31 Days of Horror: Day 17-- Sourcebooks' YA Horror

Today I have 3 YA books from the independent publisher, Sourcebooks, courtesy of their Library accounts manager, and one of my friends [from before she worked for Sourcebooks], Margaret Coffee. Margaret has been selling YA books for years, first with Scholastic [for many years] and others before joining a Sourcebooks team that has been exploding with NYT bestsellers over the last year. Point is, she knows her YA titles. 

I asked her if she had any horror that she really liked for teens and she drove these 3 books over to my house the next day.

One thing I have learned over the last 16 years is that if Margaret likes a book, it is worth reading. She was one of the early readers of Harry Potter people. Listen to her. I do and it has served me well.

But beyond simply trusting her, here is a list of those titles and authors with the information [and link] from the title’s Goodreads page:

One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards:
Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous. Darling. Are they labels or a warning? The answer could cost Sera everything.  

Murder, justice, and revenge were so not a part of the plan when Sera set out on her senior camping trip. After all, hiking through the woods is supposed to be safe and uneventful.  

Then one morning the group wakes up groggy, confused, and with words scrawled on their wrists: Damaged. Deceptive. Dangerous.  

Darling. Their supplies? Destroyed. Half their group? Gone. Their chaperone? Unconscious. Worst of all, they find four dolls acting out a murder—dolls dressed just like them.  

Suddenly it's clear; they're being hunted. And with the only positive word on her wrist, Sera falls under suspicion…

Frayed by Kara Terzis  
Dear Kesley,  

My therapist tells me I should write you a letter. Like flushing all my thoughts and feelings out of my system and onto paper. I tell her it's a stupid idea. 

But here I am, writing a letter to a dead girl. Where do I start? Where did our story begin? From the moment you were born...or died?  

I'll start with the moment I found out the truth about you. Your lies and my pain. Because it always begins and ends with you. 

And that end began when Rafe Lawrence came back to town... 

Ava Hale will do anything to find her sister's killer...although she'll wish she hadn't. Because the harder Ava looks, the more secrets she uncovers about Kesley, and the more she begins to think that the girl she called sister was a liar. A sneak. A stranger.
And Kesley's murderer could be much closer than she thought...

A debut novel from Wattpad award-winner Kara Terzis, Frayed is a psychological whodunit that will keep you guessing!   

The Cabin by Natasha Preston
There may only be one killer, but no one is innocent in this new thriller from Natasha Preston, author of The Cellar and Awake.  

When Mackenzie treks to a secluded cabin in the woods with six friends, she expects a fun weekend of partying, drinking, and hookups. But when they wake to find two of their own dead and covered in blood, it's clear there's a killer among them.  

As the police try to unravel the case, Mackenzie launches her own investigation. Before long secrets start to emerge, revealing a sinister web of sins among the original seven friends. The killer is still free. Every one of them is a suspect. And Mackenzie starts to realize that no one is innocent… 

These are finished copies of these books, courtesy of Sourcebooks, that you can to your libraries collection right now.

For this giveaway I am accepting entries for libraries. Email me with the subject “YA Horror” to zombiegrl75 at gmail dot com by Friday 10/21 at 5pm. I need your name and your library’s name in the body of the email. I will only accept entries from the US and Canada and I will only send the books to a library.

By the way, I have another giveaway with finished books to add to your collection going until tomorrow at 5pm central. You have to click here and follow the directions to enter. Sorry to be so specific but with the number of entries and having multiple giveaways going on at once, it is the only way I can make sure I am being fair to everyone.

Good luck!

31 Days of Horror: Day 16-- YA Horror: A Three Day Series Begins

Today marks the beginning of a 3 day series here on the blog where I will be focusing on horror directed at a teen audience.

Day 1 is all about the difference between adult and teen horror with a bunch of list to help you suggest the best books for the right reader. Day 2 will be a giveaway and day 3, a review of the new book by my favorite YA horror author right now-- and she is perfect for adults too.

Let’s get to it...

