RA for All is Off for Yom Kippur

There is no post here today as I am off and not online at all today.

31 Days of Horror did automatically post however. 

Click here to read why Nat Cassidy loves horror.

Getting Ready for the Spookiest Month With Me in People Magazine Online

31 Days of Horror will begin this week, I would like to get us ready here with some baby steps today by sharing the conversation between Alma Katsu and myself that People Magazine published yesterday.

You can read our piece-- Why Horror is Having a Moment? Authors Alma Katsu and Becky Spratford Break it Down Here. From the intro:

In their conversation, the horror-lovers sat down to discuss exactly why horror has made its way onto readers' bookshelves worldwide, and how the genre has evolved over the last decade.

Yes, I was a part of this, but that is not the reason I am sharing it. I am posting it here because having this conversation about horror and its current best authors (not just King and Hill) in a mainstream magazine, with a huge reach, a place that does not only talk about books and reading, a place that is not "literary," all of this means horror is really entering the mainstream conversation. It's not just that more people are reading it, more people are talking about it.

By the way, we talk about Horror for teens and kids as well. So pass this on to your YS staff,

This conversation came out of Alma wanting to take the conversations the two if us have had for years (going back to when she was the Summer Scares spokesperson in 2022).

This is part of a larger argument I have written about many times-- Use the Resources Our Readers Use. From the beginning of that post:

Too often we library workers who help leisure readers get too caught up in the weeds of the book world, only reading and checking the most bookish of resources as we try to stay up to date on the newest books and trends.

But here's the thing we need to remember, our readers are not looking at book specific sites for book info, rather, most of them are identifying titles from the places where they already are visiting and/or reading that also happen to have book coverage.

So listening to NPR, reading their local papers, watching morning news shows, and places like People Magazine-- which just had this list of their Best Books of June 2024. 

Actually, People Magazine is the best example of today's reminder post. They have solid book coverage on their site and in their print magazine-- both of which are very popular with a wide swath of American readers. 

People was one of my examples, but the point remains-- using the resources our readers are consulting in their daily lives and noting their books coverage will help you help them.

This is huge for Horror. We are having a conversation about the genre as it is RIGHT NOW. Not the old authors of the past. Not Stephen King. There is a vibrancy in the genre that people like Alma and myself know and we want to share it.

Getting this conversation into a mainstream-- non book specific-- publication means the conversation will spread outside of bookish circles this coming October. My book tour and the national coverage it is receiving (my NYPL event was listed in the NYT last week as well...gift link here) will continue the conversation.

That was always the goal of this book. To spotlight what horror is today and get the authors and the titles and the very best of horror right now out to as many people as possible. It is working. But I need your help. Please use this article to start your Horror displays now. Please use the 18 authors in my book and their 18 readlikes as the base of your displays. DO NOT put out Stephen King. Remember my rules about book displays-- we are here to show people the books they could not find without our help.

Valentines For Anti-Book Censorship Advocates via Kelly Jensen

At the beginning of the year I had a post entitled, "We are Terrible at Communicating Who We Are, What We Do, and Why-- Make a Commitment to do Better in 2025." I gave a few examples where you could go to find some help with this task. One of those was from Kelly Jensen in an article over at Book Riot entitled, "How to Explain Book Bans to Those Who Want to Understand." 

I used Jensen's piece to remind all of us how we spend too much time trying to counter those who attack us and not nearly enough time communicating exactly what is going on to the vast majority of library users (and actually the vast majority of Americans) who support the freedom to read. It happens to me all of the time. People who know I am in the field ask me to explain what is going on to them. They don't understand, don't realize how bad it is, and when they find out what is going on, they are shocked and want to help.

That's where Jensen's advice comes into play. We all have our known supporters, those patrons who are always thanking us for everything we do, not to mention our Friends of the Library groups. Why not use Valentine's Day to give our supporters and way they can show their appreciation and give back at the same time?

That's exactly what Jensen did in her newsletter this week as she made some ironic and cheeky Valentine's cards that you can share with your supporters and encourage them to pass on. She also included a link to the post I mentioned above as well as two more helpful posts meant to help our patrons support us. Now, the next time someone asks you what they can do to help, you have somewhere to point them.

Please note, the credit for all of the Valentines goes to Kelly Jensen herself. I have linked each to her newsletter where they first appeared. Please click through to grab them and consider signing up to get her newsletter in your inbox as well.

