31 Days of Horror: Day 10--My Library Journal Annual Horror Debuts List

Today I am in a suburb of Louisville [on the Indiana side] doing an all day inservice. You can click over to RA for All for the slides and details. But one of my talks is on Booktalking and I will be giving my brand new “Horror Debuts” talk. The talk features the titles that were just published in the October 1st issue of Library Journal.

This is the latest of my twice a year guest column in LJ.  Click here to see all of my original lists, including the Library Journal columns of which there are now 8! All of the lists on this page can be used to help patrons right now!

Here is the current list [and also below for the lazy among you].

Oh, the Horror! | The Reader’s Shelf, October 1, 2016

BY BECKY SPRATFORD ON OCTOBER 3, 2016 

The desire for literary chills and thrills continues to grow in popularity, and an influx of fresh and frightening voices are ready to answer the call. Below are just some of the debuts that horror fans can look to this ­Halloween season.

There are few universally frightening creatures, except, perhaps, for spiders. Ezekiel Boone preys off of arachnophobia in The Hatching (Atria. Jul. 2016. ISBN 9781501125041. $26; ebk. ISBN 9781501125065), the first of a planned trilogy. Forget postapocalyptic, this is the apocalypse told as it happens with an ancient species of human-eating spiders as the world’s vector of destruction. It might sound hokey, but this is an original and terrifying tale told with plenty of action and a precision not seen in the vast majority of this subgenre. After readers turn the final page, they will be torn between running from every spider they see and eagerly awaiting the second series ­installment.

Boone’s creepy creatures emerged from the jungles of South America and that is just where a desperate actor heads to star in a secretive film in Kea Wilson’s ambitious We Eat Our Own (Scribner. Sept. 2016. ISBN 9781501128318. $26; ebk. ISBN 9781501128332). This time, the threat comes from a director intent on getting the best shot for his realistic horror movie, no matter the cost. Based upon, and written as a deconstruction of the filming of the barbaric movie Cannibal Holocaust, Wilson’s novel uses multiple points of view from the cast and crew and a manipulated time line to crank up the terror past the point of no return. This is a gory and disorienting, yet thought-provoking and intriguing look at the cruelties of violence.

The pursuit of authentic art can involve less outright terror but still be unsettling and dangerous. Kat Howard proves the point in Roses and Rot (Saga: S. & S. May 2016. ISBN 9781481451161. $24.99; ebk. ISBN 9781481451185), in which artistic prosperity has very real and dangerous consequences. Two estranged sisters, who have overcome abusive childhoods, are invited to a prestigious artists’ colony. Those who have attended before have found fame and fortune, but once the sisters arrive, they quickly realize that the retreat’s owners are connected to the fae and that achievement for one sister means directly contributing to the demise of the other. Is the cost too steep? The scary answer is, it may not be. This is a dark fantasy for fans of Neil Gaiman or Emma Bull’s classic War for the Oaks.

While Howard looks at the lives of fictional sisters, there is another real-life pair of siblings making their mark on the genre. Known as the “Sisters of Slaughter,” Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason are twins who have enjoyed notoriety from writing short stories. Mayan Blue(Sinister Grin. May 2016. ISBN 9781944044213. pap. $14.95) is their debut novel about a group of college students who go in search of their missing professor. It turns out that in his quest to learn more about the ancient Mayan Lord of Death, the teacher has opened a portal into the dangerous realm of ­Xibalba—and gone through. This fast-paced adventure seamlessly mixes Mayan mythology with a bloody, exciting race for survival.

The popular trend of adding sf elements to horror goes well beyond jumping through portals as is evident in G.A. Minton’s ­Trisomy XXI (World Castle. Jun. 2016. ISBN 9781629894447. pap. $13.99). Sixteen-year-old Joshua was born with the genetic mutation Trisomy XXI, or as it is more commonly called, Down syndrome. After a serious accident leaves him in a coma, Joshua is given an injection that not only wakes him up but imbues him with supernatural powers that are linked to weird deaths occurring all over town. Then an alien monster lands on Earth looking for Joshua and destroying everything in its path in the process. ­Minton offers up a compelling, frightening, and surprisingly touching genre blend that both horror and sf readers will enjoy.

