RA FOR ALL...THE ROAD SHOW!

I can come to your library, book club meeting, or conference to talk about how to help your readers find their next good read. Click here for more information including RA for All's EDI Statement and info about WHY I LOVE HORROR.

Becky's 2026 Why I Love Horror Book Appearances

[Page last updated July 28, 2026]

This is the place to find out where in the world you can find me on book specific appearances in 2026, if you dare! Please click here if you are looking for my library worker training appearances.

Reminder: if you are reading Why I Love Horror with your book club, I will appear for free virtually (in person if within 2 hours of Chicago) and may be able to bring one of the authors along with me. This offer is for both personal and library book clubs Contact me to set that up. 

Why I Love Horror is closing in on its first birthday but the appearance never stop. Literally. 

Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature, edited by me, got this starred review in Booklist magazine:

Book Cover-- a mottled gray and white background with a tall and long black figure with claw like hands. It is black and ominous with a tiny head, Not too scary, just ominous. on its left, it is holding the hand of a small black human figure who is leading it confidently. Overlaid is the title- WHY I LOVE HORROR (1 word per row). The letters are in a dark gray but the letters that overlap with the monster are in red. In the top right corner it says "Edited by Becky Siegel Spratford" And down in the bottom right in the space just above where the monster and figure are holding hands it says "Essays on Horror Literature."

“Horror isn’t just a genre, it’s a calling,” writes Sadie Hartmann in her introduction to this fine collection of essays that delves deep into the appeal of the macabre. Spratford, well-known in the library world as a horror expert, has gathered the most important voices in the genre today—Brian Keene, Stephen Graham Jones, Tananarive Due, and more—and invited them to respond to the simple titular prompt. The results are illuminating, moving, and inspiring. Many of the authors were scared kids or faced trauma (Cynthia Pelayo’s harrowing tale comes to mind) and found comfort in the monstrous. Gabino Iglesias reflects on his grandmother’s belief in ghosts and spirits. Alma Katsu, who worked for “a few three-lettered government agencies,” talks about what historical horror can teach us about the present. Nuzo Onoh describes how horror helped her escape the real-life terrors of the Biafran War. Rachel Harrison masterfully relates the terror of low-fat yogurt. Each essay is put into context with an introduction by Spratford, who, like a good librarian, also provides read-alikes for each author. A treasure trove for readers of horror, this collection will also serve as a useful readers’ advisory tool and may convince the horror-curious to give the genre a try. — Susan Maguire
The book was nominated for a Locus Award here and won the Bram Stoker Award for Long Nonfiction here. "My Long Road to Horror" by Tananarive Due also won for Short Nonfiction (same link).

I am out and about again to support the book and horror authors both in the book and not. Come see me at the places below. Registration links where applicable.
More events coming soon, including a scheduled in person visit to a class at Michigan University in December with a possible book store stop as well.

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