Below is the full post with permission to repost from Jensen.

Valentines For Anti-Book Censorship Advocates

I remember a phone call with another anti-book censorship advocate way back in the early days of the current wave. I’d had this idea to make some slightly snarky, facts-driven Valentines to educate people on what was truly going on.

The idea didn’t come to fruition then and that’s probably for good. Now that we have such a better handle on the realities of book censorship and on the ongoing attacks against public institutions of democracy like libraries and schools, the information that such a project could convey is clearer and more direct.

In lieu of a longer newsletter this week–the roundup from last week’s anti-library, pro-book banning bills being floated across the US was a big, heavy lift–let’s celebrate the season of love with a reminder of how love requires effort and action to remain.

Feel free to share these however you’d like. I’ve noted both the newsletters where I cover book censorship information, my personal one here and my work one, Literary Activism, over on Book Riot. Three specific posts were useful in crafting these messages, as they are perhaps a starter kit for anyone interested in learning more about the realities of censorship and library attacks today:

• How to Explain Book Bans to People Who Want To Understand

• You’re Wrong About These Common Myths About Book Banning

• 56 Small Tasks to Be Proactive Against Book Censorship This Year

Don't miss what's next. Subscribe to Well Sourced by Kelly Jensen:

Winter Solstice and the Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories on the Darkest Night of the Year [also included-- end of year blog schedule]

Tomorrow is the Winter Solstice-- the darkest night of the year-- and there is a tradition of reading Ghost Stories to go with that.

I have posted about it here before and shared this series of books-- Seth's Christmas Ghost Stories published by Biblioasis. I have those posts below, but also, check out this STAR review I did last year of Ellen Datlow's Winter Solstice Horror anthology. t just came out in paperback.

Lila over at Passively Recommending Books has this Five for Friday featuring Winter Horror.

The darkest night of the year is a great time to tell ghost stories. Embrace it. Also share the tradition in your buildings, on your website and social media (linked below and here)

Before I leave you all, here is a quick note on RA for All Programming:

• Regular posts on 12/23 and 24 and 27
• Last 2 posts of the year-- 12/30 a post about the top posts on RA for All for 2024 and 12/31 Becky's Best Reads of the Year Conversation Starter style
• RA for All is off 1/1 thru 1/5
• I will be back 1/6 and 7 with my annual goals posts. Beginning with my post doing an assessment of how I did in 2024 and setting goals for 2025. 

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2022

New, Old, Winter Storytelling

I am bringing back these posts from year's past. I am happy to report that my family has acquired more of these amazing little books and we still read them around the Solstice and have incoirtaped them into or regular holiday season traditions. 

You don't need the specific books I mention to make this a thing at your library. It is also not tied specifically to any one holiday, but rather to the long winter nights, meaning it is very inclusive.

Enjoy. I will be back on Tuesday.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2017

Resurrecting A Victorian Christmas Storytelling Tradition

Yesterday, I came upon this article from the Smithsonian Magazine, “A Plea to Resurrect the Christmas Tradition of Telling Ghost Stories.”

This made me remember that I already made this plea to all of you, my readers, almost exactly a year ago- not that this fact surprises anyone. I guess I was a year early on the trend, so today, I have a rerun of that post where I talk about this tradition, discuss how you can turn this into a fun display, and even offer up some reads.

And, I happy to report, as a family, we are keeping this tradition going in our house for second year in a row. 

***************************
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016

A New, Old, Winter Storytelling Tradition With A Library Display Opportunity

The weekend after Thanksgiving I went back to my old neighborhood in Chicago to do some holiday shopping and stopped in at Volumes Bookcafe.

While I was there I found a beautiful series of paperback, spooky stories on display.  Below is a picture of the front of the three I purchased and a shot of the back of the Burrage title.

You can zoom in to read the back, but basically, these titles have been produced to revive the Victorian tradition of families getting together to read ghost stories aloud on Christmas Eve. 

[Editors note 12/20/24-- the link in this paragraph is gone, use the one above from the Smithsonian] I did some more research on this topic and found this interesting article that explains the tradition in more detail. It turns out that the tradition hit its heyday in Victorian Times, but probably dates back before that. As the article also notes, while much of our current holiday season traditions are remarkably similar to those from Victorian times, this one specific tradition has all but disappeared.