Recently arriving aliens are one thing, but the residents of Black Springs, NY, have been up against a witch that has stalked their community since the 1600s in Hex (Tor. Apr. 2016. ISBN 9780765378804. $25.99; ebk. ISBN 9781466864580). Over the years, the town leaders have sewn shut the witch’s eyes and mouth to lessen her abilities and worked with the government to seal off the town as much as possible. A tentative peace is established until a group of teenagers, armed with the bravado of youth and new technology, try to break the curse. Unfortunately, they have no idea what they’re facing. Finally out in English translation, Dutch author Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s tightly plotted and frightening tale will speak to teens and adults who love the Blair Witch films.

This column was contributed by Becky Spratford, a Readers’ Advisory Specialist from Illinois. Get more horror recommendations from her at RA for All: Horror (raforallhorror.blogspot.com)

Neal Wyatt compiles LJ’s online feature Wyatt’s World and is the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Nonfiction (ALA Editions, 2007). She is a collection development and readers’ advisory librarian from Virginia. Those interested in contributing to The Reader’s Shelf should contact her directly at Readers_Shelf@comcast.net

31 Days of Horror Day 9: New Glarus Library's All Hallow's Read

One of the best things about my job as a Readers' Advisory Specialist is that I get to travel all over the country to meet library workers and, more importantly, see your wonderful libraries. I have seen all kinds-- from huge central libraries to tiny ones.

Back in April, I got to do an in-service training for several libraries in Green County Wisconsin. [Click here for the details on that day's events.]  It was hosted by the New Glarus Public Library. On my visit I had a chance to meet the staff and tour their facilities.

Currently, those facilities mean that the library fits in 1 room inside the New Glarus Village Hall. Now, to be fair, they are in the planning stages of an expansion project, but in the meantime they do no let their size constraints stand in their way. The staff is engaging, knowledgable, and very excited to share books with patrons of all ages.

They are showing off what I already knew this month by posting a book a day on Facebook for All Hallow’s Read. They are suggesting haunting tales for all age levels. You can click through to see them for yourself.

What a great example of how even the smallest library, with little room for big displays and very limited staff can still make a huge difference for their patrons and ALL horror fans searching for a good read.

Maybe you don't have the time or staff to post about a horror book every day for 31 days. That's okay. New Glarus Public Library is doing it for you. Use their suggestions, with credit to them, as you book talk some wonderful haunting reads this season.

And if your library is doing something special this month that you want to let me know about, leave it in the comments.

31 Days of Horror: Day 8-- A Library Worker Discovers Her Dark Side [Guest Post]

One of my favorite things about running this blog-a-thon is the number of library workers who reach out to me about their personal experiences with horror and horror patrons. These are people I would never have met without the work I do. I am so thankful for them.

Today, I would like to feature one of those library workers today. Below is a personal essay by Sarah Frost, a library worker in New Hampshire, who recently realized that she is a horror fan. But more important than just coming to this "horrifying" conclusion, she has also taken the next step and applied what she has learned to make an overall point about collection development and libraries in general.

I encourage you to read this. She has much to teach all of us here about making books available to all readers.

One quick note however, Sarah refers to the "ARRT reading evaluation" in her piece. For those unaware, that is a product that my colleagues and I on the Steering Committee of the Adult Reading Roundtable create for members and also sell to NoveList to include in their database. Please click here for details.

I would also like to personally thank Sarah for sharing her personal journey. Because of her willingness to open herself up, all of us now reap the benefits. At the end of her piece you can find links on how to connect with her. Please do so. She is a shining example of how one library worker can make a big difference to her entire community.

And now, here is Sarah in her own words...

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I've spent the greater part of 2015/2016 doing some self-actualizing work. I began work as a Library Assistant in 2015 and love it. I started library school in 2015 and quit after realizing that I cannot really afford it and the timing wasn't right for me and my family. In an effort to continue learning, even if not in the academic realm, and to become more effective at my work I took the ARRT reading evaluation to identify my reading gaps and what I found HORRIFIED, well...maybe astonished is a better word, me. I found that the bulk of my reading was in the genre of horror.

 I had never pegged myself as a horror fan.