Although my specialty is helping adult horror readers, I also worked for 5 years helping Teen readers and developing a horror collection for their use. So I know from experience that when you talk about RA and YA horror it is a lot more nuanced than it seems. Here is my list of the issues and concerns that you also have to consider:

1. Teens consider all creepy books “horror.” As you help them, you need to also consider Gothic, Urban Fantasy, dystopian Science Fiction, and even some of the more intense Suspense and Psychological Suspense. Teens will refer to these as horror and you need to listen to exact what kind of scares and chills they are looking for.
2. Teens love horror movies [my daughter is a good example here]. Often you will be able to find them the best book for them based on which movies they enjoy. But please note, they watch old and new horror movies interchangeably. Don’t just assume they are fans of the newest horror flicks. They are watching everything and anything on demand through streaming services.
3. Teens in general are more willing to try a book in a genre that don’t normally read. When you are working with teens on finding a book they enjoy, don’t use genre as one of your starting points for the RA conversation. Really listen to “WHY” they enjoy the books they do and don’t confine yourself to the genre of that book because they don’t.
4. While we regularly move teen readers to Stephen King, Dean Koontz, or other adult horror authors, as we help adults, many library workers forget to suggest teen horror titles to adults. Yes, the teen titles have less blood than adult titles, but they are just as scary. In fact, I think some of the YA horror writers do a BETTER job at creating chills and tension than adult authors because they cannot rely on as much violence.

So now that I have thrown a mess load of caveats at you, seemingly making your job harder than it was before you read this post, I am going to help you with plenty of lists and titles to keep you loaded up with YA horror suggestions all year long:

• Click here for every post I have ever tagged “YA” on this blog. This tag includes guest posts by YA horror authors like Amy Lukavics and Daniel Kraus.
• The Horror Writers Association has made promoting YA horror and its authors a priority. Click here for their page on YA horror.
• My colleague Kelly Jensen runs Stacked Books, one of the best places on the web where YA and RA meet.  Click here for everything on that site that is tagged horror. There is a wealth of information here. [On a side note, Kelly is also an editor at Book Riot. Here is the link to everything tagged Horror on their site. Much, but not all, is YA related.]
• Epic Reads has this older list of "12 Creepy YA Books That Should Be Made into Horror Movies.” What I like about this list [besides the fact that the books are solid] is that it underscores my point above about teens not caring about genre when they want a scary book.
• SLJ recently had this roundup of a few new YA horror titles. Honestly though, this list is short and a missed opportunity in my book. They are SLJ for goodness sake. They could have done more.
• Finally, don’t forget about actual readers. What do they like? Go to Goodreads. Click here for every book tagged Teen Horror on the site. This link update itself overtime you click it. You will see the most popular books that actual readers classify as horror regardless of the actual genre we might assign to them.

Check back tomorrow for a three book giveaway of YA horror titles that you can add to your collections.

31 Days of Horror: Day 15-- Guest Post on Creating Better Horror Displays

Today’s post was directly solicited by me from a librarian I met on Twitter--

Vantine takes displays very seriously and she enjoys horror, so I persuaded her to share some of her horror related display expertise with everyone. What follows is not only a good post for 31 Days of Horror, but also it is just darn good advice for displays all year long.

Take this quote from below as proof-- "Mix up titles, regardless of genre, and let your patrons find books that they would otherwise miss. “ Yes!

Thanks to her for sharing her expertise.

Click here to see more from Vantine on Twitter and read the entire post below.

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In October, we all set up displays of horror books for Halloween. The rest of the year these titles sit alone and unloved, waiting for October to come around again. This is a misuse of the opportunity that book displays present which is to passively help patrons find books they will love that they might not have discovered on their own. By narrowly focusing your display on the genre, you allow some patrons to walk on by because they don’t think they read horror (or science fiction or romance, etc.). The job of the display is to help patrons discover books that they will love, even if they “don’t read” those sorts of books. 

While patrons may say that they don’t like to read horror, they are interested in the themes that horror explores - unhappy families with secrets, the dark side of religion and belief, medical science gone wrong, natural disasters. On RA for All, Becky uses the term appeal factors in her reviews to pluck out the themes that are present in the book. Those appeal factors cross genres and are really what patrons pick up upon, even if they don’t use those words to describe what they like. 

Horror can be tough to sell readers on because they have preconceived notions of what makes a book part of the genre. With psychological thrillers and suspense novels appearing so often on the bestseller lists, I think that it’s a fantastic opportunity to introduce patrons to horror because they share so many of the same appeal factors. A themed display is just a way to direct their attention to what a book has in common with books they might be more familiar with even if it’s nothing they have heard about. 

