and creative Michael Allen Rose, click here. 

Now back to this book specifically. From the Goodreads page:

A box is an interesting thing. It contains the essence of mystery. What could be in it? Endless possibilities. For one moving company employee, this question takes on a razor-sharp significance, when the box begins to act in a way no box should. Could it be alive? Dead? Something intelligent? Or just some old clothes? Something terrible? Something beyond description? In the Fragile anthology, 20 different authors present 20 brand new stories of horror, bizarro, sci-fi and speculative fiction all based on a single A hapless mover knows better than to open a client's boxes, but when one of them moves by itself, choices need to be made. Reality explodes with the roll of a die and fragments into myriad possibilities. 

What's in the box?

Featuring new stories by Brian Keene, Cynthia Pelayo, Christine Morgan, Christopher Hawkins, David Scott Hay, Bridget D. Brave, Garrett Cook, Laura Lee Bahr, Brian Pinkerton, Matthew Henshaw, Mykle Hansen, John Wayne Comunale, Chris Meekings, John Baltisberger, J9 Vaughn, Lauren Bolger, Susan Snyder, Eric Hendrixson, Ben Arzate, and Emma Alice Johnson. Conceived and edited by Wonderland Award winner Michael Allen Rose.

Here is my review as well:

Three Words That Describe This Book: Original, Range of Scares, Gaming Frame

I was scheduled to review this book for Booklist. A few weeks ago when I went to read it, I noticed that I was thanked in the opening pages, very publicly. This is sweet. I have been friend with the editor (Michael Allen Rose) for a few years. We work at neighboring libraries as well. But this disqualified me from reviewing the book in any trade journal. However, we pivoted and I made plans to read it to kick off my 31 Days of Horror 2024 blog a thon. 

This is a "premise" anthology that works perfectly. The set up is a mover is working and the box he has moves on its own. He rolls a 20-sided die and the 20 storied that follow answer what is in the box. The mix of authors goes from HUGE names -- Brian Keene-- to big names-- Cynthia Pelayo and Christine Morgan-- to rising stars-- Christopher Hawkins-- to new to you names-- J9 Vaughn (not new to me though, another awesome library worker here in the Chicago burbs). 

I love the connection to table top gaming as well. This is a great handsell for anyone who likes an original idea for a themed Horror anthology, but also, recommend to anyone who also likes D&D and the like. 

However, what makes this anthology stand out over an above the average indie press Horror anthology is Rose himself. He is a multiple Wonderland Award winning author (For context., Gabino Iglesias has won this award) and he is the President of the Bizarro Writers Association. He has put together a solid book-- from the contraction (he knows how tough people can be on books because he is a library worker) to the editing and everything in between. You need this book because of the bigger names in it, but you will want it because it is worth it. 

Since it is not out yet and there really were no advanced copies, I am not going to ruin any of the stories. I will let readers discover them. I am excited for all of you. This one is worth your time-- and for my libraries-- your purchase.

This anthology comes out tomorrow-- October 1, 2024. If you get your pre-order in today from Rose directly here, you get the bonuses: an exclusive zine by Matthew Henshaw, a bookmark, and a 20-sided die to help them navigate the box.

And as a bonus add on to this week's planned giveaway, the first name pulled on Friday will get this special pre-order set as well. I love the idea of using the die and rolling it to read the book in a totally different order. 

If you don't know how to enter the #HorrorForLibraries giveaway, click here for the rules at the top of last week's giveaway.

And come back tomorrow for the official start to 31 Days of Horror, 2024. 

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Three Books For Three Winners And Getting Ready for October

This week I am giving away 3 books to 3 winners, all in the spirit of getting you all ready for October here on the blog and my 31 Days of Horror. During October, I will be giving away more than 1 book a week and sometimes, the giveaways will happen on more than 1 day a week. But if you enter now, you have a chance to win at any of those times! More details about the specific books for this week below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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

The giveaway was off last week because I was on the road. Click here to see the previous giveaway. Our winner was Charlie from Pima County [AZ] Public Library. Now on to this week's giveaway.