To me, horror was guts and gore, hack and slash-- that's just not me. I don't watch horror movies for the most part. Okay, so I did watch Crimson Peak but I thought the plot was way too predictable. It took me 5 years to summon my courage to watch Pan's Labyrinth because I was too scared, and I tried to watch the first episode of the first season of American Horror Story and chickened out because it involved children in danger and that was too hard for me to watch. I just read my first Stephen King book this year. I avoided him, admittedly, out of my own snobbery because he was just too popular (Boy do I have some catching up to do...) 

 My point is, there was just no way I was a fan of the horror genre. Aren't they all Goth? (Turns out I am a closet Goth, if I cared more about clothes then maybe I would make the effort)...and I do have those Halloween vampire fangs. I guess horror fans don't all look the part. Hmm...maybe the ARRT evaluation is onto something here.

 Well now I have some digging to do.

My horror tended to be broody and taboo, it involved Anne Rice, David Mitchell, sardonic Vonnegut, weird cults straight out of Rosemary's Baby by Ira Levin,  The Thirteenth Tale by Diana Setterfield. If it didn't have a bite it needed to have a dark, Gothic aesthetic and possibly a large forgotten crumbling estate looming around (currently gorging on The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters). 

So I had a look back at my personal interests, life, childhood, family, and experiences and realized that I have always felt on the outside of things. I have always been that oddball who has a secret interest in the macabre, taboo, subversive, and forbidden since I was very young hiding in the back of our church's private school sneaking articles from National Geographic about ancient Aztec sacrificial rites. Scared to be scolded for an interest in such flagrantly grotesque topics when really it's the psychology and the reality of it that fascinated me.

I grew up for most of my years as a PK (preacher's kid for those not "in the know") and did a 6 year stint down south where I saw real-life horrors aka the real Southern Gothic: teen and tween pregnancy by vastly older men, racism in a friends' home that involved a child holding a black housekeeper at knife-point, a local murder of a teacher at my grade school, freak accidents happening to siblings of people I went to school with. As the real world revealed its own natural horrors to me, the ones in the books didn't seem so strange or foreign and often they had much happier endings (and sometimes even subversive anti-heros and bad folks getting their comeuppance such as in almost every novel ever written by Neil Gaiman). 

In horror I find truth. I find the fragile and fleeting beauty of life and it teaches me to appreciate what is here and now. I find a safe place to explore meaning in a world that feels, at times, very existentially nihilistic. I find humanity, heart, community, and raw emotion. I often see people I know inside of horror books and it helps me to understand why they are scared to speak out, what they are running from, and what they are scared to reveal to the world. 

I often feel, even as an adult, still, that I don't quite fit in. When I found out that horror is my jam I felt kind of like a freak again. I work in a small public library and my coworkers are lovely ladies who seem to enjoy romance, women's fiction, historical fiction (which I also like), and high fantasy. Ah man, why do I have to be the weirdo with the spooky books?

Point being, you probably have patrons who like horror but they don't know it or think of themselves within the context of that genre. Or maybe they do, and they are hanging out with me finding their enchanted but terrifying childhood in a Ray Bradbury book, or finding their 32 year old self stumbling around in the woods of adulthood while reading "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" by Stephen King. Or maybe they are waiting for you to order that new weird fiction book or horror book you have been ignoring/deliberating over/think no one wants to read. Put it out there, invite them in. 

Let those of us on the outskirts know that we are welcome, we're pretty interesting folks and so are our quirky books.

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Sarah Frost
Belmont Public Library
Belmont, NH

You can connect with Sarah on Goodreads and check out the staff picks blog she has started for her library.

31 Days of Horror: Day 7-- Release Day for New Laird Barron and Why Library Workers Need to Learn His Name Now

Today Laird Barron's fourth story collection, Swift to Chase, is being released. Who is Laird Barron? Well, that is the subject of today's post for those of you working in libraries who may be unaware of him. 

First, if you learn nothing else from this post today, know this-- Laird Barron is a name you need to remember and an author whose work needs to be ANY library where ANY horror is read. You have Stephen King's books? Yes. Well then you need some by Laird Barron titles. 

Why?

Well, as the stories in Swift to Chase illustrate, Barron perfectly encapsulates today's literary landscape because while terror is at the center of all of his works, he uses a variety of genres to pull it off. There are notes of cosmic horror, adventure, and noir. His stories have a wonderful sense of place, an oppressive atmosphere, great characters, original and compelling plots, and also beautiful language. They will play with your mind in an enjoyable way, drag you along for a satisfyingly terrifying ride, and leave you begging for more.

