Summer Scares Resources

Click here to immediately access the Summer Scares Resource page so that you can add some professionally vetted horror titles into your reading suggestions and fiction collections for all age levels.

Thursday, June 18, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Reliquary by Hannah F. Whitten

Today I have a an ARC of an upcoming anthology, my review of which is in the June 2026 issue of Booklist. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Kristin from PA. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

By Hannah F. Whitten
Aug. 2026. 432p. Run For It, $30 (9780316579537). First published June 1, 2026 (Booklist).

Best-selling fantasy writer, Whitten, dives head first into Horror with a compelling, unsettling, and entertaining sea monster tale. When she was a teen, an accident at sea killed Claire’s parents and younger sister, but she has found comfort with her fiance Elias, that is, until he drops dead at work. When his mother contacts Claire and invites her to their ancestral home, a castle built into the cliff of an island in Maine, for a funeral, she accepts. As Claire enters the home and descends into its living spaces, deep underground, it begins to feel like there is something much more nefarious planned. Claire’s repressed emotions and memories add a level of disorientation to the story, but as more secrets are revealed, the pressure builds, the force breaks everything open, and the terrifying truth floods all that stands in its way. A novel not just for fans of sea soaked dark fantasy and horror, but also for readers of Gothics with immersive settings and intense dread like Mexican Gothic by Moreno-Garcia and tales of the monsters behind the business success of the uber rich like Fiend by Katsu. 

Three Words The Describe This Book: Sea Soaked Horror, Gothic, Intense Unease
I have a lot more to say about this book here. Please click through and learn more. This one is going to be a big hit. Whitten has tons of fans, many of which may want more horror after they enjoy this one.

Thanks to Run for It for the ARC to giveaway to one of you.

Also heads starting next week and for the next 5 weeks, the giveaway will be 2 books for 1 winner. I have some HUGE titles as well. So you will want to get yourself entered now to be eligible going forward.

I have the new Never Whistle at Night, Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, Scott Hawkins, and Eric LaRocca all queued up. As well as a few excellent but lesser known titles. 

Enter today if you want a chance to win.

Thursday, June 11, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Lovecraft's Brood edited by Ellen Datlow

Today I have a an ARC of an upcoming anthology, my review of which is in the June 2026 issue of Booklist. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was David from KS. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Book cover of Lovecraft's Brood. Edited by Ellen Datlow. Click on the image for more info.
Lovecraft’s Brood: Nineteen Tales of Cosmic Horror Ed. Ellen Datlow
July 2026. 302p. illus. Tachyon, paper, $18.95 (9781616964627). REVIEW. First published June 1, 2026 (Booklist). 

Completing the duology she began with Lovecraft’s Monsters, award-winning editor Datlow is back with 19 previously published stories, all from this century*. An impressive list of authors focus their talents on cosmic fear as Lovecraft defined it– an immersive, existential dread, steeped in the realization that the universe is indifferent to our suffering. The range of stories includes those firmly grounded in reality such as Paul Tremblay’s “The Note,” where a neighborhood walk leads to a wife’s disappearance; to a tale caught in the space between realities– the roadside motel– as in Wendy Wagner’s “Halogen Sky;” to a tear in the fabric of reality, caused by a kitten, in T Kingfisher’s “Agent of Chaos.” Each story begins with an illustration by John Coulthart, perfectly capturing the appeal of the story to come. A great choice for longtime Lovecraftian Horror fans and newcomers alike, yes, but this volume will also lure readers in with the promise of a tale by a beloved author, as they exit having discovered a few new favorites along the way. *This is always important to point out in these Lovecraft anthos. We want to be clear these are TODAY’S voices.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Cosmic Dread, anthology, madness

Please click here for much more about this book and its appeal by me

 This book is out next month. The TOC is outstanding. From the Tachyon website:

A. C. Wise / T. Kingfisher / Paul Tremblay / CaitlĂ­n R. Kiernan / Laird Barron / Norman Partridge / Elizabeth Hand / Aaron Dries / Conrad Williams / Steve Rasnic Tem / Brian Hodge / Ray Cluley / Jacob Steven Mohr / Carol Gyzander / L. Marie Wood / Livia Llewellyn / Wendy N. Wagner / Ian Rogers / Gary McMahon

 Today I am offering the ARC that Tachyon sent me to one winner.

Enter once and you are entered going forward. Good luck!

Thursday, June 4, 2026

It's StokerCon Time and I Have Librarians' Day Resources and Links to Watch the Bram Stoker Awards

 

Logo for StokerCon 2026. Click through for more info

By the time this posts, I will have been in Pittsburgh for 18 hours already. But today is the day StokerCon 2026 begins.

I am in charge of a few things for StokerCon. 

First, I a the co-coordinator of Librarians' Day with my HWA Libraries Co-Chair, Konrad Stump. Click here for the full schedule. We have a lot of great panels. 

This is a live in-person event on Friday June 5, 2026 from 8am-4 pm within the full StokerCon. Anyone with a StokerCon ticket is welcome to come and enjoy our programming but Library Workers are invited to come to just the LD programming and check out our Dealer's Room, the Mass Author Signing, and the Final Frame Film Competition for only $70. 

Konrad and I have made a conscious effort to make this day useful to ALL attendees of StokerCon, but we also use it as a way to introduce library workers to what we offer. Many of our Librarians' Day only attendees have come to enjoy it so much that they attend the full conference each year. 

