Summer Scares Updates Just in Time for Us to Open in Wide Release

Summer Scares is going strong. Starting soon we will have 3 episodes on the Ladies of the Fright podcast featuring committee members discussing the program and the specific titles by age group category. You should subscribe now to have these episodes show up automatically in your podcast feed. And while you are waiting for the first Summer Scares episode to drop, listen to their last episode- a conversation with Victor LaValle.

For general Summer Scares info I have this very detailed resource page available at all times here, but basically, Summer Scares is all about reminding library workers that horror makes a good read all year long-- not just in October and/or not just for weirdos.

And especially for kids. I talk about why horror is a great read for kids despite the fact that giving it to kids makes parents a bit nervous [not this parent, but others] in this interview [also available on that resource page]. 

The program is all about a panel of library experts suggesting titles that are excellent reads for a wide range of leisure readers from middle grade to adult. We have included suggested titles that range from literary to pulp to novels to short stories to graphic novels. We literally have it all!

We also know that once you give out the suggested titles [click here for those], we are confident you will have people clamoring for more, so we are creating more lists of recommended reads all of the time. Enough to keep you filled up with horror suggestions all year long. And trust me, you will need them starting today when all of your patrons come in looking for more books like Us.

Our focus is on "Summer" because that is when we see the biggest uptick in leisure reading among all of our patrons. So we will have lists you can turn into book marks, interviews with authors for your websites and social media [see below for the first 2], and lists upon lists upon lists. Again, there is already a lot of information on the resource page.

But the second component of the Summer Scares program is that for those libraries that want programming, we will help to facilitate an author visit to your library. Because we have the support of the entire Horror Writers Association behind us, we can help with programming as well as reading suggestions.

So watch this blog for more updates of resources, and start using them today. Don't wait for Summer. Your patrons aren't waiting. They are lining up to see a horror movie this very weekend.

And always remember, as I always say-- your horror readers aren't monsters, they just like to read about them.

Newly added to the Resources Page:

• "Teen Screams: YA Horror for Every Kind of Reader": 3/19/19 in SLJ by committee member Kelly Jensen

• Committee member Grady Hendrix gave our selected authors the same 6 questions. See their answers to get a sense of the personalities behind the books. Feel free to use these interviews on your websites, social media, and with patrons to supplement the Summer Scares Program:
• Stephen Graham Jones
• Daniel Kraus
• More coming soon....