#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 93: Little Eve by Catriona Ward

This week I have a book that already has already proved itself but is now going to be widely available in America. A High-Demand author. I posted my STAR review on the main blog today as well.

More details below, but first a reminder on 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 92. Our winners were Iggi from Springfield-Greene County [MO] Library District and Tessa from Graves County [KY] Public Library.

I have the next book by Catriona Ward to giveaway. Details on the book itself from RA for All:

STAR REVIEW

Little Eve
Catriona Ward
Oct. 2022. 288p. Tor Nightfire, $27.99 (9781250812650); e-book, $14.99 (9781250812667). 
First published August 2022 (Booklist).

Ward is back but this time she presents a proven winner, the American release for her 2018 Shirley Jackson Award winning novel. Readers are whisked away to 1921, to an island, just off the coast of Scotland, with high cliffs and a reclusive family, as Dinah recounts the winter morning when the local butcher found her entire family laid out in ritualistic style, all but her dead. Immediately, Dinah’s sister, Evelyn is identified as the killer, but she has gone missing. Atmospheric from those opening lines, this disquieting story is unveiled through intertwined threads with Dinah narrating the story’s present and Evelyn from 1917. For the first 70 pages, the reader will squirm as the discomfort, characters, and plot slowly emerge, but as the details begin to come into horrifying focus and the time frames begin to converge, it is impossible to look away. And when that inevitable twist comes it is an disturbing gut punch, not because of the shock, but from the deeply unsettling ramifications that ripple out from its center. While its ties to Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle are strong, this psychological horror gem will also appeal to fans of creepy, character driven cult stories like Mr Splitfoot by Hunt and other new, original takes on the traditional Gothic such as Mexican Gothic by Moreanu-Garcia.

Further appeal. Here is a note I took immediately after finishing this book: "An excellent, twisty, Gothic but Ward excels at how she unfolds the "truth for the reader." The "past" of the story [1917 and forward] and the "present" [1921 and forward]  slowly converge with two perspectives: Dinah and Evelyn. And of course there is a twist, this is a Ward novel. But it is not the twist that is the gut punch, it is the emotional, gut wrenching ramification that ripple out from the center of the twist that makes this a STAR review." 

This book was deeply unsettling. It took a little to get into it, to get the background details and the voices of the two narratives and to get settled into the place, but once I did, I could not stop reading.

Again, the "twist" is there, but that alone wasn't why it is good. What the twist as meant over the decades tat followed the main action, that is where the story has its emotional center. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: dual time frames, Gothic, atmospheric.

Readalikes: The three above in the review plus, The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks, Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed, The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling, A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay and really any Shirley Jackson nominee or winner. It is one of my favorite awards to use as a readalike resource. 

My ARC is going to one lucky winner, courtesy of Tor Nightfire.

Remember, you enter once and you are entered going forward. I have big tittles coming every week!

#Horror For Libraries Giveaway 92: The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias x2

Today, I have 2 copies of one of the hottest books of the year. I wrote about it on the main blog here Tuesday. I have 1 signed paperback ARC and 1 finished hardcover.

More details below, but first a reminder on 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 91. Our winner was Liz from Lee County [FL] Library System. 

On to today. I gave over an entire day of the blog to the release day of The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias on 8/2. You can click through for the entire post, but here is the start of what I had to say:

I review books well in advance of their release, but sometimes there are books that I need to tell you about before they come out and then on release day. The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias, out today, is one of those books.

I cannot say enough superlative things about this book, but I am also aware that it is hard to read. There is serious violence here, but it is not gratuitous. In fact, everything brutal that happens has a reason in the story. And then there is the fact that it is a story about those who live on the margins-- literally. Life is hard and violent; thus, to portray these characters with any truth, it cannot be sunshine and roses.

I have much more to share in detail below from my detailed Goodreads review. It contains the draft of my LJ Star review, a link to that review, a link to an interview with Iglesias which I did for the June issue of the magazine, and more.