Don’t prejudge what your patrons will be interested in. Displays should be for your patrons but realize that they will constantly surprise you. Books may not circulate because no one is aware they are part of your collection. Displays are really just a way to shine a temporary spotlight on a few items. One example I have from this summer is a display filled with fiction and nonfiction in honor of Pakistan’s independence day which emptied out in a week. There was nothing in particular that happened in the news or locally that would have drawn patrons to the display. 

Use popular culture to draw attention to your collection and to help you learn to mix up titles. There are many people watching The Walking Dead who don’t think of themselves as horror fans. Titles like The Newsflesh Trilogy by Mira Grant would appeal to fans of the show if they were aware it existed. A great Walking Dead display could focus on the dystopian themes of the show and the abuses of power that can occur when there is a vacuum of power. Mix in some literary and historical fiction with books about dictators along with some zombie books. Walking Dead  graphic novels will draw attention, allowing people to discover the other books.

 Another example is the show Stranger Things on Netflix which  is very popular right now. Technically, it straddles the line between horror and science fiction with pulp elements.  The show includes: horror, humor, nostalgia with secret government plots, missing children, and supernatural forces. Throw up a display of books with pulp themes, 80’s pop culture, scary children with strange powers, and add some 80’s movies on DVD. Even if you are unfamiliar with some or all of these, I guarantee there are book lists out there that can inspire you. Searching for “Stranger Things read alikes” uncovers lists from libraries, bloggers, and book review sites. 

I set up displays mixing literary fiction, romance, horror, mysteries, young adult fiction, non-fiction and thrillers. I try to include audiobooks and graphic novels when possible. Put up displays of juvenile materials near your adult collection. Stick non-fiction themes like crafts and cooking in fiction. People get set in their ways and sometimes visit the same parts of a library over and over again. This is especially important if you shelve your materials by genre. Your displays can help them remember that there are great books hidden in the other corners of your building.

Mix up titles, regardless of genre, and let your patrons find books that they would otherwise miss. 

31 Days of Horror: Day 14-- Guest Post On Cataloging Horror

Cathleen Keyser is a cataloger for NoveList and a huge horror fan.  She asked me if she could write a post to all of you about the HUGE RA implications of cataloging all genre fiction, but especially horror. I took her up on the offer immediately. I am not a cataloguer but I truly appreciate the work they do, and those of us who work the public desks often forget how integral to our work these librarians are.

All library workers who help fiction readers need to read this post. She provides useful tips and you don’t need a subscription to NoveList to reap the benefit here. Cathleen also has an honest affection for horror which comes through in the post.

Click here for Cathleen’s bio page

You can follow her on Twitter @Cathleenkeyser.

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Like many other librarians, my first real library job was at a video store. It was a great experience – not only was I in the land of “no late fees,” but it gave me my first taste of RA.  I knew what to recommend to the RomCom devotees, the avant-garde tastemakers, the teenage sleepover parties, the hopeless stoners – you name it, I could list off several titles on the shelf to check out. But the best part was the wealth of horror films at my fingertips. This is where I started learning the finer points of horror – the different storylines, the spectrum of tone, and the variety of characters.

Fast forward to now. I’ve built on that foundation at my current library gig – metadata librarian.  What’s the connection between metadata and readers’ advisory, you ask? The catalog is one of the first place your users go to find books – the metadata there is one of the best resources your patrons can use to find books in your collection, especially when it comes to remote users.  Plus, that metadata can also be used by librarians to provide many in-house, self-directed RA services, like book displays, bookmarks, shelf-talkers, and book lists.  As they say, metadata is a love note to the future – taking the time to catalog now creates access for the future needs of patrons and staff alike. And what better genre to pay a little extra love and attention to than horror?

As a metadata librarian at NoveList, I and my colleagues get to develop our own controlled, user-friendly vocabulary for addressing all aspects of a book – and we pay special attention to genre fiction because we know how important it is to many readers. We create and maintain all kinds of headings from subjects and time periods to setting, writing style, tone, or pace.  Because of the time involved, not everyone can or should do what we do, so our goal is to provide public librarians with the tools to do effective RA.  

