#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 73: The Lake of the Dead

This week's #HorrorForLibraries giveaway features a book that is consistently voted one of the best EVER by Norwegian readers. Details 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 #72.. Our winner was Holly from Kentucky. Now on to today's giveaway.

Lake of the Dead by Andre Bjerke is a Norwegian classic and it is now available for the first time in an American edition courtesy of one of my favorite small publishers for libraries-- Valancourt Books. I reviewed this title in the January issue of Library Journal. Below is my draft review with extra commentary from Goodreads:

Three Words That Describe This Book: translation, mystery-ghost story hybrid, compellingly creepy

Draft Review: Norwegians’ consistently list titles by Fossum, Nesbo, and this 1942 classic in the top three of their all time favorties. Werner, a young scholar, disappeared while investigating a sensational murder from over 100 yrs before. Now, a year later, his sister, and his friends-- a psychologist, an occult specialist, a stage actress, and our narrator, a mystery novelist and private detective-- plan a trip to the haunted lake hoping to find him. Written with an enticing first person narration, directly addressing the reader, and with chapter titles like, “ In which a madman's diary is presented,” it is as if Bjerke is daring readers to put the novel down, a herculean task once started. This forgotten classic, with an excellent, new translation, allows the creepy setting, menacing tone, and very real danger of this compelling and engaging story to shine in all its 1940s glory for a modern audience.

Verdict: While some of the views on women are a bit outdated here, they are directly addressed in the excellent introduction, leaving room for this title to appeal to a huge swath of readers from fans of Yrsa Sigurðardóttir or Anthony Horowitz, to atmospheric Horror-Mystery hybrids by Cynthia Pelayo or Simone St. James.

Extra info: Great, accesible translation of a book that in Norway is consistently in the top 3 of favorite books by Norwegians coming in only behind Nesbo and Fossum! Originally published in 1942. Never available in an American edition.

Out dated notions of women but it is 1942! The translation makes it shine in all of its glory though. Captures the voice well. 

Super creepy and atmospheric, mystery-ghost story hybrid, compelling pace. I especially loved the titles for each chapter which are a leading statement to get you to just read one more chapter. For ex.. "Chapter 5: In which a madman's diary is presented." Who could resist one more chapter with that hanging over you. 

Reads like a 1940s mystery-- ala Agatha Christie with a strong first person narration by the investigator who is a crime fiction writer. The book breaks the 4th wall often. A

I really enjoyed being immersed in the 1940s feel but the super creepy lake house and the menacing tone, and VERY REAL danger, were not outdated in anyway. 

Readers of mysteries like those by Anthony Horowitz will enjoy this and of course Nordic Noir fans. Especially fans of Yrsa Sigurðardóttir. But also light horror like Alma Katsu's THE DEEP

Order a copy for your library today and good luck!

Thanks to Valancourt for providing this ARC for the giveaway.

2022 Summer Scares Title Announcement

Click here for the full Summer Scares
Resource Page

In celebration of National Library Lover’s Day, the Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist, is delighted to announce the fourth annual Summer Scares reading list, which includes titles selected by a panel of authors and librarians and is designed to promote Horror as a great reading option for all ages and during any time of the year.

Every year, three titles are selected in each of three categories: Adult, Young Adult, and Middle Grade. For 2022 the selected titles are:

ADULT:

• Coyote Songs by Gabino Iglesias [Broken River Books, 2018]
• My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris [Fantagraphics, 2017]
• The Remaking by Clay McLeod Chapman [Quirk Books, 2019]

YA:

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare [HarperTeen, 2020]The Companion by Kate Alender [G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2020]Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams [Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2020]

MIDDLE GRADE:

The Forgotten Girl by India Hill Brown [Scholastic Press, 2019]Scary Stories for Young Foxes by Christian McKay Heidicker [Henry Holt and Co., 2019]Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne [Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2020]

"I'm thrilled with the selection of books and authors chosen by the Summer Scares programming committee for this year's program,” said 2022 spokesperson Alma Katsu, “and look forward to working with librarians to introduce these great titles to more readers."

The goal of Summer Scares is to introduce Horror titles to school and public library workers in order to help them start conversations with readers that will extend beyond the books from each list and promote reading for years to come. In addition to the annual list of recommended titles, the Summer Scares committee will release themed lists of even more “read-alike” titles libraries can suggest to readers. And, in order to help libraries forge stronger connections between books and readers, the Summer Scares committee will be working with both the recommended list authors and Horror authors from all over the country to provide free programming to libraries. 

The Summer Scares Programming Guide, created each year by the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library, and free for libraries anywhere to access, is back with the tools libraries need to connect with their communities. 

“The 2022 guide is packed with ideas that library workers can use to engage their communities with these great titles, whether they're putting up book displays, hosting author events, or planning an entire Summer Scares program series,” states Konrad Stump, co-creator of the programming guide. 

This year’s programming guide will also feature an article by Yaika Sabat from NoveList, a new Summer Scares partner. 

“NoveList is working to highlight the program through the creation of booklists, recommendations, and even some promotional material,” notes Sabat.