Specifically, Swift to Chase marks the beginning of what Barron is calling his Alaska Cycle. All of these tales are set in his home state. Both the beauty and menace of this wild land is rendered perfectly. There is terror, yes, but also longing for the place Barron has since left behind. Barron considers himself an Expat Alaskan much the way I consider myself an Expat Jersey Girl. On a personal level, I really related to his longing for the nuances of his home state. Yes Alaska and NJ are very different, but the feeling of longing is the same. And like me, he is able to point out the bad of home while still holding a deep, undying affection for it.

Yes, this collection will appeal to horror fans, but it will also be enjoyed by your psychological suspense, thriller, dystopian science fiction, and even literary fiction readers.  Don't believe me on that last claim of literary fiction readers? Well, a little birdie told me that Swift to Chase will be making an appearance in The New York Times Book Review. So those readers will see it and probably come ask for it. You want to be ready, right?

Remember when you didn't know who Paul Tremblay was and then he broke out in a huge way last year? Barron is going to be this year's Tremblay. Speaking of, Tremblay wrote a wonderful introduction to this collection, so there's another way you can introduce it as a suggestion to patrons-- - "You like Tremblay right? Read everything already? Well he loves this collection. Why not give it a try?"

I have had my eye on Barron for awhile; in fact, in an upcoming issue of Booklist, I have a review of  this Ellen Datlow collection in which I called out Barron as having the best story in the volume. [By the way, an ARC of that collection is in the "Stories" giveaway I posted here; you have until 5pm central today to enter to win that.]

Stay tuned to the blog because I have a copy of Swift to Chase from the publisher to give away next week. Actually I will have an entire prize pack from JournalStone of official copies (NOT ARCS) to giveaway and I want you to add them to your library's collection. It will be in a post about my favorite horror small presses. This giveaway will include titles by NYT Best Selling authors. Don't miss out on that.

Finally, I have included the LitReactor Bookshots review of Swift to Chase in this post. Why? Well, I highlighted this cool resource on RA for All back in August using a "not quite horror" title-- Bite. I wanted to both remind you of these great reviews and mention that more often than not, they are of darker books. As a result, Bookshots is a great resource for mainstream scary titles that are perfect to add to public library collections. [Click here to pull up all of the Bookshots reviews at once.]

So check out the Bookshots review of Swift to Chase below and DO NOT IGNORE ME about Barron. Order this book right now for your libraries. JournalStone titles are available on all of the major book ordering services you use at your library. So no excuses.

Bookshots: Pumping new life into the corpse of the book review

Title:

Swift to Chase

Who wrote it?

This book will go down as one of the best horror story collections of the decade. This I promise you.

Laird Barron, award-winning author of The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All and Other Stories and, my personal favorite out of everything he's written, Man with No Name.

Plot in a box:

A collection of loosely connected cosmic nightmares frozen deep in Alaskan hell.

Invent a new title for this book:

Either Hearse Songs or Ass-Deep in Devil’s Club.

Read this if you like(d):

Brian Evenson. Paul Tremblay. Gemma Files. Season one of True Detective. A little bit of Fortitude, too.

Meet the book’s lead(s):

Hitchhikers concealing sharp blades and even sharper secrets. Strong women who don’t take shit from anybody. A high school of weirdos, jocks, and Heathers more sinister than you could ever imagine.

Said lead(s) would be portrayed in a movie by:

Charlize Theron. Josh Brolin. Christian Slater. Winona Ryder.

Setting: Would you want to live there?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve heard rumors that Alaska is...slightly cold. I currently live in Texas, and I’m pretty goddamn sick of the heat, so, you know, maybe? I won’t lie. There’s something appealing to me about living alone in a cabin somewhere in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by snow and bears. I probably wouldn’t survive a month, though. I'm very fragile.

What was your favorite sentence?

Buckle up, there’s a few:

I threw a glass of whiskey in his face, as a lady does when her appearance is insulted by an oaf.

He drives like turtles screw so we’ve apparently got all the time in the world.

In this nightmare he is kissing me but his left eye is gone and I can see daylight shining all the way through his skull. He says hot into my mouth, This wound won’t close.

Maybe the parasite that fruits your corpse is the only true part of you that existed.

