Happy Halloween!
Today also means another year of 31 Days of Horror is in the books. Our 16th together. But today, is not a goodbye, rather it is a see you later, and by later I mean every day.
Helping readers connect with Horror doe snot stop today. Horror is a genre that has always been read all year long. Sure, it is in the spotlight every Fall, but always, and especially in our current moment, it is a genre that you should be suggesting to readers all year long.
Horror specific displays are great now, but they also work in April to celebrate halfway to Halloween. What about Summerween-- definitely a thing and Summer Scares is ALWAYS there to help give you a library worker vetted way to promote, creating displays, and provide programming in service of Summerween.
Also don't forget to make lists and smaller displays every time there is a popular horror movie or tv show. Use your resources to find readalikes to pair with the media. Your fastest and easiest way is to do a search for the title of said visual media and add the words "Readalikes" and "Reddit" (to guarantee you get human-created responses. Book Riot is also a great resource to search, as are NoveList or Next Reads, if your library has a subscription.
But also, horror should be included in any and all displays, not just during certain times of year or when and if there is a horror movie or tv show going viral. All of your displays should include all genres and all identities. That is something I talk about all year long on RA for All as well.
Need help keeping up with horror all year long? Here are some reminder and suggestions of where to start:
- Emily Hughes' Jump Scares website has easy access to her lists of upcoming horror books-- now, into the future, and back to 2020. Every entry is annotated, so you can also use it to match books with readers.
- Book Riot's Horror coverage for all ages of readers. Sign up for their Fright Stuff Horror newsletter as well.
- This blog-- I am here all year long to help you. 24/7. For an overview on how to use this blog as a resource, see Day 2 from this year.
- Follow my reading and reviews all year long here.
- Summer Scares announced our 2027 Spokesperson yesterday, but we have an archive of resources easily accessible here, going back to 2019.
And if all of this is not enough, you can gather with your fellow Horror loving library workers in person. Make plans to join us at Librarians' Day on Friday June 11, 2027 in Pittsburgh. Click here for more info.
Before I step back and enjoy Halloween (my first day off in over a month), I want to take a moment to thank everyone who participated, shared their original essays, had me appear at their library, and all of you who followed along. All of you helped to help horror readers all over the country at libraries big and small.
If you want help planning horror programming today, tomorrow, or anytime in the future, reach out to me and my colleague Konrad Stump at libraries [at] horror [dot] com.
Enjoy today.
Back soon.
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