We expect over 125-50 people in the room at its highest point -- during the popular Buzzing panel which concludes with an ARC giveaway. Konrad has secured over 1,000 ARCs for this. Thank you to all the publishers.

Again, please click through to see the full list of panels, because even if you are an author, we have some of the best panels of the day. 

This year I also have a link to the folder with all of our slides and resources. And, the QR code will be on every slide throughout the day as well. There is a lot of great information here, even for those of you who are NOT joining us. 

Click here to access that folder. Also, save the link because there is a folder there where we will be uploading photos as well.

I do want to draw the attention to everyone reading this to our Get Involved with HWA Libraries Google Form. We are gathering names and emails because this fall we will be starting an official newsletter. We also are reworking the entire HWA website and the Library Committee portion of that will be part of that as well. 

After I collapse Friday night (after the Final Frame Film Competition), I have a couple of panels on Saturday, and then the next time people evil see me in person and on the YouTube Live stream is at the Bram Stoker Awards Ceremony. 

This is free for anyone, anywhere to watch. Not only is WHY I LOVE HORROR a nominee for Long Nonfiction, three of the essays from the book-- by Cynthia Pelayo, Tananarive Due, and Stephen Graham Jones-- are up for Short Nonfiction. If Tananarive or SGJ win, I will be accepting for them. And, many of the authors in my book are nominated across the ballot, some alongside each other int he same categories. 

I am also honored and excited to give the speech introducing our Karen Lansdale Silver Hammer Volunteer of the Year, author and librarian, Sarah Read

As directed by the BSA awards show manager (Brian Matthews), I also have an acceptance speech ready if I win, but honestly, to be nominated by my fellow writers is truly a huge honor, something I could not have imagined. It will be a great time. And I bought a new dress!

The entire event is worth watching. It is Horror prom. It is a feel good event celebrating the entire genre. And, at the end of the ceremony, we will be announcing some of the 2027 Guests of Honor. And the names are GOOD! The live stream link is available now for you to set a reminder. Hope some of you see me there.

RA for All will be back on Monday, June 8th.

Thursday, May 28, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: A Finished Copy of the Modern Queer Horror Classic RED X by David Demchuk

Today I have a treat. A finished copy of a book that was previously only available in Canada; a brand new edition with so many extras; a title that has gone on to become a Queer Horror Classic. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Janet from OR. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

New American edition cover of RED X by David Demchuk. Click not he image for more info.
David Demchuk's Red X is a modern horror classic, full stop, but as a work of Queer Horror is seminal. Don't take my word for it. I have Eric LaRocca's words right here for you:
“When they speak of seminal works of queer literature a hundred years from now, David Demchuk’s RED X will most assuredly be included in that conversation. A tremendously influential novel so arresting, so brutal and yet so delicate that its labyrinthine complexity should be studied and praised. A merciless and truly daring masterpiece of queer fiction.” 

    —Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

This book was a NYPL Best Book of the Year, a CBC Books Pick for Best Canadian Fiction, and an Aurora Award Nominee for Best Novel. All of this was back in 2021 when it first came out. So why don't you have it or know about it? Because it was only published in Canada. 

This new edition will be available on June 30th here in America and it includes a foreword by Gretchen Felker-Martin. This book is also the reason I asked David to write an essay for my book. It is a literal masterpiece. Everyone should read it.

I have so much to say about this seminal work of queer and experimental horror. But first, here is the blurb:

Published solely in Canada in 2021, it didn’t take long for David Demchuk’s RED X to garner a cult following. It could be because it’s actually scary, a cursed marriage between supernatural elements and the real-life horrors that isolation and marginalization leave queer people vulnerable to. It could be because it’s formally interesting, punctuated by torn-up book pages, leaking trails of black ink, tiny Canadian history lessons, and personal stories from Demchuk’s own life. Or maybe it’s the emphasis on the power of queer communities as characters routinely show up for one another, even if it means putting themselves in danger. But most likely it’s a combination of all these things, which blend together to create a masterfully experimental narrative that is already being heralded as one of the greatest horror novels of the twenty-first century.

A terrifying supernatural entity haunts Toronto’s gay village in the ’80s in this gruesome, metatextual modern horror classic that spans decades of queer community and history. RED X is a masterful experimental work already heralded as one of the great horror novels of the twenty-first century, now reissued with deluxe materials, including a new introduction by Gretchen Felker-Martin and an essay by Anthony Oliveira.

 In 1984, a young gay man vanishes without a trace, leaving behind a community of friends and lovers desperate for answers. Instead, they face everything from casual indifference to outright prejudice. As decades pass, more men vanish, revealing a terrifying, centuries-old demonic presence at the heart of the disappearances.

Interspersed throughout, the author shares autobiographical vignettes: his earliest brushes with death and fear, his observations on queer culture and the horror genre, on representation and erasure, culminating in an elegiac and brilliantly woven narrative that blends fact and fiction, and has already been heralded as one of the great horror novels of the twenty-first century.

 RED X flickers between perspectives like a choir popcorning the disparate parts of a chamber piece. The conductor here is Demchuk himself, who uses his own autobiographical vignettes—his earliest brushes with death and fear, his observations on queer culture and the horror genre, on representation and erasure—to unite the parts into an elegiac and brilliantly eerie work that blends fact and fiction.