The Verdict:

When reading a Laird Barron story, you have to throw all expectations of the universe out the window. You have to crawl into his words as a naked infant hungry for knowledge of the world. You have to trust that he’ll guide you down the right roads, through the right dimensions.

Nobody knows the cold horrors of Alaska better than Barron.

In these stories, evil is very real. Not only is it always within reach, but it’s not afraid to grab you and fuck you up at any given moment. This is perhaps one of the most unique collections I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. It managed to do the impossible and make me enjoy not just one, but multiple serial killer-related stories. These stories are on fire, no brakes, heading at full-speed to the edge of the universe. Laird Barron’s prose is not only fascinating, but often poetic as well.

Many of the stories in this collection feature the same characters, at different points in their lives. I wouldn’t call it a novel, not by any stretch, but I could definitely see it working as a killer TV series. Imagine an anthology horror show hosted by Laird Barron and tell me your pants aren’t suddenly sticky.

I’m not going to get into the plots of each story found in Swift to Chase. That’s for you to discover on your own. If someone told you what waited under the earth, would you keep digging?

Listen. This book will go down as one of the best horror story collections of the decade. This I promise you.

[Click here for the original Bookshots review on LitReactor.]

31 Days of Horror: Day 6-- Booklist’s Top 10 Horror of the Year

Yesterday I mentioned that Guest Blogger Jonathan Janz’s novel Children of the Dark was named on the Top 10 Horror of 2016 by Daniel Kraus in Booklist.

Well today, I have the entire list. Half of the titles link to reviews I wrote, but I can vouch for that fact that all are very good and perfect for public libraries. Use this list to make displays, add titles to your collection, or even just use the annotations to book talk them.

And, don't forget past year's lists. They are even more useful because you probably have many of the titles sitting on your shelves.

Booklist's Top 10 Horror from 2015, 2014, 2013, 2011 [no list online for 2012]

Top 10 Horror: 2016. Kraus, Daniel (author).   FEATURE.  First published August, 2016 (Booklist). Greetings, fright fans, and unwell-come to another dead-ition of “Tales from the Booklist Crypt.” These fang-tastic tomb-tomes rep-resent our top 10 select-shuns reviewed between August 2015 and July 2016. Without further a-grue, here are some nov-ills to go mad over!  Children of the Dark. By Jonathan Janz. 2016. Sinister Grin, $16 (9781944044145). Rising horror star Janz introduces penniless young ballplayer Will, possibly the least likely person to lead his small Indiana community in a battle for their lives. In this pulpy shocker, old-school tropes like ancient evils and serial killers are imbued with startling new lives. The Consultant. By Bentley Little. 2015. Cemetery Dance, $25 (9781587675003). Little’s long career hits a piercing high note with this over-the-top take on workplace-as-hell. A new office consultant’s deluge of thousands of e-mails is worrisome enough. But the gory PowerPoints? The rusty-knife blood drives? And let’s not even talk about “termination.” The Doll-Master: And Other Tales of Terror. By Joyce Carol Oates. 2016. Mysterious, $24 (9780802124883). Oates’ forays into horror are ever formidable, and this collection of six stories is a master class in spare, noose-tightening tension. Even the titles are enough to send chills: “The Doll-Master,” “Big Mama,” “Gun Accident.” The appeal bleeds over to the Gillian Flynn crowd, too. The Fireman. By Joe Hill. 2016. Morrow, $28.99 (9780062200631). Hill makes a second bid to be America’s preeminent penner of horror epics with this crypt-sized take on apocalypse. A fungus has people spontaneously combusting, and only the mysterious Fireman can help. But is his help what we think it is? Brisk, infectious, and endlessly readable. The Gods of H.P. Lovecraft. Ed. by Aaron J. French. 2015. JournalStone, $24.95 (9781942712565). Another Lovecraft tome? By Cthulhu’s tendrils, yes! Editor French assigned such authors as Jonathan Maberry, Joe Lansdale, and Christopher Golden one of Lovecraft’s deities and told them to go wild. And they did: this is rich, immersive, and often terrifying. Mr. Splitfoot. By Samantha Hunt. 2016. Houghton, $24 (9780544526709). Loosely based on alleged real-life mediums the Fox sisters, Hunt’s latest uses tricky, deconstructed prose to spin the tale of two foster-home children whose staged séances lead them to a talent agent—as well as an obsessed zealot. My Best Friend’s Exorcism. By Grady Hendrix. 2016. Quirk, $19.99 (9781594748622). Abby and Gretchen are 1980s teens rocking Jordache jeans (bitchin’!) when an LSD drop leads to Gretchen being possessed by a demon (not bitchin’). Hendrix nails the stagnant air of suburbia in this darkly funny mix of John Hughes and The Exorcist. Pressure. By Brian Keene. 2016. St. Martin’s/Thomas Dunne, $25.99 (9781250071347). Carrie free-dives deep underwater to help determine why the ocean floor is collapsing. As if that’s not scary enough, she encounters a creature that destroys everything in its path. A gory, winning horror thriller—a different kind of beach read, you might say.  Security. By Gina Wohlsdorf. 2016. Algonquin, $25.95 (9781616205621). In this giallo-inspired story of the about-to-open Manderlay Resort, someone is watching—and it’s not just the murderer roaming the halls. A security camera operator is observing everything (depicted in literary split-screen). But why isn’t he helping? A brilliant premise savagely handled.  We Eat Our Own. By Kea Wilson. Aug. 2016. Scribner, $26 (9781501128318). Inspired by the 1980 exploitation hit Cannibal Holocaust, Wilson’s debut imagines the sweaty, scuzzy behind-the-scenes story of the actors and crew on location in Colombia. Nonlinear chapters viscerally bring home sickening disorientation, grueling violence, and moral quagmires.