Before I repost all of that information, I need to say this. There are books that I read, often before anyone else, that I know are something special, and I am among the first to officially make note of it in print. This happened when I read The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones and The Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay. Both went on to win many awards, and not just Horror ones.

This year I have felt that about 2 books and only 2 books. The Pallbearers Club by Paul Tremblay and this one, The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias. 

I am not saying this to brag about myself, rather to make you understand that I know what I am talking about when I tell you a book is going to be special.

I am sure many of you already pre-ordered The Devil Takes You Home, but I want you to promote it to the right readers. I am here to help with today's post, so you can know all about this hot book without having to read it yourself.

Click here to read the full post from Tuesday including a detailed review of this amazing book.

I think that post says all you need to know. And now you can enter now to win one of two copies. The first number I draw, that person gets the signed ARC and the second, the finished hardcover.

Thanks to Gabino for the signed ARC and Mulholland for the Hard Cover.

Enter now and you are entered going forward. And coming up....2 huge titles from the Booklist SF/F/H spotlight [August issue] that I gave STARS.

Good luck.

#Horror for Libraries Giveaway #91: One of Becky's Favorite Space Horror Titles Back in Print

Today, I have a new edition of one of my favorite space horror titles-- ever! You cannot miss this one. 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 90. Our winner was Verónica from Robbins [MA] Library. 

The Hematophages by Steve Kozeniewski ranks right up there with The Luminous Dead by Starling and just ahead of Dead Silence by Barnes as my favorite space horror of this century. This is high praise I know, but  I am not exaggerating. It is fantastic!

Read my review here.

A new edition has just been released that not only contains the novel, but also has the prequel novella Skinwrapper [my review of that is here]

I asked the author to send me a paperback just so I could give it away to one of you. This is a finished copy that you can add to your collections, but I highly suggest ALL of you check out all of Kozeniewski's work here.

I want to make sure you know about this book and the author.

I also LOVED his original haunted house tale [co written with Wile E. Young] The Perfectly Fine House. I reviewed it for Library Journal [June 2020], but in case you missed it, here is my draft review.

Enter today to win this copy, and go to Amazon and order this book and others by Kozeniewski to add to your collection. 

Remember if you enter once you are entered going forward and NEXT WEEK I will have 2 copies of one of the hottest releases of summer. It comes out 8/2/22. I already gave it a star. And I have a Hard Cover and an ARC. I will have news on why the ARC is unique [info from the author himself]. So get in NOW!

Finally, if you want more space horror recs, click here.

#HorrorForLibraries giveaway 90: Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman

Today I have a huge fall release, a title I gave a star to in the latest issue of Booklist, a book you need, a book you can win 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 89. Our winner was Alexa from Amherst [NH] Town Library. 

Now on to today's giveaway courtesy of Quirk Books and it features current Summer Scares author, Clay McLeod Chapman's upcoming release. I have read and reviewed his 2 previous Horror novels and while I liked all of them, I did not give them stars. This one though, this one is all STARS. From RA for All earlier this week:

Ghost Eaters

Clay McLeod Chapman

Sept. 2022. 304p. Quirk, $21.99 (9781683692171); e-book, $12.99  (9781683692188). 
First published July 2022 (Booklist).

Erin, Silas, Tobias, and Amara are best friends living in Richmond, VA. While three of them have begun their adult lives, Silas, their ringleader and Erin’s on-again, off-again partner, has been in and out of rehab. After Silas is found dead of an overdose, the group learns that he discovered a drug that allowed him to see the dead. Erin, wanting one more chance to see Silas, takes the pill and begins a descent into a squirm inducing world filled with desperate souls, wandering ghosts, and inescapable nightmares. Told entirely from Erin’s point of view, this is an original story of being physically haunted, but it is also depicts the true horrors of addiction. Is Erin an addict or is she actually surrounded by ghosts who want a taste of the drug that is taking over her body? Either way, Chapman has created an experience so anxiety inducing, immersive, and intense that readers will feel like something is actually there, lurking over their shoulder, as they turn the pages. A great choice for fans of A Head Full of Ghosts by Tremblay, Mexican Gothic by Moreno-Garcia, and the addiction horror anthologies edited by Matthews.