I cannot stress enough to all of you just how good this book is. Demchuk's conversational narration, experimental but accessible style, the brutally honest, bleak, creepy and intense tone, the well developed characters, thought-provoking plot, and visceral connection to the real world-- all of this makes RED X a must buy book for all library collections. 

If you have readers of the very best Horror today, the Queer and the Straight Horror, they need to read this book.

And thanks to Soho Press's Horror Imprint, Hell's Hundred, one of you is going to win a finished copy to add to your shelves today. 

The rest of you need to add it to your order carts now. Seriously. Stop what you are doing and get this book on order.

And if you live in the NYC area, there will be a launch event on June 15th at Twisted Spine. Details and registration links are here.

Enter now and you are entered going forward.

The giveaway will be off next week while I am at StokerCon, but after that I have many titles from the books I reviewed for the June issues of Booklist and Library Journal. Plus coming soon, giveaways of books by Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, and more. Enter now to be in it for a chance to win it.

Thursday, May 21, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: The Red Sacrament by Sara Hinkley

Today on the giveaway I have an ARC of a book that I reviewed in the May 2026 issue of Booklist. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Logann from LA. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Book cover image for The Red Sacrament by Sara Hinkley. Click on the image for more information
The Red Sacrament: A Vampire Novel by Sara Hinkley comes out July 7, 2026 from Titan Books. From my Booklist review:
Interview with the Vampire fans will rejoice as Hinkley sweeps them back to both the first time they read Rice’s seminal novel and 1869 Paris, a time of growing political unrest. Arnault leads a clan of vampires, running the most exclusive theater in town. As the novel opens, readers are promised a five act play complete with a cast list. The troop is completing one season and readying another. Drama on and off the stage abounds as a strange witch visits, new vampires come to town, and the immortal actors quarrel constantly. Arnault pulls the reader through this slow burn, atmospheric, and immersive tale; his thoughts, conflicted feelings, foreboding premonitions, and unease give the novel a confessional tone, while bursts of bloody action and sensuality keep the reader invested in seeing the story through to its theatrical conclusion. Beyond Rice, fans of the pacing and narrative style of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Jones or the demon spectacle with social commentary in Below the Grand Hotel by Scully will also enjoy this lush debut.

Three Words That Describe This Book: theatrical, confessional tone, lush

Thanks to Titan books for this ARC. 

Enter now and you are entered going forward.

Good luck!

Thursday, May 14, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: The Way It Haunted Him by Laura R. Samotin

Today on the giveaway I have a finished copy of a book that I reviewed in the May 2026 issue of Booklist. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Hadley from NY. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Bok cover image for THE WAY IT HAUNTED HIM by Laura R. Samotin. Click on the image for more details.
The Way It Haunted Him by Laura R. Samotin comes out June 9th from Titan Books. From my Booklist review:
Michael arrives at the largest Judaic Studies archive in America a physically and mentally broken man. He is barely recovered from the accident that left his boyfriend, Noah dead and himself severely injured. Grief and guilt have consumed him, but he hopes to find closure and forgiveness completing Noah’s research on Mazzekin (household demons from Jewish mythology). After the recent death of the institute's founder, Michael is greeted by his grandson, Jacob, and the two have an immediate and intoxicating connection. Told with a slow burn pacing that enhances the research based plot and Michael’s character development as a serious academic, readers will dig in the archives with Michael, interact with demons, watch him fall in love and celebrate as he finds his truth, even if that truth is extremely unsettling. A solid example of the emerging Horroromace subgenre and a grownup option for readers who loved theYA novel When The Angels Left the Old County by Lamb or the academic Horror research and queer romance of A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper

Three Words That Describe This Book: Jewish Folklore, Horroromance, slow burn

Thanks to Titan Books, I have a finished copy of this upcoming title that you can add to your collections immediately.

Remember, when you enter once you are entered going forward.

Good Luck! 

Thursday, May 7, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: The Dorians by Nick Cutter

Today on the giveaway I have a bound manuscript of a book that I reviewed in the May 2026 issue of Booklist. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:
  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.
Last week's winner was Laura from MA. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Best-selling author Nick Cutter has a brand new book out May 19th and I had this review of it in the May 2026 issue of Booklist:

Book cover for Nick Cutter's The Dorians. Click on the image for more details.
by Nick Cutter

At its core, all horror is about death, but in his latest Cutter challenges readers to directly confront living, aging, and dying. Fred (78), awaiting assisted suicide, accepts a last-minute offer to participate in Dr Marsh’s experiment to reverse the aging process by merging the regenerative powers of jellyfish with the human body. Told with an omniscient narration, making it very clear that things are not going to go well, while also allowing readers to get into the heads of each character, including the 5 “subjects,” this is a gripping, original, and existentially terrifying story. Overt nods to well-known stories such as Frankenstein, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Jurassic Park allow the unease to increase organically as readers get swept up in the people, the drama, and the scientific wonder, until they find themselves stuck in its tendrils, facing the horror on the page and their own mortality. For fans of retellings in the vein of Unwieldy Creatures by Tsai or the immersive realism of SF-horror such as in Dead But Dreaming of Electric Sheep by Tremblay.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Frankenstein retelling, gripping, immersive. existential terror
You can click here to see more from me about this book. It is most similar to The Troop and The Queen by him, but please note, this book is way less visceral than most of his books. It is terrifying though, maybe in a way that is more real than anything he has written before. Again, more here. 

