This week's #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway includes three ARCs and comes with a bonus interview. Details below but first, here are the rules on how to enter:
- 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.
- She Isn't Herself Tonight by Hailey Piper
- Milkteeth by Caitlin Starling
By Becky Spratford.
FEATURE. First published here.
John Scalzi is one of the most popular science fiction authors of his generation. His books are New York Times best-sellers and he has won numerous literary awards. It seems he has done it all, and yet, he has never tackled horror . . . until now! Scalzi recently sat down with Bram Stoker Award-winning author and Booklist horror reviewer Becky Spratford to talk about his first stab at the the genre in his upcoming novel, Monsters of Ohio.
SPRATFORD: Welcome to the dark side, John Scalzi. We horror people are happy to have you. Your latest novel uses horror tropes to tell a story full of biting social critiques, satire, and plenty of humor. Can you give readers a quick explanation of what they can expect here?
SCALZI: Well, the way that I described it to my editor when I was pitching it was, “Cozy Cronenberg,” and “Nora Ephron and Stephen King go to rural America and make out.” Our protagonist, Mike, comes back to his rural Ohio hometown after years away and finds a town on the verge of crisis, with the major employer in the area about to close, and then, well, let’s just say things take an expected, and somewhat messy, turn. I live in a small rural Ohio town, so, in many ways, this is my love letter to where I live and the people in it. Which sounds weird at first, I’m sure. But stick with it.
SPRATFORD: Monster of Ohio takes a very serious look at late-stage capitalism and our obsession with how things appear publicly versus the substance behind it all. These topics are not out of the ordinary for you, so what drew you to horror and its tropes to tell this particular story?
SCALZI: In part because I largely hadn’t used them before in my work, and I think as a writer you always need to be trying different things, and to challenge yourself for the benefit of your readers. But another reason is I think it’s no secret that, particularly in the U.S., we use horror stories to talk about crisis. Well, I think we have some crises to look at in this particular moment in time, and in this particular political and social environment. Horror seemed to have the right tropes to use right now. They set the stage just right for what I hope is a story that honors where we are today and how we’re going to get through it.
SPRATFORD: You clearly have a true affinity for horror and that shines through in this novel. The parody here is of us, as humans, living in America, at this moment, not of the genre. Did you have to do extra research or have you always been a horror fan? Can you share some of your favorite horror authors and titles with our readers?
SCALZI: Well, like almost every Gen-Xer, I read a lot of Stephen King, possibly too young—I read The Stand when I was 10, and while much of it went over my head, the vibe sure stuck with me—and just kept going. After that it was a short trip to Straub and Koontz and then Clive Barker. As an adult, writers I’ve been enjoying include Richard Kadrey (his Sandman Slim series is a favorite), Sarah Gailey (Spread Me, a recent novella, is terrific), and Delilah Dawson (Bloom is my latest read from her). Also there’s this guy named Joe Hill, he’s got a gift for this horror thing, it’s hard to pick just one from him, but I’m partial to NOS4A2.
SPRATFORD: So you took on horror and it is a success. What genre is John Scalzi going to incorporate into his next novel?
SCALZI: Actually I am looking into a bit of crime noir, just, you know, in space. I can’t give you too many details because I’m still in the early stages of writing. But if I pull it off. . . wow, it’s gonna be fun.
SPRATFORD: I cannot let you leave without shouting out a few books you have enjoyed recently (in any genre). What authors and titles do you want more people to know about?
SCALZI: Three novels I recently read and very much enjoyed are Sublimation, by Isabel J. Kim, The Reformatory, by Tananarive Due, and Amal El-Mohtar’s The River Has Roots. Honestly, it’s a great time to be reading speculative fiction, whether it’s sf, fantasy, horror, or some combination of any of the above.
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