Three Words That Describe this Book: high anxiety, addiction, original twist on haunting

Further Appeal: This is an intense book. Really intense, but in a good way if you like Horror. As I was finishing it up, I was contemplating if it would get a star or not, and then I realized as I was reading it, I felt like there were ghosts everywhere, surrounding me, the claustrophobia and anxiety of the story was intruding upon my real life. As I realized this, I was like, well if that doesn't merit a star nothing does.

This is the story of what it means to be haunted, how the ghosts haunt a person not a place. That is terrifying on its own, but it is also a realistic depiction of the horrors of addiction. You can take this book on reality based face value that Erin is an addict who is too deep into her dependence to stay connected to the real world OR you can take it as the "Ghost" drug she is addicted to really does allow her to see and attract the ghosts surrounding her, us, everywhere we go. Either way it works-- this is also why it is a star-- and why it reminds me a lot of Paul Tremblay's work because this is what he does with every novel.

Readlaikes: Besides Tremblay in general and the specific readalikes above, there is an awesome list of books Chapman read for this book-- lots of excellent and related fiction choices. This is not just a research list; he lists a lot of novels that inspired him. 

Enter now for your chance to win this advanced copy, but everyone, make sure you ordered at least 1 copy of this book for your collection. And I mean everyone. Libraries of any size need this book. 

The Vampire Chronicles: Experts Weigh in On Literature’s Best Vampires

I wanted to pass on this article, "The Vampire Chronicles: Experts Weigh in On Literature's Best Vampires" via Paste.

I love seeing academics tackle the Horror genre. Vampires, in particular, are important tropes across all of human storytelling and deserve to be studied more deeply.

Click here to read it in full.

While I LOVE seeing Bunnicula on this list, I also wanted to share the three titles I chose as "Becky's Picks" in the Vampires chapter of my book. These are 21st Century must reads. Links go to more information.

• In the Valley of the Sun, Andy Davidson
• The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix
• Certain Dark Things, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway #89: 2 Books by Fierce Woman Horror Writers

Today I have 2 books, both by decorated and award winning female Horror authors. And get in on the giveaway now because starting next week I have some of the BIGGEST titles of the Fall coming at you. 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 88. Our winner was Mike from Scottsdale [AZ]  Public Library. 

Now on to this week's giveaway, which is another 2-fer like last week.

First I have an ARC of a small press release by an author I know you know. The book is already out, but you may have missed it. The Girl Who Outgrew The World by Zoje Stage. Details:

When precocious eleven-year-old Lilly undergoes an inexplicable and startling growth spurt, her father and doctors decide to take drastic action to curb what they see as a dangerous development. Faced with condescending treatment and cruelty, Lilly escapes and embarks on a journey to discover her true self. Zoje Stage's new novella is a parable for how patriarchy treats the female body (and, by extension, the female mind and soul) and the objectification of girls.

This is a must add to all collections as Stage is very popular. 

Stage was nominated for the Bram Stoker for her first novel, Baby Teeth. Since then she has really broken out into the mainstream. But another author who was nominated for and has won the Stoker for first novel is EV Knight. That novel was The Fourth Whore.

Knight's latest is Three Days in the Pink Tower and I have a finished copy to help you add her to your collection immediately. Details on this title:

Josey Claypool begins the summer before her senior year at a carnival, where a fortune teller with milky-white eyes gives her a foreboding tarot reading. She’s spooked, but nothing could prepare her for the following day when two strange men show up at her front door.

Josey is kidnapped at gunpoint and brought to a pink cabin in the woods where she is held prisoner. In her darkest moment, the fortune teller appears and gives her a deck of tarot cards, which she must cast and interpret in a fight for her life.