The copy I have is not an Advanced Reader Copy. It is a bound galley, which is a slightly earlier version of a physical advanced copy. It is a bound word document basically. Just so you are aware.

Thank you to Gallery Books for getting me something to read (and then giveaway) early enough for my early March review deadline.

Enter now to win this book and you are entered going forward.

Good luck to all!

Thursday, April 30, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Unsettled Score by Rebecca Rowland

Today on the giveaway I have an ARC of a book that I reviewed in the April 2026 issue of Booklist. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Susan from MA. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Today I have a collection from a trusted small press and an up and coming voice you need to know.

Book cover for Unsettled Scores a story collection by Rebecca Rowland. Click on the image for more info.
Unsettled Score: A Mixtape of Psychological, Transgressive, and Art House Horror
By Rebecca Rowland June 2026. 272p. Lethe, paper, $19 (9781590217887). 
First published April 1, 2026 (Booklist).

Presenting her collection as a musical mixtape complete with 13 earworm inducing “tracks” on two “sides” including a “hidden track” tucked in after the acknowledgments, Shirley Jackson Award finalist Rowland gives readers a fun frame that effortlessly draws them into each story before she violently knocks them off center employing well executed, visceral and psychologically unmooring twists that, in story after story, work in tandem to rhythmically unsettle the reader. Some threats are human, some are supernatural, but all are monsters. For example, in “Mrs. Robinson” an unassuming middle aged woman closing up at work leaves readers speechless by the story’s end, while in “Turn Me Loose,” 80s nostalgia and a creepy doll provide a terrifying bite. With an introduction by horror short story master John Langan, Rowland has announced herself as an author to keep an eye on. For fans of collections with strong, flawed protagonists and a squirm inducing discomfiting tone such as by Gwendolyn Kiste or Clay McLeod Chapman or like in the tales gathered by Ellen Datlow for Screams from the Dark.

Three Words That Describe This Book: music/album frame, extremely unsettling, horrible but sympathetic main characters


Thank you to Lethe Press for the giveaway. 

Enter now and you are entered going forward, and next week I have a copy of the upcoming Nick Cutter!

Good Luck. 

Thursday, April 23, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: But Won't I Miss Me by Tiffany Tsao

Today on the giveaway I have an ARC of a book that appeared in my Horror Review Column in the April 2026 Issue of Library Journal.  I gave it a star, and quite honestly, this is the book that has most surprised me all year. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Michael from UT. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

When I compose my Library Journal Horror Review column, I work intentionally to combine titles people expect and undertake radar books. Some I know nothing more about than what the publisher is putting out on their sites. 

Cover of Tiffany Tsao's novel But Won't I Miss Me. Click on the image for more details.
But Won't I Miss Me by Tiffany Tsao caught my eye because either sounded interesting; however, nothing prepared me for hoe AMAZING this book was. I went into it with hopeful expectations and the results, blew me away. I want to shout from as many rooftops about this book as possible, as a result, I also posted about it on the general blog today as well.

In that post, I included all of my notes about this book. You can also see those here, but for this giveaway post I will stick to just sharing the draft review:

Three Words That Describe This Book: maternal/body horror, slightly askew to our world, discomfiting 

Draft Review: The very best speculative fiction takes readers out of their world, telling a story meant to help them grapple with the important questions staring them in their real world faces. Tsao demonstrates this in her alternative reality science fiction-body horror-thriller, asking readers to contemplate how society fails mothers, the horror of following the status quo, and most provocatively, what happens when you are your own victim? Vivi, a Chinese-Indonesian living in Australia lives in a world where human mothers not only birth a child, but they also experience their own visceral rebirth, an event that will shock and trouble readers, but here it is seen as necessary to give mothers the super human strength they need to raise children. Vivi’s rebirth had complications leaving her alone, exhausted, and with a baby to care for. Readers hang on every detail, falling easily into the world, and its complex, flawed, but sympathetic characters, never able to shake the unsettling tone set by the title, not even close to ready for the twist when it drops. A master class in storytelling that will leave readers, if not reborn, forever changed for the experience.

Verdict: Tsao gives readers a terrifying, raw, and honest look at motherhood in the vein of horror titles like Tantrum by Rachel Eve Moutlon, Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase, The Push by Ashley Audrain.

Please get this book on order. It comes out May 5th from HarperVia. Thank you to the publisher for the ARC that I will be giving away to one of you.

Good luck! 

Thursday, April 16, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang

Today on the giveaway I have an ARC of a book that appeared in my Horror Review Column in the April 2026 Issue of Library Journal.  Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Sophie from IL. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Today I am featuring an ARC of a book I read for my Horror Review Column in the April 2026 Issue of Library Journal. 

She Waits Where Shadows Gather by Michelle Tang. From my draft review:
Canadian spouses Avery and Carlos, both of Chinese-Filipino descent, arrive in Manila for an indefinite stay. Carlos is moving his popular show, disproving the supernatural, back to his family’s haunted manor house. Told from both Carlos and Avery’s perspectives, readers are aware from the start that there is unease about the move and the status of their relationship, but the house– its covered mirrors, phantom knockings in the night, and history of restless souls– makes itself heard immediately. After a home cleansing ceremony, Carlos is left bedridden by a car accident, triggering the release of generations of secrets, ghosts, and mortal danger forcing Carlos and Avery to fight for both their relationship and their lives. Filled with terrifying Filipino horror folklore, readers will enjoy uncovering a different culture of chills while being consumed by the drama unfolding in front of their eyes. Verdict: A twisty and immersive haunted house story featuring sinister ghosts, who will use whatever fractures they can find in human relationships to gain a foothold in the mortal world like in The Villa, Once Beloved by Victor Manibo and We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinborough.