Sabat, Stump, Katsu, and many of our Summer Scares 2022 authors will be appearing along with committee members Becky Spratford and Julia Smith as part of the HWA’s Librarians’ Day, taking place in person on May 13, 2022, at the Curtis Hotel in Denver, CO, during this year’s StokerCon. Summer Scares content will be available live, in person, and as part of our virtual conference, as well as on the HWA’s YouTube page.

The HWA is a non-profit organization of writers and publishing professionals, and the oldest organization dedicated to the horror/dark fiction genre. One of the HWA’s missions is to foster an appreciation of reading through extensive programming and partnerships with libraries, schools, and literacy-based organizations.

The 2022 Summer Scares program committee consists of author Alma Katsu, HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump, as well as Academic Librarian Carolyn Ciesla, Book Riot Editor and YA specialist Kelly Jensen, and Booklist Editor and Middle Grade specialist Julia Smith. 

For more information about the Summer Scares reading program, including committee member bios and how to obtain promotional materials and schedule events with the authors/committee members, please visit The Summer Scares Resource page: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html or email HWA Library Committee Co-Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump at libraries@horror.org. 

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 72: Manhunt

This week's #HorrorForLibraries giveaway features a book that is about to explode into the world. The new gold standard for the band of survivors Zombie Apocalypse tale. Details 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 #71. Our winner was Jessica from the Elizabeth Titus Memorial [IL] Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

I don't think I have enough superlatives for Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin or it's cover out 2/22/22.

I gave this novel a STAR review in Library Journal which because it is a STAR you all can read it for free here or below:

Beth and Fran are in the woods, on the run from monsters, both those created by a virus that turns any human with enough testosterone into a zombie-esque creature and an organized group of TERFS, led by a woman who could go toe-to-toe with Negan from The Walking Dead who rules with a violent brand of anti-trans, feminist hate. Beth and Fran are not helpless however, they are skilled hunters, seeking the valuable, estrogen rich testicles of the infected men, to bring back to their friend, Indi, a doctor who is distilling E for medicinal purposes. So begins this compelling, fast paced, and tense post-apocalyptic tale of a band of survivors, fighting off villains and struggling to find safety, featuring stellar world building and complex, fully developed characters. The original frame, a testosterone driven plague, opens the door for Felker-Martin to probe the popular zombie trope while simultaneously centering the experience of trans men and women. The result, a sensual, tender, honest, and inspirational story of imperfect but well meaning people banding together in an attempt to not only survive but thrive.

Verdict: Manhunt confidently plants a flag declaring its place as one of the great zombie, band of survivor tales, right beside 21st Century, thought provoking, and action packed classics such as The Rising by Keene, Zone One by Whitehead, and the Newsflesh series by Grant, period.

Three Words That Describe This Book: band of survivors, thought provoking, action packed

I hope I make it clear here that this book is violent. But surviving a world where men have become monsters cannot be without violence. Survival is not pretty. Nor are the awful, human monsters.

But this book is also so tender and sweet in ways that are honest. These are survivors who want to live, at any cost.

Many will try to say bad things about this book because of its violence or its focus on trans characters. Others have tried to find fault with the author herself, an outspoken and publicly trans woman who shares her thoughts and feelings, no matter how controversial, openly.

All of those haters are wrong. This is a spectacular book. If you like band of survivors, apocalypse stories, especially those with zombies, you will love this novel. And the way Felker-Martin introduces the menace makes her centering of the trans experience NOT a gimmick in any way, it is literally a direct consequence of a testosterone driven virus and the TERFs who more evil than the men who have been turned into zombie like creatures. It's brilliant.

The only problem with this giveaway  [courtesy of Nightfire] is that my advanced copy was so advanced that it only has a plain yellow cover. So sorry for no awesome cover. But it is still the same great read. and I will send it to one lucky winner.

Good luck.

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 71: The Final Chapter of Gwendy's Tale

This week's #HorrorForLibraries giveaway features a book by NYT Best selling authors Stephen King and Richard Chizmar, the final book in a trilogy which also closes a loop in another series. Details 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 #70. Our winner was Ashley from Washington District [IL] Library. Now on to today's giveaway.

The final book in the Gwendy's Button Box Trilogy by Richard Chizmar and Stephen King is coming out on 2/15/22 and I have an ARC courtesy of Chizmar to give away to you. 

This series is an excellent, sure bet option for fans of ominous Dark Fantasy or Atmospheric Horror. Watching Gwendy grow over the course of the 3 books, and seeing how the path to the end was clearly laid out in the first book, has been fascinating. The evil is real, the threat is not overstated, but Gwendy herself has needed to become a fully realized version of herself in order to meet the challenge. We needed the three books to get her there.

Real quick though, to catch everyone up, here is my review of Gwendy's Button Box and my review of Gwendy's Magic Feather. And here is the publisher summary for Gwendy's Final Task:

When Gwendy Peterson was twelve, a mysterious stranger named Richard Farris gave her a mysterious box for safekeeping. It offered treats and vintage coins, but it was dangerous. Pushing any of its seven colored buttons promised death and destruction.