Regardless of whether or not you use NoveList, you can use our principles to talk about books. Horror can be just as much a challenge to catalog as it is to suggest to readers – as we saw in Jonathan Janz’s post, many people think of horror as “a mindless, blood-splattered cesspool,” rather than as a genre about humanity’s capability for nobility. Here are some tips and tricks for cataloging horror that can be applied especially when all you’ve got (or got time for) is the book jacket: 

• Horror can overlap with other genres – add dual genre headings when possible. The Horror Writers Association has the great quote that “the best-selling book of all time, the Bible, could easily be labeled horror, for where else can you find fallen angels, demonic possessions, and an apocalypse absolutely terrifying in its majesty all in one volume?” The term horror can be a deal-breaker for many – which is why many horror novels are marketed as suspense, thriller, fantasy, or even literary fiction. For example, Scott Smith’s The Ruins is often listed as suspense.  While this genre can fit and does broaden the audience for Smith’s great visceral horror tale, not also claiming it as horror can be a disservice. Cataloging it as both horror and suspense will broaden the fan base and attract more readers.

• Give readers a hint of the type of horror through subject or genre headings.
  Horror is unique in that there aren’t really that many big subgenres like there are in other areas (for example, Romance). Yes, there are many niche genres, but those typically are very small and probably aren’t well represented in a typical library collection. Horror is more of a spectrum.  The best way to think of this is on a “dread to gore” scale. On one end is dread – these are the more atmospheric or creepy tales with little to no gross parts. The uneasiness is generated more with mood rather than blood and guts.  Think classic horror or authors like Shirley Jackson, Lovecraft, and some Stephen King. On the opposite end of the spectrum is gore. These books let it all hang out – guts and all. Some might find these gross, of poor taste, or just too scary while others will love the shock, gruesomeness, or just the fact that these books go over the top.  Think Clive Barker, Poppy Z. Brite, and Nick Cutter. At NoveList, we have tone appeal terms that help us get at these intangible elements.  But there are other ways to get at that mood if you can’t use appeal terms like we do. Try adding complementary genre headings like Ghost stories, Psychological Suspense, or Gothic Fiction for books more on the dread side. Subject headings will also help readers know what they are in for with gore – you know what you’re going to get with headings like Cannibalism, Torture, or Necrophilia, just to name a few. 

• Describe the mood through location headings.
  Location is also critical when it comes to mood.  It’s the cabin in the woods, the decaying castle, the desolate post-apocalyptic cityscape (or even the IKEA showroom).  All have certain aspects that will play heavily into the storyline and mood, so it can really help readers to add a location heading that gets at that. Think Small towns, Haunted houses, Wilderness areas, or Castles, for example.

• Yes, Virginia, you can get at tropes through metadata.
  Tropes are a HUGE part of horror, but it can be tricky to get at those with subject headings. There aren’t many qualifiers you can add, so no creepy clowns, wacko religion, or psycho dads. If you’re not familiar with horror, you might not know where to start. A shortcut I recommend is to ask, “what is it about this that is scary?” Is it a person? A place? Most tropes relate back to this concept. I try to add a subject heading that gets at that gut-punch. Think character types (vampires, zombies, etc.) or things (animals, cell phones).  While this won’t let you get at the more specific tropes, it’s a way to get at some. 

While not all of us have the luxury of spending huge amounts of time cataloging, it is becoming more and more important. Putting information in the catalog is a way to direct readers to other materials you have in the collection. It is the conduit for readers to access books, which is why miscataloging or sparse cataloging leads to missed opportunities.  Lisa Schimmer (you might have heard of her) describes cataloging as way to create a path of discovery.  A reader can look at a book they like and follow the trail of headings to find others, a path that then fans out to great recommendations. But in order for that to happen, cataloging has to happen. While it is not as flashy or glamorous as a book group or a library program, it’s a way to help people steer themselves on their own path, and for horror aficionados, a path to find their perfect chainsaw-murder-deserted-castle-Bruce-Campbell-esque bedtime story of their dreams nightmares. 

31 Days of Horror: Day 13-- Horror Publishers Update with Giveaway

Today is all about horror publishers.  I did my annual update to the Best Independent Horror Publishers For Libraries page.  Click here to see the page or scroll to the end of the post for the information.