Three Words That Describe This Book: spotlight on International horror lore, intense unease, dual points of view

This novel comes out on May 5, 2026. Thank you to Sourcebooks Library Marketing for this ARC. 

Remember, if you enter once, you are entered going forward. And I have a lot of great books coming up in the giveaway queue. Not to mention visits to StokerCon and ALA in June will mean I have MANY more. Get in on it now so you are eligible to win. 

Thursday, April 9, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: New Story Collection by Gwendolyn Kiste and The LineUp Column Inspired By It

Today on the giveaway I have my favorite horror story collection of the year (so far) and access to a list of 6 excellent backlist collections you should be suggesting to your horror readers.  Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Allison from WI. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

At the beginning of 2026 I was reading Gwendolyn Kite's The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own and I was loving it! Late last week my starred review of that collection was published in Booklist and you can access it plus bonus appeal content at this link.

In celebration of the book's release next week, I have a finished copy (courtesy of Raw Dog Screaming Press) which you can win and add to your collection this week!

I am hoping all of you will order The Haunted Houses She Calls Her Own for your libraries. RDSP is a small press with distribution via Ingram, so you can easily add it to your collections. 

Again click here to read my full review with bonus comments about this book.

I enjoyed this collection so much, I was inspired to highlight other excellent single author story collections as one of my 4 annual "From the Haunted Stacks" columns on The LineUp.

[Editors note because I have been asked about this multiple times times: the term for a single author volume of short stories is "collection," while "anthology" is used for books of stories by different authors.]

So not only can you use this post to enter to win a copy of my favorite story collection of 2026 (so far) but you can also access the article it inspired-- From the Haunted Stacks: Single Author Horror Collection to Devour: Six essential horror collection to lose yourself in.

You can access the entire catalog of my posts for The LineUp here. Since this is a recourse focused on backlist titles, the archive of my articles is a great resource to help you help your horror readers top  find a great read that is probably on the shelf right now.

Enter now and you are entered going forward.

Thursday, April 2, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman (and a bonus story collection)

Today on the giveaway I have two books for one winner, pairing a well known authors ARC with a story collection from a trusted small press. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Emily from NY. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

I cannot review every book, even if I really like the author, even if I really want to. Today's book is a great example of that. But thankfully, others are there to do the work as seen below with Chapman's upcoming novella and its starred review in LJ.

Book cover for Bodies of Work by Clay McLeod Chapman. Click on the image for more info.
Bodies of Work by Clay McCleod Chapman

STAR Winston Kemper is alone in the world, working as a church janitor and living in a one-room apartment. In his home he is creating an epic work of words and pictures, written and drawn across the floors, walls, and a number of notebooks. The room is shared with the women Winston has murdered to take their voices. But the Butterfly Girls have found a way to speak to Winston and secretly plot their revenge. Their voices act as a chorus, providing commentary as they argue. These discussions become complicated and uncomfortable as Winston’s history is revealed. Chapman (Acquired Taste) never allows readers to make a simple judgment, and the book is filled with creepiness and unease from the start. Readers will fall into the book even as they sense the dreaminess is filled with nightmares and terrors. 

VERDICT Blurring between dreams and reality, this novella explores the world of a labyrinthine, disturbed mind. Chapman’s short fiction is an excellent introduction to his work, and this latest is another one of his excellent portrayals of complicated emotions in horror. Readers of Cynthia Pelayo’s “Chicago Saga” and her poetry collection Into the Forest and All the Way Through will especially find this book compelling. --Lila Denning

Bodies of Work comes out next week on April 7, 2026. Thank you to Titan Books for the giveaway copy of the ARC.

While I have your attention, I wanted to also let you know about an up and coming voice, and their story collection from a trusted small press.

Cover of the book Nothing Has Happened to You : Stories by Rory Say. Click on the image for more info.
Nothing Has Happened to You: Stories by Rory Say. From the book description on the Lethe Press site:
Nothing Has Happened to You is a collection of short stories where the ordinary twists into the uncanny and the familiar becomes strange. Memory, family, and grief blur with phantoms that may or may not exist, and the smallest moments—opening a door, telling a story, looking into the dark—carry the weight of dread.

A young girl confides in a silent companion no one else can see, who grows smaller each time he returns. A lover reveals she has been dead for years and will soon be forgotten. A tenant discovers his basement suite may not exist at all, except as an echo of guilt. Elsewhere, lost children, haunted objects, and voices from the grave stir quietly at the edges of daily life.

Rory Say, whose work has appeared in Weird Horror, Dark Recesses, Metastellar, The NoSleep Podcast, Tales to Terrify and more, writes with precision, lyricism, and an unshakable sense of unease. Each tale is self-contained, yet together they form a world where nothing is certain, and dread lingers long after the last page.

Nothing has Happened to You is already out and you can add it to your collections here. Thank you to Lethe Press for this copy to giveaway to one of you.