The winter, with it’s long nights, led to spookier thoughts and more forced togetherness huddled inside, around the fire. Ghost stories made for popular entertainment in these circumstances. But Christmas Eve in particular, when large groups were assembled already, grew to be the most popular time to read ghost stories aloud. 

As I mentioned above, I did purchase three titles in this series and our family plans to spend a few evenings over the days off this holiday season to read these stories together, aloud, around our 21st Century fire place. No screens or other distractions involved. 

While I hope some of you out there give the old tradition a try, I think it is a great display option for all libraries. Any spooky story will do. And, it is not Christmas specific. A spooky story for a long winter’s night works no matter where you live, regardless of whether you celebrate a holiday during this season or not. It is a display you can do now, to take advantage of the time people have off of work and school over the next 2 weeks or wait for the new year.

Let’s bring this tradition back through the public library

RA for All Off All Week But There is Still Time to Join Me at ARRTCon on 12/6.

I have been very conscientious about taking more blogging breaks this year and when I am not writing the blog, I also stay off social media. 

This week, I am taking off everything except working on my book-- getting the edits back to my authors. I will be spending time with my son (home from college) and sister-in-law and husband-- the eldest is making the exciting leap to having Thanksgiving with the partner's family.

But I know many of you are working all week. So if you are seeing this and live within driving distance of  Naperville, IL you should come to ARRTCon, an all day RA conference featuring me moderating a Horror panel, Robin as the virtual keynote and more. Registration is here.  Breakfast and lunch are included.

When I come back on 12/2 it is the final push to the end of the year and it will start right away with LJ's Best Books. I was part of the Horror team and I can't wait to share all the lists with all of you.

For my American readers, I hope you all have a restful week and take the time to really think about what you are thankful for. I know many people are struggling right now, especially with the unknown future ahead, but I truly hope you find time to focus on the positive this week, for your own health. 

I am taking my own advice and along with family time, next week I have set up a phone call with a favorite library person who lives far away just to catch up and have lunch with another favorite human during the week as well.

I hope you can find time for those who are important to you and make sure they know you are thankful for them. No matter what is going on in the world, there is nothing more important than this. 

I'll be back on 12/2.

Conversation Starter: What Books Are You Most Thankful For

Over the last year I have really focused on helping you find ways to have conversations with your patrons, to build relationships rather than tallying transactions. I have done this by using my Conversation Starter to Display Exercise everywhere I go. And this focus over the last 18 months is also going to lead to a HUGE refresh of my Ten Rules this January. But that is for later. 

Today I have the perfect thing for you to do starting now and through next week, something that people will love to participate in-- Ask your patrons what books they are most thankful for. And then showcase the results.

Speaking of the result, you will love them. I have done this before and seeing what people say is eye opening. It is never the bestsellers or current titles. It is always books that are older and often a bit more obscure. Very genre heavy as well. Seeing the results always renews my faith in humanity, yes, but it also gives you a deep look into the books that resonate most with your readers. It reminds you that although we worry so much about having the latest Patterson, Roberts, Hoover etc... , those are not the books that our readers appreciate the most.

Again, go to my explanation post to see how to actually administer this conversation starter to display exercise. Here is a short excerpt from that post to make you want to click through for more:

But we don't only have to ask verbally. Turn these six questions into books marks, with one question on the top of each. Leave them out on your displays, at the end of rows, on your desk. Also, put them in every book on the holds shelf. Place a note at the bottom to have them return it with their item. Gather the answers and turn them into the displays with the titles I suggest below.

There is much more in the post. Don't be lazy....click through now and come back to finish the post when you are done reading.

You can use your results all year long. First, get them up as a year end display in December. Title it the books our community is thankful for. This will still work after Thanksgiving as the entire season has a heartwarming feel. And it is seasonal, not religious holiday specific.

Second, save these titles in your back pocket and turn them into other displays later in the year-- Our Community's Sure Bet Reads or Forgotten Favorites or simply, Curl Up With A Good Read Suggested by Our Patrons. You can re-ask the question with these other conversation starter ideas, but add the results to these questions to the answers to the thankful one. Compound interest with these conversation starters is key-- the most times you ask the same question (or similar ones), the most options you have for your displays.

