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Wednesday, July 8, 2020

My 2020 Horror Genre Preview in Library Journal

Each year I write up a big preview of the second half of the year's horror offerings for Library Journal. This is a list of titles chosen by me that I feel are worth adding to most public library collections.

I am extremely happy with this piece and so excited about the excellent participation I had from a variety of authors and editors. I have organized the titles into categories to make it easier for you to understand the genre's current trends and landscape, and included quotes from those involved in the industry to help you place it all in context.

One of my favorite quotes is from debut author John Fram, author of The Bright Lands, [review here]. From the article:

Fram brings a real-world perspective to his love of horror, noting, “When I began work on The Bright Lands, I only knew...it would feature a queer hero returning to a hometown that terrified him.... I didn’t even realize I was writing a horror novel until a monster started whispering in people’s dreams and a strange pit loomed at the limits of everyone’s perception.” According to Fram, horror is experiencing a renaissance, with some of the most mind-bending and diverse stories coming out over the last five years. “It’s a trend I don’t see stopping anytime soon,” Fram says. “We live in a gaslit era, a time when straight, white society is finally being visited by the fears and uncertainties that the rest of us have been battling all our lives. Horror seems ready to tell us that yes, things really are more terrifying than you could have imagined.... What a time to be alive.”

This year I also asked Adam Cesare, author of one of the buzziest titles of the Summer, Clown in a Cornfield, to contribute to the coverage with a piece about his popular YouTube channel where, among other things, he matches books with movies.

His companion piece is entitled, "Reading with Horror Movies," and you can use it immediately to match movies and books with readers. It is available with this link or in the middle of my article with its own link inserted there.

There is also a PDF list of every title I mentioned with publication dates and ISBNs at the end of the article

So without further ado... here it is or click the image below.


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