Enter once and you are entered going forward. In the coming weeks, I will be featuring books that I have reviewed in the April issues of LJ and Booklist. Stay tuned.

Good luck!

Thursday, March 26, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Women in Horror Month Week 4

Today on the giveaway I am celebrating Women's History Month with a giveaway each Thursday this month of books written by women in Horror. I am focusing on books I did not get a chance to review officially, but are titles I think belong in every public library. Today is our last week and I have two finished copies of great books for 1 winner. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Claudia from TX. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

Book cover for Myrrh by Polly Hall. Click on the image for more info.
Today I have a finished copy of a book I just missed when it came out. I am really sad about it because the author had a previous book which I LOVED and STILL THINK ABOUT [The Taxidermist's Lover]. This book is Myrrh by Polly Hall. From the description:
A woman searching for her birth-parents unlocks the secrets of her horrific past, as she tries to stop the goblin within in this kaleidoscopic dark psychological horror, with a dread-inducing climax you will never forget. Perfect for fans of Eric LaRocca and Catriona Ward. 
Myrrh has a goblin inside her, a voice in her head that tells her all the things she's done wrong, that berates her and drags her down. Desperately searching for her birth-parents across dilapidated seaside towns in the South coast of England, she finds herself silenced and cut off at every step. 
Cayenne is trapped in a loveless marriage, the distance between her and her husband growing further and further each day. Longing for a child, she has visions promising her a baby. 
As Myrrh's frustrations grow, the goblin in her grows louder and louder, threatening to tear apart the few relationships she holds dear and destroy everything around her. When Cayenne finds her husband growing closer to his daughter, Cayenne's stepdaughter, pushing her further out of his life, she makes a decision that sends her into a terrible spiral. 
The stories of these women will unlock a past filled with dark secrets, strange connections; all leading to an unforgettable, horrific climax.

Titan Books sent me this finished, hard cover copy for me to give to one of you to add to your library. And even if you don't win, it is not too late to add this book. It will be new to your readers. 

Book cover for Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories by Elizabeth Broadbent. Click on the image for more info.
My second title is a second finished copy of a book I also gave away last week, by an author whose work I have spotlighted before from a small Horror press you can trust. Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories by Elizabeth Broadbent:

Stay the hell out of the swamp — the backwater town of Lower Congaree recites it like an eleventh commandment.

Lower Congaree is a backwater of a backwater, a poverty-stricken South Carolina town where nail salons come and go, but the Marine recruitment center never closes. Swamp surrounds it, and strangeness stretches back as far as anyone can remember.

For the first time, Undertaker Books has collected Elizabeth Broadbent’s intertwined Southern Gothic stories, including her linked novella, Ink Vine. Swamp witches and standing stones, battered mansions and shoeless patriarchs, strip clubs and roadside diners—Lower Congaree blossoms with the otherworldly, the bizarre, the outcast and the outside of time.

Ink Vine 

 “A stunning debut with a narrative voice so strong, you’ll feel the swamp breathing down your neck. Eerie and very moving.” —Tim McGregor, author of Eynhallow and Wasps in the Ice Cream

When exotic dancer Emmy Joiner escapes to the swamp, she meets beautiful, long-legged Zara, the first girl she dares to kiss. But the small-town South hates a woman who dares to dance instead of plucking chickens for minimum wage. As Emmy’s life falls apart, her relationship with Zara grows more tangled and bizarre. Zara’s offering something beautiful. Its price may be more than Emmy’s willing to pay.
I love how these are interconnected stories but also-- SWAMP stories are very popular, even with non-horror readers. This collection reminds me a lot of Alan Baxter's Tales from the Gulp series. I had a review of the third book in this series of connected novellas, The Rise, in the February 2026 issue of Booklist. 

This is a finished copy of the book which came out on March 6th. You can add it to your collection right now. Thanks to Undertaker Books for this copy which will go out with the finished hardcover of Myrrh to one winner.

And that concludes my Women in Horror Month Giveaways. Four weeks, eight books, four winners. Next week I will begin giving away the books for which I have reviews in the April issues of both Booklist and Library Journal. It will take a few weeks, and there are some great titles, including one of my under the radar picks for a top book of the year.

Enter now and you are entered going forward. 

Good Luck!

Thursday, March 19, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Women in Horror Month Week 3

Today on the giveaway I am celebrating Women's History Month with a giveaway each Thursday this month of books written by women in Horror. I am focusing on books I did not get a chance to review officially, but are titles I think belong in every public library. Today I have an ARC of a hotly anticipated May book and a finished copy of a story collection from a proven small press. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Roseann from ME. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

I have an ARC of a hotly anticipated May book and a finished copy of a story collection from a proven small press both for 1 winner. These are titles I did not have room to review personally, but I am very excited about them and think you should consider adding them to your collections, whether you win or not.

Book Cover for Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Even. Click on the cover for more information
Let me start with a title that you have seen on many 2026 most anticipated titles, Bone of My Bone by Johanna Van Veen. From the publisher description:
Bram Stoker Award–nominee and USA Today bestseller Johanna van Veen unveils a sapphic folk-horror tour de force—perfect for fans of The VVitch and The Salt Grows Heavy. A skull's grin is eternal…

The year is 1635.

Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant, escape a band of marauding soldiers and disappear into the Bavarian forest. War scorches the land, and no one survives it alone. Amid the devastation, they find something in the arms of a dying the gilded skull of a saint.