[Side note: Please, make these displays intergenerational-- include books from all age levels of the library. Why, well I have a lot to say about it here, but first and foremost, having a display near the entrance of your library that includes titles from across the building, shows your readers that you are inclusive and that you care about them-- all of them-- as an entire library, not only in their age level silo. I know there is reistsnecre at some libraries to do this, but I refer you to Cuyahoga County Public Library's presentation at PLA where they explain why they do this. If they can do it, you can too.]

Third, use the results to help you craft your collections. When you ask a question as earnest as "What books are you most thankful for?" you get back answers that are true, heartfelt, and reflect what your readers truly enjoy. This is way more helpful than circulation statistics. Those just show us what was checked out but does not let us know if the readers enjoyed them or not. 

Too often we get too caught up in the stats and simply add books that reflect what circulates the most. Yes, we have to do that, but by asking conversation starter questions more regularly we can do a deeper dive into the books that resonate with our readers and work to help them find readalikes. These results will allow you to take a few more chances at adding lesser known works, yes, but you should also use these results to make displays to highlight those titles. 

For example, if you get a lot of people saying they are thankful for TJ Klune, well you already know people love his books, yes, but you should also use this to make a Cozy Fantasy display. Look for more authors who are doing this, add their titles, and then show them off. 

The answers to a "Books you are thankful for" display in and of itself will reveal subgenres and specific reading interests that will help you find new display ideas.

Plus, as I said above, this kind of question will renew your faith in humanity and fill your own heart with warmth and joy. And honestly, right now, that might be all the reason you need to turn this post into action at your library.

Back tomorrow with a giveaway on both blogs of one of the most hotly anticipated books for the new year by one of the best authors (in any genre) out there.

Celebrate Halfway to Halloween With a New Why I Love Horror Essay and Giveaway.

On of my favorite display ideas is to spend the last week or so of April reminding people that it is also "Halfway to Halloween." In the third edition of my book, I go hard on encouraging all libraries to celebrate this "second Halloween" and one of my biggest arguments to do so is because the film industry has been doing this for the last 10 years. Think about it. How many Horror movies now come out in April? There are a lot out right now, and they are dominating the box office. 

People love Horror all year long, but even the casual fans start to crave more of it the further we get away from Halloween and the marketing machine that pushes it for 31 days. They often don't know where to look though. The "halfway" mark, is a great time to reuse your displays and content from the most previous October to promote it again. And calling it "Halfway to Halloween," is fun and attention grabbing.

Even some bookstores are celebrating this weekend. See, I have been talking about this since 2010 and others are finally catching on.

Today to highlight Halfway to Halloween I want to direct you to the work I do all year long to help you help your patrons find Horror over on RA for All: Horror. It is a one stop shop for all of your Horror for Libraries needs. But in particular there are 2 long running series that I am promoting today.

The first is my weekly giveaway of Horror titles, which today features 2 finished copied of Ink Vine by Elizabeth Broadbent. My goal with this series is series is three fold. First, I am giving away the physical ARCs of the books I have formally reviewed in Booklist or Library Journal. Often these are many of the "big name" authors. Once I have read them, I do not need them anymore. I am paying it forward and passing them on. Second, I offer smaller press titles and/or authors who cannot get me their books in time for a more traditional review the chance to get some space to promote their work for my library audience through a giveaway. I only include titles I believe are good for a general public library audience. They are not reviewed simply because I did not have the time (I cannot formally review every book) or more often because they could not get their book to me in time for our far in advance journal deadlines. 

When people enter the weekly giveaway, they stay entered until they win. There is no need to reenter. 

Third, the giveaways overtime then further as a resource to learn about new and upcoming titles that are worth your attention, even if you do not win. And, because they are all tagged "giveaway," you can pull up 4 years worth of titles in reverse chronological order. That tag alone serves as a repository of backlist titles you could be suggesting to your patrons-- with comments from me on who the best reader for each book is-- all from the last 4 years. 

If you are interested in being part of the weekly #HorrorForLibraries giveaway this week and going forward, visit the post with this week's giveaway to see how you can enter. 

The other series I am proud to offer on RA for All: Horror is my Why I Love Horror guest essays featuring authors answering that prompt, sharing why they are fans and practitioners of the genre. It offers authors a chance to speak directly to readers, sharing their adoration for the genre. This showcases a variety of reasons why someone would love horror themselves. As a resource it gives you a peek into the mind of an author whose books you should carry and offers you an example of a reader (that author) who likes Horror as well.