31 Days of Horror: Day 5-- Jonathan Janz on the Appeal Horror

Back in March I had this review of Children of the Dark by Jonathan Janz. Here is an excerpt from that post:

Janz is an author on the rise. He is someone you should know about. I not only gave Children of the Dark a Star Review in Booklist, but it was also chosen by the magazine as one of the Top 10 Horror titles of the year. [More on that tomorrow]

One of the reasons I liked Janz’s book so much is because of the characters. You can see it in the screen shot above. Two of my three phrases to describe the book have to do with his command of character.

I was so blown away by how masterfully Janz constructed this novel [it is perfect from start to finish, and trust me, I read A LOT of horror novels] that I asked him to participate in my blog-a-thon asking him to write:

"A blog post on why you love horror directed at librarians. You can focus on your own work [ie, why you write horror], your own love as a fan of the genre, or your own favorite author. You decide."

Below you will see what he sent me. But quickly, I have had these “Why I Love Horror” posts from many authors over the years. All have been good, but never have I had one that is more useful to you, the library worker, from a practical standpoint.  In this piece, Janz breaks down why Stranger Things, Stephen King, and Horror itself are so enjoyable to people.

To learn more about Jonathan Janz go here.

Now it is his turn...

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"Finding Happiness in the Upside Down: Stranger Things, Stephen King, and Horror

by Jonathan Janz

The television show Stranger Things is taking the nation by storm. People talk about its retro vibe, its attention to nuance, its recreation of a bygone era. But the reason the show works has nothing to do with vintage movie posters or eighties-era cars. 

The reason the show works is because it has heart and brains. And in the end, those elements come from the acting and the writing. Most of all, the writing. 

Stranger Things is a horror story, make no mistake about it. This statement might be problematic for some, not because of what they believe horror is but because of what they believe horror isn’t. Many readers and viewers want to dismiss the horror genre as a mindless, blood-splattered cesspool. But they’re ignoring the true reasons why people love horror. 

Let me explain. 

Many of our favorite books and movies and television shows examine human nature. Specifically, they place human beings in extraordinarily difficult situations and chronicle how they react. Dystopian stories examine relatable characters in nightmarish societies. Westerns feature heroes in lawless, violent lands. Fantasy stories take underdogs and allow them to find their courage in the face of unfathomable evil. 

Horror does all these things, and it ups the ante. 

The more I live, the more I understand how endlessly diverse human behavior can be. Folks can be appallingly cruel. They can also behave with astonishing tenderness. People destroy each other for the pettiest reasons. People also sacrifice their own wellbeing to ensure the safety of others. 

This is the stuff of horror. 

In Stranger Things we see children thrust into frighteningly adult situations. Their illusions are shattered, their trust is exploited. I’m sorry to say the same things happen in real life. 