I am going to offer 3 books from 2 different publishers below. Winners will be picked in the order they are listed here. 

First up, a finished, hard cover copy of Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker courtesy of TORDOTCOM:

On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality in this spooky ghost story from multiple Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker.

“Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”

When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she's truly been deceiving and hiding from all along—is herself.

Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself.

This title is already out. Order a copy for your collections today. 

The next 2 winners will get one of two ARCs courtesy of Flame Tree Press. 

Winner number two this week will receive a copy of the anthology, Elemental Forces, edited by Mark Morris:

An powerful fifth book in the horror anthology series which Booklist called "Highly recommended for longstanding horror fans and those readers who may not think horror is for them.

There is something for everyone in this one."Elemental forces is the fifth volume in the non-themed horror series of original stories, showcasing the very best short fiction that the genre has to offer, and edited by Mark Morris.

This new anthology contains 20 original horror stories, 16 of which have been commissioned from some of the top names in horror, and 4 selected from the 100s of stories sent to Flame Tree during a short open submissions window. A delicious feasts of the familiar and the new, the established and the emerging. 

Authors confirmed for this edition include Andy Davidson, Aaron Dries, Paul Finch, Christina Henry, Laurel Hightower, Verity Holloway, Jim Horlock, Gwendolyn Kiste, Annie Knox, Sarah Langan, Tim Lebbon, Will Maclean, Luigi Musolino, Kurt Newton, Nicholas Royle, David J. Schow, Paul Tremblay, P.C. Verrone.Previous titles in the series, all still in print are After Sundown, Beyond the Veil, Close to Midnight and Darkness Beckons.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the imprint of long-standing Independent Flame Tree Publishing, dedicated to full-length original fiction in the horror and suspense, science fiction & fantasy, and crime / mystery / thriller categories. The list brings together fantastic new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices. Learn more about Flame Tree Press at www.flametreepress.com and connect on social media @FlameTreePress.

This anthology full of very popular authors and it comes out on October 8th. Get your orders in now so you can have it on the shelf for your readers looking to try some Spooky Reads this October.

And last but definitely not least, one of the giants in Horror, a living legend, Ramsey Campbell has a new book coming out on November 19th-- The Incubations:

When a weight landed on his legs he raised his head from the violently crumpled pillow. The bed already had another occupant, and as Leo flung the quilt back so that it wouldn’t hinder his escape the creature scurried up his body to squat on his chest, clutching him with all its limbs like half a spider…

The English town of Settlesham was twinned with Alphafen in Germany soon after the Second World War. During the war both towns were bombed, even though Alphafen seemed to have no strategic significance.

To mark the fiftieth anniversary of the postwar reconciliation, pupils at the local schools were set to correspond with their opposite numbers. Leo Parker has been in touch with Hanna Weber ever since but has never previously visited her. As an adult he’s welcomed in Alphafen, but his stay seems idyllic despite the odd incident—a local who blames him for a hostile letter a schoolmate of Leo’s sent, a glimpse of an uncanny figure on an Alpine walk, a flapping intruder that seems to embody Hanna’s night fears, an encounter in a mountain restaurant with an English tourist who turns out to be there for his own disturbing reasons. It’s only after Leo leaves the town that the nightmares an airport turns into a labyrinth, his own words become treacherous if not lethal, a family meal grows unnaturally active, and what are those creatures that have appeared in the photographs he took?

The man he met in the mountain restaurant hasn’t finished with him, and he has to deal with the town councillor who sent the warlike letter when they were teenage classmates. A local police inspector has reason to suspect his actions, even though the policeman is a friend of Leo’s parents. Even the therapy Leo undertakes becomes a source of menace.

In his bid to cement international relations, Leo may have roused the source of an ancient Alpine legend and brought a supernatural infection home with him. Even once he understands what has travelled with him, his attempts to overcome its influence may lead into greater nightmares still…

The Ramsey Campbell Special Editions. Campbell is the greatest inheritor of a tradition that reaches back through H.P. Lovecraft and M.R. James to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and the early Gothic writers. The dark, masterful work of the painter Henry Fuseli, a friend of Mary Wollstonecraft, is used on these special editions to invoke early literary investigations into the supernatural.