Years later, the button box entered Gwendy’s life again. A successful novelist and a rising political star, she was once again forced to deal with the temptation that box represented.

Now, evil forces seek to possess the button box and it is up to Senator Gwendy Peterson to keep it from them. At all costs. But where can you hide something from such powerful entities? 

In Gwendy’s Final Task, “horror giants” (Publishers Weekly)Stephen King and Richard Chizmar take us on a journey from Castle Rock to another famous cursed Maine city to the MF-1 space station, where Gwendy must execute a secret mission to save the world. And, maybe, all worlds. 

Looking back at my older reviews and the upcoming title I will say the tone also has an increase that is realistic. So while the first book was sinister but somehow still sweet, the next book was eerie, and now this one is fairly terrifying. 

Chizmar and King have worked very hard to fit these books in King's mythos [and here in particular to The Dark Tower Series in a nice surprise], so that uber fans will be overjoyed. However, the touch is light and this trilogy is completely enjoyable on its own. You do not need to be in the know to enjoy it for what it is-- a well rendered and satisfying series that will bring readers joy for years to come. And that last point is important-- this will have fans for years to come.

Enter now for your own ARC and get ready for Gwendy.

HWA's Statement on Maus and Other Banned Books

 

Statement on Maus and Other Banned Books The Horror Writers Association condemns banning books in no uncertain terms. We believe authors need to be able to tell their stories without fear of reprisal. The banning of “Maus” in a Tennessee school district, which was done on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, is nothing less than censorship and anti-Semitism. "Maus'' is not the first text to be excluded from school libraries. Recently, LGBTQ+ texts have been banned in a Washington state school district, and many other books by authors of color have been censored in districts across America. These are chilling examples of censorship, racism, anti-Semitism, and white washing. We all need to be more vocal each and every time this happens. These actions set a dangerous precedent in a free society. They cannot and should not be tolerated. The HWA condemns all attempts at censorship, particularly these obvious attempts of the establishment to silence marginalized voices. We urge you to speak out in your local communities against such autocratic tactics that not only threaten our creative community but also make our world less safe. Signed, The HWA's Officers and Board of Trustees

COME CELEBRATE MIDDLE GRADE HORROR ALONGSIDE THE HORROR WRITERS ASSOCIATION via Tor NIghfire

This is the title of a great article about the current state of Middle Grade Horror by Ally Russell on the Tor Nightfire Blog. Click here to read it.

Also don't forget, the Summer Scares program where we have 3 years (soon to be 4) of 3 Middle Grade [and adult and YA] vetted horror tiles that are perfect for all Horror library collections. 

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 70: Two Books in One Shot

This week's #HorrorForLibraries giveaway features two books. One, a novel I reviewed in the January issue of  Library Journal and one, a story collection  by one of the hottest voices in Horror right now. Details 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 #69. Our winner was Tracy from Lincoln [NE] City Libraries. Now on to today's giveaway.

First up, The Doloriad by Missouri Williams, a debut novel. From my Library Journal draft review as posted on Goodreads here:

A climate disaster has wiped out civilization and poisoned the land. The Matriarch and her brother have tried to restart humanity, on the edge of a ruined city, but now two generations into an incestuously created family, things are looking worse, not better. In the hopes of connecting with other survivors, the Matriarch sends out her legless, mute daughter Delores, as a marriage offering. However, after Delores rolls herself back home, all semblance order begins to unravel, except for the constant in their lives-- an old TV show, Get Aquinas In Here, featuring the medieval Saint facing ethical dilemmas. This disquieting story of survival meant to evoke a visceral and uncomfortable reaction in the reader is enhanced further by an eerily detached omniscient narration, revealing intimate and depraved details, and an uneasy physical layout of long unbroken paragraphs. Nods to human storytelling traditions from the Old Testament to Greek Epics to Shakespearre anchor this shocking tale to a terrifyingly possible near future.

Verdict: While not for everyone, this deeply unsettling, odd story will have readers alternating between overwhelming disgust and an inability to stop thinking about what it all means. Fans of critically acclaimed, macabre tales like Tinfoil Butterfly by Moulton and The Seventh Mansion by Meijer will find a kindred spirit here.

Three words that describe this book: macabre, shocking, deeply unsettling

This title comes out on March 1, 2022. This copy is an ARC courtesy of the publisher MCDxFSG Originals. 

The second title is a book I bought with my own money, The Strange Thing We Become: And Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca. Click here to read my friend and colleague, Emily Vinci's Star Library Journal review of this collection. 

I am about to start reading LaRocca's upcoming book for review in the April issue of Library Journal and he just made the Stoker Preliminary Ballot for his novella, Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, so I was thinking about this collection already. But why give away my personal copy? Well, because this edition is now out of print as a new edition from a larger publisher is going to be put out soon. If I want libraries to add LaRocca's books, I have to hand mine over. 

This is a finished copy and I am urging the winner to add it to their collection.

Good luck to all.