But just updating this resource is not enough for my high standards of blog-a-thon material, so before we even get to the list, I wanted to highlight what I think is the best of the bunch-- JournalStone. Now, by my calling them “the best” that does not mean I think no one else has good books. Actually it has more to do with the overall picture of what they publish and how they distribute which makes them the best option for libraries.

Here are my reasons:

1. JournalStone is easy to order. You can get their books through Ingram and Baker & Taylor. Orders can be placed for their titles just as you would for any major publisher. This is the largest hurdle for many libraries toward adding horror to their collections. If they cannot get it through the normal pipelines, they are discouraged [sometimes prohibited] from ordering it.
2. JournalStone has the respect of best selling authors and horror masters, so they are able to publish original works by legitimate big name authors like Jonathan Maberry, Christopher Golden, and Gary Braunbeck. Writers whose work you already have in your collections. Writers who has fans waiting for more at your library. Click through to see the full catalog.
3. JournalStone cares about identifying, developing and publishing the best new voices.  Case in point, Brett J. Talley and Douglass Wynne. Those links go to posts I have done with or about them over the years.
4. Their monthly newsletter is great! It is full of useful information, it is professionally produced, and it is delivered only once a month so it will not overwhelm you. Go to the bottom right of the main page to subscribe.
5. Finally, JournalStone cares about libraries. They understand that one of the best ways to grow new fans is to have their books in libraries. They offer paperback and hardcover versions of all of their books; this is often an issue with small presses and libraries. Some libraries only buy hardcovers because they stand up to wear better. JournalStone also offers free digital copies with most of their publications too. If your library circulates eReaders with content, you can add these for no extra cost.

Don’t just want to take my word for it? Ok. I have a five book giveaway to offer you today courtesy of JournalStone so you can see for yourself. These are not advance copies. These are brand new, finished books that you can add to your collections right now.


I should rephrase that-- these are titles you should be adding to your collections whether you get them from me for free or not!

The titles included in this giveaway are:

• Swift to Chase by Laird Barron which I did an entire blog post about last week here.
• Whistling Past the Graveyard by Jonathan Maberry. This is the first print collection of short fiction by this New York Times Bestselling author.
• Limbus, Inc. Book III edited by Brett J. Talley [mentioned above] and featuring stories by Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, Laird Barron, David Liss and Keith R.A. DeCandido. Again many of them authors you know. I reviewed the first book in the Limbus, Inc series here.  The entire series is well written, suspenseful, and fun. 
• Out of Tune, Book 2 edited by Jonathan Maberry. This again features many best selling authors, including Josh Malerman[!]. Each story uses a classic folk song or murder ballad as its inspiration. Very cool premise and easy to book talk to patrons.
• Of Saints and Shadows by New York Times bestselling author, Christopher Golden which introduces a promising new series featuring Peter Octavian, vampire, PI. This one will have a wide audience.

For this giveaway I am accepting entries for libraries. Email me with the subject “Horror for Libraries” to zombiegrl75 at gmail dot com by Tuesday 10/18 at 5pm. I need your name and your library’s name in the body of the email. I will only accept entries from the US and Canada and I will only send the books to a library.

I want to help you connect with horror readers, and these brand new books by huge authors will start you down the right path. So please, if you win, add these to your library’s collection, put them out on display and/or book talk them and see for yourself.

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Best Independent Horror Publishers for Libraries (updated 10.16)

There are many specialty, small presses who are dedicated to putting out as many horror publications as they can. As the editors over at Horror Fiction Review once noted, "The horror genre is one of the few genres that even HAS its own small press. Many mass market horror authors were discovered there. I believe the small press is (and actually has been for quite some time) the FUTURE of horror fiction."

I agree and I want to highlight some of the very best of these independent horror publishers. In the past, I have tried to be inclusive and include as many as possible, but I found that this resulted in a list that was too long to be useful to the average American public library as a collection development and purchasing tool. And since that is the whole reason I am here....

I have narrowed the focus of this page to include only the horror independent presses I have found to produce a consistent product worthy of being considered for your public library collections.

So please visit the pages of these publishers and consider ordering some of their books for your patrons.