Thanks to Flame Tree Press and TORDOTCOM for this week's books to giveaway.

Enter once and you are entered until you win.

Good Luck!

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: 2 Books for One Winner Including One of My Personal Best of 2024

This week I am offering a copy of a novella I recently gave a STAR review to in Booklist and am adding a  solid small press title as a bonus. More details below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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

Click here to see the previous giveaway. Our winners were Jennifer from West Boynton Bech [FL] Library and Mike from North Canton [OH] Public Library. Now on to this week's giveaway.

In the most recent issue of Booklist I have this STAR review:

STAR
Coup de Grâce
By Sofia Ajram
Oct. 2024. 128p. Titan, $18.99 (9781803369624).
First published September 1, 2024 (Booklist).

Ajram’s unforgettable novella lives up to its provocative title, delivering a gripping story that is as brutal as it is beautiful. Vicken is on the Montreal subway, making his way to the final stop where he plans to exit, walk to the St. Lawrence River, and end his life, except after exiting the train and going through the one-way turnstile, he is caught in an inescapable labyrinth of never ending gray corridors, moving in and out of rooms and levels that vacillate between blandly colorless to existentially terrifying and visceral. Vicken’s engaging first person narration draws readers into the story immediately as he shares his struggles and fears, ratcheting up the unease at critical moments by using dark humor or turning to speak directly to the reader. As Vicken continues to wander, Ajram cleverly transforms what seems like a deceptively simple plot into a complex, moving and immersive contemplation of the very real horror of living with severe depression. A stellar option both for fans of liminal space Horror like Travelers Rest by Morris or The Hollow Places by Kingfisher as well as those who enjoy intense tales of an unreliable narrator exploring a terrifying and mysterious landscape such as Annihilation by VanderMeer or The Luminous Dead by Starling.

Three Words That Describe This Book: liminal space, horror of mental illness, brutal yet beautiful

Click here for A LOT more about this book. I am not exaggerating when I say it will be on my list of the best books I read this year-- in any genre. 

I am offering this ARC-- courtesy of Titan Books-- to one winner and that same winner will also get a copy of a book I want more people to know about-- Around Eldritch Corners by Splatterpunk Award winning author, Christine Morgan. This collection comes out from Word Horde, one of my favorite small, Horror presses, next week. 

It is a collection of 16 stories described on the back of the book as such:

With strange aeons...where twin suns sink and towers rise behind the moon...in dark and lonely places where the stars are right...from the deadly light amidst black seas of infinity...unto a world which now trembles...

Yes it is cosmic, it's mythos, it's Lovecraftian/Chamersian, it's overwrought language and indescribable horrors. But it's also twisted takes and irreverent pastiches, with weird kids and lovelorn sequels. It's ancient times, different histories, and distant futures. It's cats and cult and candles, odd architecture, mysterious tomes.

Morgan is a great writer who has mostly published in very small, extreme horror focused presses. Her work while award winning, has been mostly left out of libraries. This collection, by a more mainstream, if small, Horror press means more of you can add it to your collections.

This collection is also part of the popular subgenre of those whom Lovecraft would have hated in life, taking him as an inspiration to tell his types of stories. These books are enjoyable to read on so many levels. 

Order both books for your libraries, but also enter now for a chance to win both this week.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Two Great Upcoming Anthologies, For Two Winners

This week I am offering 2 upcoming anthologies that are must buys for all libraries. Books that I already reviewed in Booklist, here and here. I will be offering one ARC to 2, separate winners. More details below, but first here are the rules for the giveaway:

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

Click here to see the previous giveaway. Our winner was Pete from Hardwood Creek [MN] Public Library. Now on to this week's giveaway.

As I mentioned above, I have 2 ARCs courtesy of their publishers to give away to 2 winners. I will choose the winners in the order I have the books posted below. Both of these books are anthologies with a mixture of household Horror names and brand new voices, with all types of authors in between. Both are presented by award winning editors and have easy to book talk themes.

