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:
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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