It is said that if you reunite the saint's skull with her body, a wish will be granted. Desperate for salvation, and each with secret desires of their own, Ursula and Elsebeth follow a ragged map across the blighted countryside. But darkness follows them. A necromancer, drawn to the relic's power. The saint herself, whispering at night. And as the lines between blessing and curse blur, the women must face a harrowing the magic they seek comes at a cost. At the journey's end, they'll face an impossible choice—one that could tear apart everything they know… or bind them to each other forever.

This one comes out May 26th from Poisoned Pen Press (who sent me this book to give away to one of you). People are already talking about it. Double check it is on order.

Book cover for Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories by Elizabeth Broadbent. Click on the image for more info.
My second title is a finished copy by an author whose work I have spotlighted before from a small Horror press you can trust. Ink Vine and Other Swamp Stories by Elizabeth Broadbent:

Stay the hell out of the swamp — the backwater town of Lower Congaree recites it like an eleventh commandment.

Lower Congaree is a backwater of a backwater, a poverty-stricken South Carolina town where nail salons come and go, but the Marine recruitment center never closes. Swamp surrounds it, and strangeness stretches back as far as anyone can remember.

For the first time, Undertaker Books has collected Elizabeth Broadbent’s intertwined Southern Gothic stories, including her linked novella, Ink Vine. Swamp witches and standing stones, battered mansions and shoeless patriarchs, strip clubs and roadside diners—Lower Congaree blossoms with the otherworldly, the bizarre, the outcast and the outside of time.

Ink Vine 

 “A stunning debut with a narrative voice so strong, you’ll feel the swamp breathing down your neck. Eerie and very moving.” —Tim McGregor, author of Eynhallow and Wasps in the Ice Cream

When exotic dancer Emmy Joiner escapes to the swamp, she meets beautiful, long-legged Zara, the first girl she dares to kiss. But the small-town South hates a woman who dares to dance instead of plucking chickens for minimum wage. As Emmy’s life falls apart, her relationship with Zara grows more tangled and bizarre. Zara’s offering something beautiful. Its price may be more than Emmy’s willing to pay.
I love how these are interconnected stories but also-- SWAMP stories are very popular, even with non-horror readers. This collection reminds me a lot of Alan Baxter's Tales from the Gulp series. I had a review of the third book in this series of connected novellas, The Rise, in the February 2026 issue of Booklist. 

This is a finished copy of the book which came out on March 6th. You can add it to your collection right now. Thanks to Undertaker Books for this copy which will go out with Bone of My Bone to One winner.

Back next week with my final 2 book Women in Horror giveaway.

Thursday, March 12, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Women in Horror Month Week 2

Today on the giveaway I am celebrating Women's History Month with a giveaways each Thursday this month  of books written by women in Horror. I am focusing on books I did not get a chance to review officially, but are titles I think belong in every public library. Today I have  ARCS of two books that come out in April 2026 for 1 winner. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Angela from OH. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

This week I have ARCS of two books that come out in April 2026 for 1 winner. These are titles I did not have room to review personally, but I am very excited about them and think you should consider adding them to your collections, whether you win or not.

I am listing them in the order they will be coming out.

Book cover for Invasive Species by Ellery Adams. Click on the image to learn more.
First up, Invasive Species by New York Times Bestselling Author Ellery Adams coming April 14th from Hanover Square Press. Description:
“Dark and delectable. I gobbled this book up and enjoyed every last bite.“ —Kirsten Miller, author of The Change and The Women of Wild Hill

The women in Cold Harbor all have something to prove, and they'll have to do it in a world full of monsters.

Something’s not right in Cold Harbor—more so than usual. While this sleepy small town has seen its fair share of monsters in cheating husbands and leering bosses, none are as hungry as Mrs. Smith. The mysterious resident has finally emerged from her crumbling mansion on the hill, mesmerizing the townspeople with her beauty. Her secret? Nine human sacrifices to feed her immortality.

Natalie Scott is more worried about Mrs. Smith blocking her first real estate sale—the one that will take her from stay-at-home mom to working woman extraordinaire. She's eager to prove herself in a world where the social mores of 1980s suburbia reign, where she's expected to keep a magazine-perfect home and raise beautiful children, all while sticking to her husband's budget. Natalie's two best friends are facing their own demons, and Mrs. Smith and her deep, dark woods are an easy scapegoat for everyone's problems.

But Natalie's twelve-year-old daughter, Jill, and her Icelandic housekeeper, Una, can sense something deeper at play. Armed with library books and a whole lot of grit, Jill and Una team up to save the town once and for all. But as the rest of Cold Harbor sinks into anger, fear, and jealousy, they’ll have to confront the What does it really mean to be a monster?

This one is going to be a huge cross over hit with readers who don't think they like Horror. Spoiler alert, they do. Seriously though, this is for fans of Lindy Ryan's Bless Your Heart series (Ryan's latest was in last week's giveaway) and Slayers of Old by Hines which I reviewed for Booklist here.

Plus female sea monsters! So you know you need to add this one to your collections.

Thank you to Hanover Square Press for this ARC which I am giving away to one of you.