In this work of speculative autofiction, award-winning author EV Knight reclaims the narrative of her own past in an exploration of trauma, agency, and survival.

Knight's work is getting a lot of critical attention, but because she is still mostly in the indie press world, you may not know about her. Why not fix that and add some of her titles to your collections now? 

Enter by 5pm on Friday for this giveaway and you are entered going forward until you win. Think that is a lie? Last week's winner Mike, he entered back in April of 2020, when I began these giveaways.

Here's a preview of what is coming the next few weeks to sweeten the pot:

• Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman
• The Devil Takes You Home [Hard Cover] by Gabino Iglesias
• The Hollow Kind by Andy Davidson [2 winners]
• Wayward by Chuck Wendig
• Blood Country by Jonathan Janz
• ...and more!

#HorrorForLibraries Giveaway 88: A Raw Dog Screaming Press 2-fer

Today I have 2 finished copies from one of my favorite independent publishers, one I have reviewed and is already out and the other, by an author I recently got to know and whose work I LOVE. I will help you her  on your radar ASAP. 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 87. Our winner three winners were, Veronica from Wheaton [IL] Public Library, Hamelin from New Bern-Craven County [NC] Public Library, and Kayla from Mississippi  Library Commission. 

Now on to this week's giveaway, which is for two books going to one lucky winner.

First, I am giving away Blood Mountain by Brenda S. Tolian. You can read more about this book including my Booklist draft review in this post from last month. I really enjoyed this book. It will have wide appeal, and as I wrote here, I was impressed. Perfect for fans of Horror that is rooted in a very real place. And that cover! You can use it for displays. 

Second is an author I had the pleasure of virtually meeting Eugen Bacon, as she was one of this year's recipients of the HWA's Diversity Grant. An African Australian writer of speculative fiction, Bacon's work stretches the boundaries of speculative fiction and I want to explore all of them.

Bacon's work has already been critically acclaimed, nominated for major prizes, and appeared in major speculative fiction magazines. Go to her website for all of the details.

Her debut collection, Chasing Whispers, is being released on September 8, 2022, but I have a finished copy for your library to add right now. As Bacon explains this collection herself, "In Chasing Whispers,  I sought to write a collection of mostly original stories, transformative black speculative fiction of culture, diversity, unlimited futures, a collision of worlds and mythology."

From the Goodreads description:

Chasing Whispers is a unique Afro-irrealist collection of Black speculative fiction in transformative stories of culture, longing, hybridity, unlimited futures, a collision of worlds and folklore. It contains 13 stories, 11 of which are original, with a commanding introduction by D. Harlan Wilson. The collection is aligned with the themes of Eugen Bacon’s other fiction, and her recognition in the honor list of the 2022 Otherwise Fellowships for “doing exciting work in gender and speculative fiction.”

Chasing Whispers casts a gaze at mostly women and children haunted by patriarchy, in stories packed with affection, dread, anguish and hope. The connecting theme is a black protagonist with a deep longing for someone, someplace, something… and a recurring phrase in each story: “a deep and terrible sadness.”

I received this book to late to give it an official review in Booklist or Library Journal, but I am telling you all now. This is a collection you will want to have. Bacon is an amazing, evocative, and immersive writer. I got lost in the worlds she creates in these 13 stories easily and completely. I was not surprised by this at all though. As the person who produced the Meet the Diversity Grant panel recording for this year's StokerCon [details here], Bacon had me hooked already. And again...look at that cover. It will do all of the work for itself on any display.

Please remember, all Raw Dog Screaming Press titles are great for library collections. They have fantastic covers, hold up to multiple checkouts, contain high quality prose,-- well edited, yes, but also fun to read-- and they have easy distribution to libraries through Ingram. You should check out their catalog right now.

In the meantime, enter to win this 2 pack of excellent titles you can add to your collections immediately. Remember, when you enter once, you are entered going forward, forever, until you win. And let me tell you, you want to be entered going forward. I have some HUGE titles to give away in the coming weeks. 

Good luck.