In the Duffer Brothers’ show, we also see people who’re branded losers, castoffs, or even nutcases find their courage and behave with breathtaking nobility. I’m delighted to report that the same thing does sometimes happen in our world. 

Stranger Things shows us that human behavior can be more deplorable than we would have dreamed; the floor for mankind, in other words, is far lower than we wished were true. The show also demonstrates the tremendous human capacity for love, for forgiveness, for loyalty. Which means the ceiling we’d previously placed on humanity is actually far higher than we ever could have hoped. 

So what does a TV show have to do with the world of books? 

They’re both about the writing. 

Stephen King, my favorite horror author of all time, once said his greatest interest is people, a fact that speaks volumes not only about his stories but about the genre in general. 

Let’s really examine this fact: The genre’s greatest practitioner is not fascinated by werewolves, zombies, buckets of blood, or spilled entrails. He’s fascinated by people. Sure, he might spray some blood and scatter some viscera along the way, and yeah, I know he wrote Cycle of the Werewolf, but why was that book so good? 

Because of its characters. 

Which is why Stranger Things works. Like the kids in Stephen King’s The Body (which ultimately became the film Stand By Me), we genuinely care about the young people in Stranger Things and want them to prevail. We’re sickened by the callousness and dishonesty of some of the adults in both stories, and on a primal level, we suffer with the kids because we understand their pain.

And this, I think, is at the heart of great horror. Our favorite stories speak to us on a personal level. In our favorite tales, the connections between us and the characters are deep. 

In horror those connections are soul-deep.

Think about The Body/Stand By Me. Have you ever felt ignored by a loved one? If you have, you know how Gordie LaChance feels when his folks mourn their elder child but forget to love their younger one. 

What about Chris Chambers? Have you ever suffered because someone close to you drank or did drugs?  How about Teddy Duchamp’s situation? Have you been judged because of someone related to you? Have you ever been physically abused? What of the mental illness alluded to with Teddy’s father? Many of us have grappled with our own issues or watched in anguish while those we love struggle with their own inner demons. 

These situations—neglect, abuse, addiction—are nightmarish. But they’re straight out of our world. The best horror uses supernatural (or natural) evil as a lens with which to examine humankind. In other words, the best horror is concerned with people. Not mindless gore or spilled entrails (unless, of course, we care about the people being vivisected…)

So for those of you confounded by the horror genre, just remember this:

Horror refuses to shy away from depicting the depths of human depravity, and it also boldly dramatizes the limitless ceiling of humankind’s nobility. 

Yes, horror is the genre of terror, but it’s also the genre of empathy. The genre of love. 

I love horror for all these reasons and more. 

The final episode of Stranger Things: Season One is called “The Upside Down,” a designation that refers to another dimension, a spooky shadow side of the world we know. 

In our world, the horror genre is the Upside Down. Reading great horror takes guts because horror’s greatest writers possess the ability to disturb us, to frighten us, to wound us. 

But we’re better for the experience. After surviving a great horror tale, we appreciate our loved ones just a little bit more, and we understand the human condition to a slightly greater degree. We might be troubled by some of the things we’ve read, but we’re just as often encouraged. Inspired, even. 

Because horror, as paradoxical as it sounds, might be the most hopeful of all genres. That no doubt comes as a surprise to some who believe it’s relentlessly nihilistic. And sure, some horror is nihilistic. 

But not all horror. Not Stranger Things, not the books of Stephen King, not the vast majority of horror novels that leave their mark on the world.  

So consider entering the Upside Down with us. It’ll be scary, but you’ll be better for the journey. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a Stephen King book to read…

31 Days of Horror: Day 4-- Horror Story Collections Featuring Two Reviews and a Four Book Giveaway

Today is horror story collection day! Story collections, especially anthologies of various authors like the two I will be featuring today, are a wonderful way for readers to discover new to them authors. Please do not forget this as you are doing your collection development. Stories are a vibrant format in horror; in fact, many of today’s best authors publish stories frequently, and some of the best horror tales from the past, are also in the story [not full length novel] format. My reviews today illustrate this point.

Let’s begin with my Booklist review of a title that was a part of yesterday’s Lovecraft giveaway. [You still have until Thursday to enter, but you need to follow the directions here.]