Book cover of Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart. Click on the image for more information.
Next up is Hex House by Amy Jane Stewart coming out on April 28th from Titan Books. Description:

A feverishly told, dark and unsettling Scotland-set fairy-tale about a safe haven for women which transforms them into vessels of revenge, perfect for fans of T. Kingfisher, A. G Slatter and Julia Armfield 

ELLY

Elly is running. Pregnant and still in her wedding dress, she flees the cottage that her new husband has rented for their wedding night. Because he’s not what people think he is – and she knows that, one day, he’ll hurt her in a way she can’t fix. Freezing and lost in the dead of night, Elly begins to lose hope.

A woman in the woods alone is never the beginning of the story. It’s usually the end.

So, when a beautiful house appears out of nowhere and a woman beckons her inside, it almost feels too good to be true.

Welcome to Hex a refuge, a home, a sanctuary. A place that can only be found by those who truly need it; a place that promises to teach Elly how to access a power more incredible – and more terrifying – than anything she could have imagined.

SIOBHAN

Four years after Siobhan meets Elly at Hex House, her life is in ruins. Once a promising filmmaker invited to the house to make a documentary with her brother, Theo, she’s given up on her dream after witnessing unspeakable horrors there. Now, she spends her time drinking too much, toying with an older man in increasingly dangerous ways, and trying to get Theo to speak to her again. She ignores the scar on her stomach that never fully heals.

That is, until someone reaches out with news about Hex House that could change everything.

And Siobhan knows, deep down, that she was always destined to return.

I 100% agree with the readalikes of T. Kingfisher, A. G Slatter, and Julia Armfield provided above.

Thank you to Titan Books for this ARC which I am giving away to this week's winner as well.

Two books by Women in Horror for one winner. And this is only week 2 of 4. I have at least 3 more books to giveaway.

You are going to want to enter now because you will be entered going forward. 

Good Luck!

Thursday, March 5, 2026

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway: Women in Horror Month Week 1

Today on the giveaway I am celebrating Women's History Month with giveaways each Thursday this month of books written by women in Horror. I am focusing on books I did not get a chance to review officially, but are titles I think belong in every public library. Today I have 2 finished copies of two books that came out last month for 1 winner. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:

  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.
Last week's winner was Nicole from WA. Now on to this week's giveaway. 

This week I have 2 finished copies of books that came out in February, titles that I am very excited about but did not have time to review myself.

Cover of Dollface by Lindy Ryan. Click the image for more information.
First up a hard cover of Dollface by Lindy Ryan:
“A whimsical, bloody, unsettling suburban slasher with an unexpected twist." – New York Times bestselling author Delilah S. Dawson

Barbie meets Scream with a 90s nostalgia twist in this horror romp from Bless Your Heart author Lindy Ryan.

Horror author Jill has just moved to suburban New Jersey, hoping to fit in with the new PTA moms and maybe not weird everyone out with her Final Girl coffee mug. You know. Make some real friends. But then a plastic face-masked serial killer begins slashing their way through town, one overly made-up mom at a time. The police are incredulous. The moms are indignant. And Jill is slowly wrapped into a killer’s murderous spree, until she might just be the last woman standing. A delightfully murderous novel that is equal parts scathing and salacious, Dollface will win you over with its gossip and gore, one body at a time. 
Add this book to your collections right now. You probably have Ryan's books in the Bless Your Heart series. This is not part of that series but will appeal to fans of those books. Ryan's books are perfect for fans of Rachel Harrison-- serious horror with well developed and authentic female characters. 

Thank you to Minotaur Books for the copy that I am giving away today. This is a finished copy and you can add it to your collections ASAP. 

Book cover for Temple Fall by R.L. Boyle. Click on the image for more info.
This week's winner will also receive a finished copy of Temple Fall by R.L. Boyle:
A macabre and chilling supernatural gothic horror about a group of teenagers cursed to die on their 18th birthday from the Stoker Award shortlisted author of The Book of the Baku. Perfect for fans of Clay McLeod Chapman, The September House by Carissa Orlando and The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes.

Flynn heads with her boyfriend, Jackson, and a group of their friends to spend the night in Temple Fall, a mysterious house up on the moors with a strange history. Breaking in for a night of drinking and teenage debauchery they instead find themselves trapped in a strange nightmare after a joke seance goes wrong. Suddenly forced into strange acts and behaviours outside their character, the tight-knit group starts to fall apart - and then Jackson falls to his death.

In the aftermath Flynn must confront the traumas of her childhood, her upbringing in captivity with her mother who suffered from crippling paranoia and OCD. As a foster child she has been forced to make her own place in the world, to forge a new family out of the few scraps of hope and compassion she has been offered in her life. And everywhere she looks she sees the ghostly figure of a Victorian woman, that no one else can see.

The woman that pushed Jackson.

Reeling from the tragedy the group find themselves split apart, each grieving and trying to survive on their own. But when they start to die, one-by-one, on the very second of their 18th birthday, Flynn must keep them all together to keep her found family alive. And she must dig into the lost secrets of her family past, to stop the curse being passed down to the next generation again.
Add this one to your ordering carts as well. Those readalike authors in the copy above are spot on. Boyle's first novel was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for YA.

Thank you to Titan Books for the copy that I am giving away today. This is a finished copy and you can add it to your collections ASAP. 

Two books by Women in Horror for one winner. And this is only the beginning of the month. I have at least 5 more books to giveaway.

You are going to want to enter now because you will be entered going forward. 

Good Luck!