FREE Hybrid Event with Rachel Harrison and Emily Hughes August 21st!

Click here to register for the Zoom

I am posting this on both blogs today because the event is next week and it is available to every one, every where. You don't want to miss it. This is an event for both authors and their latest releases BUT ALSO it is an official Summer Scares event as well.

Please, signup even if you cannot make it. They will be sending a recording. This is a great event to let your patrons know about as well. Again, all can signup no matter where you live.

While this will be a great event on its own, on a selfish note, as one of the people in charge of Summer Scares, I'd love to get a report of HUGE numbers in support of Summer Scares.

Please use the link here or see the text from their website below. 

Maybe I will see you there.

Hybrid: Summer Scares First Bite: SUCH SHARP TEETH & HORROR FOR WEENIES

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 21

7:00—8:00 PM 

Meeting Room, Sargent Memorial Library

427 Massachusetts Ave

Boxborough, MA 01719

Join us in person at the library or online via Zoom for this special discussion!

As part of this year’s Summer Scares, we welcome authors Rachel Harrison and Emily C. Hughes for a discussion about gateways to the horror genre and how entwined horror is in popular culture. Harrison’s novel Such Sharp Teeth is a selection for the Horror Writers Association 2024 Summer Scares program. Harrison’s work is known for the relatable women protagonists, sense of humor, and feminist twists on tropes. Hughes first book, Horror For Weenies, is forthcoming in September with detailed information on 25 of the most popular horror movies written in an accessible and approachable manner 'for people who love getting the reference but hate being scared.' 

NOTE: This is a HYBRID event. If you'd like to join us online (where we will be taking questions!), please register for the Zoom.

If you'd like to join us in person, just show up.

RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

We are proud to be partnering with Silver Unicorn Bookstore for book purchases. You can pre-order signed copies (by bookplate) of the participating authors forthcoming titles, So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison and Horror For Weenies by Emily C. Hughes. Additionally, you can place orders for any of the Summer Scares titles(copies of Rachel Harrison’s Such Sharp Teeth will also be signed). If you are attending in person, our authors will be happy to sign books that you bring from home, too. Please limit them to 3 per author.

About the authors:

Rachel Harrison is the national bestselling author of BLACK SHEEP, SUCH SHARP TEETH, CACKLE, and THE RETURN, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. Her short fiction has appeared in Guernica, Electric Literature's Recommended Reading, as an Audible Original, and in her debut story collection BAD DOLLS. Her next novel, SO THIRSTY, is out September 10th from Berkley.

Emily C. Hughes wants to scare you. Formerly the editor of Unbound Worlds and TorNightfire.com, she writes about horror and curates a list of the year’s new scary books. Her first book, Horror For Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You’re Too Scared to Watch, will hit shelves in September 2024 from Quirk Books. You can find her writing elsewhere in The New York Times, Vulture, Tor.com, Electric Literature, Thrillist, and more. Emily lives in crunchy western Massachusetts with her husband and four idiot cats.

This hybrid program is brought to you by Sargent Memorial Library in partnership with Ashland Public Library and Framingham Public Library, and several other Massachusetts and New Hampshire libraries.  

This program is part of Summer Scares, an annual reading program from The Horror Writers Association, in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, Booklist, and NoveList, which provides titles selected by a panel of authors and library workers and is designed to promote Horror as a great reading option for all ages, during any time of the year.

Register through Zoom for online access.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 98: Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

This week I have an ARC of one of he hottest books of the Spooky Season, by an author who just made the Library Reads Hall of Fame today with her third book. Let me remind you, the third time is the first time you are eligible for the HoF, so this is a BIG DEAL. Details and access to a star review of this title below, but  first, how to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public 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.

Click here to see giveaway #97. Our winner was James from Clark County [KY] Public Library. Now on to this week's giveaway.

Rachel Harrison's third novel comes out in October. Her first two made the LibraryReads list, and when I saw her at ALA annual in DC this past June, I told her that I was predicting she would not only make the list again, but since it would be her third book on the list, she would enter the LibraryReads Hall of Fame.

She told me she had no idea there was a Hall of Fame and not to get her hopes up because being in a Library Hall of Fame for anything would be a dream come true. Well, I am happy to say I was right! And if you look at the October 2022 LibraryReads list you will see the proof!

In honor of this achievement, I am giving away my ARC of Such Sharp Teeth today. As if you needed more reasons to enter than this is a Rachel Harrison Werewolf novel, below is my colleague Jeremiah's Star review from Library Journal as well.

Thanks to Berkeley for providing the ARC at ALA Annual. 

 Harrison’s (Cackle) latest is a rip-roaring, bloody adventure that also explores the wounds trauma can leave on both the body and the psyche. Aurora has come home to help her pregnant sister when the unthinkable happens—Aurora is transformed into a werewolf. But that is just where the story begins. Through explorations of femininity, childhood, family, growth, and facing fears, Harrison crafts a compelling story that is extremely difficult to put down. Beyond the basic horror tenets that a werewolf story embodies, the novel also grasps the deeper consequences of transformation and trauma. The author’s style is gripping and will keep you reading way past your bedtime, although it instills enough gory goodness to make sure that your eventual sleep is troubled. 

VERDICT Any library looking to acquire a gut punch of a horror novel that will appeal to a broad audience would do well to add this to their collection. It will also appeal to fans of Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones and Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #31: The Hobgoblin of Little Minds

The #HorrorForLibraries Giveaway today  features a book I reviewed in Library Journal last month. But first, a refresher on the basic rules to enter:

1. You need to be affiliated with an American public 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. 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.
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.

Click here to see giveaway #31. Our winner was Kate from Woodford County [KY] Library.

Today I have an exciting, release day giveaway of a title I reviewed in the January issue of Library Journal-- The Hobgoblin of Little Minds by Mark Matthews. Here is the draft version of my review:

Three Words That Describe This Book: mental health, visceral, multiple points of view

Framed by the well known Emerson quote referenced in the title and informed by Matthews’ 20+ years working in the mental health industry, this fast paced thriller, set in an abandoned mental hospital, tells the story of the effects of mental illness from the point of view of those who suffer and their families, but within the frame of a wholly original addition to the werewolf cannon. Readers will fall into the story quickly, connecting with the main characters as each point of view is explored. This is a tale that makes the reader squirm both because of the well executed, and visceral horror and because of the discomfort from a peek into the minds of people trying to live with mania. Verdict: Pairing an honest and respectful discussion of bi-polar disorder and how our current treatment options often fail its patients with a compelling, and action packed werewolf story, this is an obvious suggestion to fans of The Last Werewolf Trilogy by Duncan but also a great comp for thought provoking creature tales that contemplate the character’s trauma as part of the horror like Frankenstein in Baghdad by Saadawi.

This is a finished copy that you can add to your collection right away, and it will be shipped to you by the author directly. For the rest of you, this book is available through Ingram, so not that hard to get.

Thank to Matthews for agreeing to participate in this giveaway. I work hard to support independently published horror that is worth your attention. This is one you need to add.

Good luck!

Werewolves

Yesterday, Monster Librarian ran this guest post by one of my favorite authors, Gary Lamberson.   It is all about werewolves in film.  I featured Lamberson in my PLA talk about Horror series trends (click here for access to the slides and handouts).  Click here to read the full post by Lamberson.

But this also gives me a chance to rant on how much I hate the werewolves of media darling Glen Duncan.  I extremely disliked The Last Werewolf, you can click here to read the full review and I do not care about Tallulah Rising.

Please, instead read an actual horror novel with werewolves by Lamberson instead. May I suggest The Frenzy Way?