What the #@&% Is That: The Saga Anthology of the Monstrous and the Macabre

Edited by John Joseph Adams and Douglas Cohen

Sept. 2016. 368p. Saga, hardcover, $26.99 (9781481434997).  First published September 1, 2016 (Booklist).

When a regular person sees a funny Internet meme, they forward it on to their friends and colleagues through social media, but when two award winning speculative fiction editors stumble upon a Lovecraft inspired one that used artwork by legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, this amazing collection is the result. Bestselling authors like Seanan McGuire, Scott Sigler, Jonathan Maberry, Grady Hendrix and more were asked to contribute a story about a monster with the only catch that at some point in their tale, a character had to exclaim, “ What the #@&% Is That!” With twenty stories, ranging from hilarious to truly terrifying, this is a great option to hand to patrons. Have them read their favorite authors first and then skip around to try someone new. It is also fun to predict who and when the title will be used in each story, and what word will be substituted for the symbols (which if you read the introduction, you learn is called a grawlix). In particular, Laird Barron’s story which opens the collection not only showcases his talent to a more mainstream audience, but also perfectly sets the tone for what is to come throughout the volume. A great choice for those who enjoyed the popular collection Rogues edited by George RR Martin and Gardner R Dozios.

Three Words That Describe This Book: best selling authors, monsters, varied tone

Next is another review, but unlike the new stories above, this collection is only of classic stories.

This Way to the End Times: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse

Silverberg, Robert (editor).

Oct. 2016. 456p. Three Rooms, paperback, $19.95 (9781941110478); e-book (9781941110485). First published October 1, 2016 (Booklist).

Apocalyptic fiction is still a very hot trend, but as award winning science fiction writer and editor of this collection, Robert Silverberg notes in the introduction, it’s hardly a new one: “...humankind seems to take a certain grisly delight in stories about the end of the world, and the market in apocalyptic prophecy has been bullish for thousands, or, more likely, millions of years.” Silverberg emphatically proves this statement with the twenty-one stories he has gathered by a variety of modern authors, living and dead, from Jules Verne to Brian Aldiss and Ursula Le Guin to Connie Willis. Each story begins with a detailed and engaging introduction by Silverberg that sets each tale in context, both its own historical one and how it holds up to readers today. All are intriguing examples of the popular trope, but of particular note is the viscerally chilling and highly original 1977 story “The Screwfly Solution” by James Tiptree, Jr. [born Alice Bradley] the oft forgotten author whose name graces a prestigious genre award. With its range of contributors from today’s best sellers to genre giants, this is a much needed volume that will both satisfy the high demand for apocalyptic tales and remind readers of the actual breadth and depth of this literature of the end of the world.

YA: This collection is perfect for teen readers who have either exhausted the YA supply of apocalyptic tales or are beginning to outgrow them. This book will open their eyes to many “new to them” authors.

Three Words That Describe This Book: apocalypse, classics, thought provoking

Get your hands on both of these anthologies for your libraries. They will have a wide readership.

But I am about more than just reviews here on RA for All: Horror. My main goal is to teach you to be better at serving your horror readers. So, to help show you how great horror stories can be, I want to give you some to read for yourself.


GIVEAWAY TIME!

Included in this giveaway are two story collections by a single author:

• A Natural History of Hell by Jeffrey Ford
•  Otherworld Chills by Kelley Armstrong [review to appear in a future issue of Booklist]

And two anthologies:

• This Way to the End Times edited by Robert Silverberg [reviewed above]
• Nightmares: A New Decade of Modern Horror edited by Ellen Datlow [review appearing in a future issue of Booklist]

Together, these four volumes represent a very wide range of horror, and each is short so you don’t have to invest a lot of time on each author. If you don’t like an author or a particular story, skip it.

If you want to enter, send an email with “Stories” as the subject heading to zombiegrl75 at gmail dot com. In the body simply include your name and that you want to enter. No need to send me your address unless you win.

I must receive your email to enter by 5pm Central Time on Friday 10/7. I will use Random.org  to pick a winner and contact you on Friday.

One entry per email address.

Good luck.

Please remember, these are Advanced Reader Copies I read for review. You cannot add them to your collection or sell them. You can pass them on to as many readers as you wish, however.

Back tomorrow with our first guest post. Hmmm, who could it be..... You’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out.