But most importantly, remember that anthologies are an excellent suggestion during Spooky Season (which we have officially entered). Why? Because all anthologies have some sort of missions statement by the author as to why the stories are collected together, usually presented in an introduction. This makes it easy for you to book talk the book-- just use their words. And, because with a variety of authors, readers can be introduced to new voices. Also, if there is an author who they are not vibing with, they can skip it and try another. Anthologies are your best friend during Spooky Season, especially for readers looking too dip their tow into Horror.

In this spirit, I have two solid anthologies for you to try for yourselves here today. 

First up, the latest Ellen Datlow Anthology. From my Booklist draft review:

Fears: Tales of Psychological Horror

Edited by Ellen Datlow

Sept. 2024. 336p. Tachyon, paper, $18.95 (9781616964221).

First published August 9, 2024 (Booklist Online).

Datlow’s latest themed anthology gathers 21 stories, all reprints that previously appeared across the publishing landscape since 2000 (except for one, the penultimate story by the late Charles Birkin originally published in1964). Together these tales illustrate the evolution of the Psychological Horror subgenre, moving these stories out of the hands of narrators with severe mental illness and into spaces where the fear can seep in from anywhere and anyone (a dinner party, your own family, random encounters, vacation), things are clearly not as they seem, and the monsters are more human than anyone wants to admit. The anthology has plenty of big names to draw readers in from Josh Malerman to Joyce Carol Oates to Stephen Graham Jones (who's previously out of print story “Teeth,” which closes the volume is a worthy draw here in and of itself), but like in previous books, Datlow has racked up the awards because she is able to identify and include excellent stories from authors that readers may be less familiar with; for example, the intense, atmospheric unease of an overburdened caregiver in Priya Sharma’s “My Mother’s Ghost” or the reality of a young girl’s father terrifyingly unveiled by Hailey Piper in “Unkindly Girls” and the existentially unsettling “Cavity” by Theresa DeLucci which lists the 32 times the main character has met a murderer, including her own. Clearly not for the faint of heart, but the legions of fans for both Psychological Suspense and Horror, mean that there is a built-in audience who will be eager to get their hands around this book. It also pairs well with the Bram Stoker Award nominated Dark Matter Presents Human Monsters edited by Sadie Hartmann and Ashley Sawyers, in which the Malerman story first appeared.

Three Words That Describe This Book: wide range of scares, reprints, “fear as precursor to terror”

Click here for a lot more about this book. And thank you to Tachyon for the ARC I am using for this giveaway.

Winner 2 will get a copy of this anthology of Canadian Horror: From my draft review: 

Northern Nights

Edited By Michael Kelly

Oct. 2024. 298p. Undertow, paper, $19.99 (9781988964478). 

First published June 20, 2024 (Booklist Online).

Award-winning Editor, Kelly presents 20 brand new tales of Canadian Horror. Inspired by Tor anthologies from the mid 1990s [Northern Stars and Northern Suns], which featured the best speculative fiction from Canada, Kelly asked bestsellers like Silvia Moreno-Garcia to newer award-winning voices like A.C. Wise to emerging writers such as E.C. Dorgan, to give him a dark story that would both pay homage to those classic volumes and serve as a showcase for the varied Canadian Horror landscape of the 21st Century. The stories themselves range from creepy to visceral, as two standout stories showcase– David Demchuck’s deceptively atmospheric “The Black Fox'' and Premee Mohamed’s abjectly terrifying, “The Night Birds.” While fans of some of the bigger name authors will be clamoring for this book, it is also a great choice for those who enjoy themed, Horror, anthologies, especially those focused around an identity, featuring original stories by current authors such as Never Whistle At Night edited by Shane Hawk and Theodore C. Van Alst Jr. and Out There Screaming edited by Jordan Peele.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Strong Sense of Place, range of fears, theme anthology

Click here for a lot more about this book. And thank you to Undertow for the ARC I am using for this giveaway.

Enter now and you are entered going forward. 

I will be offering 2 books to 1 winner next week! 

Good luck.