Here they are in alphabetical order:

• 47North
• Apex Publications
• Cemetery Dance Publications 
• ChiZine Publications
• Crystal Lake Publishing
• Dark Arts Books
• Dark Fuse 
• Dark Regions Press 
• Deadite Press
• JournalStone
• Necro Publications
• Night Shade Books
• Permuted Press
• Sinister Grin 

If you are a horror publisher and want to be include here, contact me.

31 Days of Horror: Day 12: Librarian Day at Stoker Con 2017

In April 2017, I will be the first ever librarian Special Guest of Honor at the Horror Writer’s Association’s annual conference, StokerCon. The HWA has been actively pursuing the library world for many years now. They have been attending ALA Annual and last year entered into a partnership with United For Libraries to do even more presentations for library workers.

Without question, they understand the important role we play in matching books with readers.

This year, StokerCon is having an entire day of programming just for Library people! I am including the press release below with details. I know it is not until April, but you should look at your calendars  now and make your plans to join me.

Show this post to your supervisors. I will be there so I guarantee you will learn something about helping your horror readers.  The focus is going to be on helping Children and Teens find horror and promoting diverse titles for all ages.

I really hope some of you  will join me. We want to show the horror authors that we know our stuff. The more of us that come, the better off our entire profession looks. Plus, knowing I will be there means you will have a built in conference buddy. I promise to make you all feel welcome. I am flying solo for the conference, so if you are going and work at a library, contact me. I will be there to assist all of you.

See the details below with the link to register.

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For immediate release:

The Horror Writers Association is proud to announce Librarians’ Day at StokerCon. 

On Thursday, April 27, 2017, the Queen Mary in Long Beach will play host to librarians looking to increase their knowledge of the horror genre and how to incorporate it into collections and programs. The day will begin with a keynote address from HWA President, Lisa Morton, librarian, blogger, and Guest of Honor, Becky Spratford, YA author and Master of Ceremonies for StokerCon 2017, Nancy Holder, and Game of Thrones author and StokerCon 2017 Guest of Honor, George R.R. Martin. A day of panels follows with topics including Tales from the Crib: Horror for Young Readers and Young Adults, A Birthday for Frankenstein!, and Building Diverse Horror Collections. 

Lunch at the Chelsea Chowder House & Bar is included with the cost of registration. There is even some time for librarians to visit the exhibit floor. The day ends with an author signing that includes panelists from throughout the day. Books will be sold on site through Mysterious Galaxy. 

Librarian’s Day runs from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The cost of registration is $60.

Visit the StokerCon 2017 website for updates on panelists and to purchase your ticket to one of the most unique professional development opportunities for librarians.

31 Days of Horror: Day 11- Horror for Book Clubs via NoveList

Susan Brown is the Director of the Chapel Hill [NC] Public Library, a passionate advocate for marketing in libraries, and one of my contributor colleagues at NoveList.  Recently, she let me know about a series of articles she has been doing for the database on genre choices for book clubs. Her most recent one is on horror, so of course, I asked Susan and NoveList if we could post it here.

They both graciously agreed. Thank you all. Below is the article and here is the link to it on the NoveList blog where you can find a lot more horror related and 100% FREE posts this month.

I will have another guest post from a NoveList employee soon, and this one will be a RA for All: Horror blog exclusive.

In the meantime, why not consider trying a horror title with your book club? I did one last year-- The Winter People by Jennifer McMahon. It was a bigger hit precisely because it was October. Click through to read the discussion report.

 This article is part of a series inside NoveList and NoveList Plus on finding great genre choices for book clubs. To find these articles, search "but my book club doesn't read" in the search bar, and click the Lists and Articles tab to see the full series. 

Selecting books for a book group can be challenging -- there are so many titles to choose from and only so many months in a year. To help narrow the field, many book clubs use the calendar as a selection tool -- choosing an African-American author for February and Black History Month or an Irish author for March and St. Patrick's Day.  As fall approaches, book clubs who use this method -- and are open to exploring genre fiction -- should consider choosing a horror novel for October and Halloween.

Like science fiction, westerns, and other genres I've explored in this series, horror seems, at first glance, out of step with what most book clubs tend to select. However, if we understand the underlying appeal of horror, we can move beyond genre stereotypes -- and any potential hesitation to select genre fiction -- and move toward encouraging book clubs to expand their horizons. After all, horror fiction has been engaging and enthralling readers for more than a century -- a fact worthy of discussion itself.

