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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.