What is the enduring appeal of horror? As Becky Spratford explains in Horror at the Service Desk, "The central appeal of horror is the feeling it generates. More than any other type of literature, the horror novel's ultimate objective is to scare by manipulating the reader's emotions." When we read horror, we can confront, explore, and understand our fears from the safety of our reading chair.  And when a book club reads a horror novel together, they can collectively confront, explore, and understand both their individual fears and those of society.

Horror authors have addressed societal fears since the earliest days -- Mary Shelley's Frankenstein looks at society's fear of modernity and technology.  Modern authors continue to do so -- recent takes on the vampire story such as The Passage and The Strain explore societal fears of disease and pandemics, both natural and man-made.  

While book clubs might discuss what a horror novel says about the time and culture it reflects, they can also talk about their individual fears, sharing how they felt when reading the book, what about it they found scary, or perhaps -- to make the conversation a bit lighter -- what they would do if the zombies came or how they would survive a night in a haunted house.

While book clubs may be intrigued by considering horror fiction, they may well not want too much of the bloody stuff.

Here are few selections that are light on blood and gore yet heavy on great writing and engaging themes to spark good discussions:

Dracula  by Bram StokerMany book clubs work classics into their regular rotation and Dracula is a great choice as both a literary classic and a horror novel. The vampire is such a familiar figure that going back to the book that started it all is an interesting endeavor. Book groups might consider what effect the epistolary format has on the story or how the women -- Lucy and Mina -- function in the story or what comment the author might be making about religion and science and modernity. They might also discuss why the vampire is such an enduring character and how it has changed over the years, from Anne Rice's Lestat to Stephanie Meyer's Edward Cullen. 

The Haunting of Hill House  by Shirley JacksonStephen King called the opening lines of The Haunting of Hill House some of the finest in the English language. Beyond fine writing, the rest of the book provides much for book groups to enjoy and discuss.  The story follows four characters as they spend a weekend in a notoriously haunted house, trying to understand its secrets. Book group discussion might focus on the two very different women in the novel or how the haunted house functions as a metaphor or whether or not the house is actually haunted or a figment of the unreliable narrator's mind. However, the most intriguing question may be this -- why does a book with hardly any blood, gore, or graphic violence scare the pants off so many readers? 

Different Seasons by Stephen KingNo list of great horror fiction would be complete without something from the modern master of the genre. However, selecting one his books for this list is difficult because many of them are very, very scary and many are very, very long. Different Seasons has a more dramatic and less terrifying feel, although there are a few dead bodies in it. It is also comprised of four novellas, so a book group might choose to read just one or two and discuss. Also, three of the four novellas have been made into movies -- most notably Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption -- which makes good fodder for a book club discussion. 

Rosemary's Baby by Ira LevinLike Shirley Jackson, Stephen King also admires the work of Ira Levin, whose works many know through their film adaptations, including The Stepford Wives, Sliver, A Kiss Before Dying, and his most famous work, Rosemary's Baby. While many may have seen the movie, perhaps fewer book clubbers will have read the book -- which has been hailed by critics as "perfectly crafted" and a "modern masterpiece."  Book clubs will want to discuss the naïve young housewife, her ambitious actor husband, and of course, the evil that lurks in the apartment next door -- as well as how the novels reflects the time it was published (1967) and why this story was so terrifying (and popular) then and now. 

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
Vampires, haunted houses, the occult -- what's missing from this list? ZOMBIES. Forget the mega blockbuster with Brad Pitt and an endless stream if CGI zombies pouring over that wall. Max Brook's novel takes the familiar idea the zombie apocalypse and brilliantly presents it in a framework of multiple accounts from various characters. This author uses the oral history format to comment on isolationism, corruption, science, and politics -- all things that book clubs will want to ring in on as well.

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Susan Brown took her first library job to earn beer money while in college. After several years in academic and government libraries, she finally found her true calling behind the reference and reader's advisory desk at a public library. She has an M.L.S. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has worked at libraries in Virginia, North Carolina, and Kansas. She is currently the Director at Chapel Hill Public Library in Chapel Hill NC and is passionate about readers' services, social media, and marketing and merchandising for public libraries Susan blogs about practical marketing for public libraries at 658.8 -- Practical Marketing for Public Libraries.