I have authors from household names to up and comers all indexed with the tag "Why I Love Horror" over on the Horror blog.

To celebrate Halfway to Halloween, I invited the author of today's giveaway book, Elizabeth Broadbent, to join the Why I love Horror family. Please see her essay below. But first, remember Horror is a great choice all year long, but especially now as we are Halfway to Halloween.

Why I Love Horror

by Elizabeth Broadbent

I was nine years old when I read Firestarter. I remember this for two reasons: It was my first Stephen King book, and I was only a few months older than Charlie. I can still picture the battered paperback, a movie tie-in and garage sale find. In the horror community, especially among older Millennials, you’ll often hear of kids reading brutally violent Stephen King, but nine is precocious even among that crowd. More focused on Charlie than Andy, I certainly skipped some of the more adult-leaning parts; despite that, I found the book more compelling than the standard Anne of Green Gables fare which passed as children’s lit in those days. Once we outgrew Beverly Cleary and tore through Judy Bloom, there was precious little left, especially for a kid who bought her books with quarters scrounged from the living room couch.

Years later, of course I’m appalled. Where were my parents? Who lets their nine-year-old read Stephen King? The answers to those questions explain why I found King so riveting in the first place. I was a lonely child, scapegoated by a narcissistic mother, alternately terrorized and ignored by an alcoholic father; my neurodivergence only exacerbated the abuse. Against that singular bleakness, Firestarter, Carrie, and even The Eyes of the Dragon felt more authentic than Pollyanna. Other books sugarcoated the world, but horror told the truth. I believed it as an all-too-young reader. Decades later, I believe it as a writer.

By mixing the speculative with the all-too-human monsters, horror shows us people at both their most depraved and most beautiful. I read The Prince of Tides when I was eleven—though it’s not generally considered such, I’d mark it a crucial entry point to the Southern Gothic genre. Tragic knight-in-shining armor Luke Wingo saves his brother, mother, and sister; the twin obsessions of Callanwolde for Lila and Lila for acceptance define the novel’s sickest villainy. There’s a full sweep of human experience there; I loved the book for that, but I also loved it for the prose. My house had no Shakespeare, no poetry. Until I found Conroy, I was unaware that people put words together that way. When I read him, I knew I wanted to do it myself.

I stayed in love with “acceptable” horror despite the academy’s insistence on devaluing it. I found horror that sang, from Jane Eyre to Moby-Dick, Flannery O’Connor to William Faulkner. In particular, the gothic caught me, that wicked mixture of creeping fear, constant threat, and intrusion of the past. Horror, but especially gothic horror, seemed to see the world in a way that felt authentic but safe, realistic but distant.

As I turned more and more to writing, I found my models there. Faulkner exhorts us to “tell about the South,” impossible without its tangle of racism and history, patriarchy and prejudice. Most great Southern literature is horror—how could it be anything but? An old South Carolina story alleges that when the Dalai Lama flew over the state, he was silent for a long time. “So much blood on the land,” he said finally. When we confront the truth, we Southern writers confront that blood, that systemic oppression, be it racial or sexual or classist, and often all three. My master’s thesis was Southern Gothic. We write what we know.

When I turned again to fiction after a career in journalism, horror snagged me once more. South Carolina lives and breathes high gothic drama; witness the Murdaugh clan, one of my final and favorite nonfiction subjects. Anyone shocked by their story never lived there; to understand the Murdaughs, you have to understand their eighty-five-year, unbroken legacy of racism, privilege, and oppression. In South Carolina, our past constantly intrudes upon the present.

That’s true for Southern literature, but it’s also the reality of adults who suffered through abusive childhoods. Like William Faulkner says, our pasts are never dead. They’re not even really past. Therapy can teach us to live with them, even help us heal, but the past never disappears, not entirely; it crowds into the present, insisting upon itself: You will never be enough. The world will hurt you. People will hurt you. I learned to see the world through horror. I see it that way still, both the best and worst of us.

The speculative element clears that lens rather than blurs it—when we keep horror at a safe distance, we can examine it more closely. That’s important for both Southerners and once-traumatized children; both groups grapple with pasts easier to see through a dark glass than a clear pane. In Ink Vine, making Emmy’s love interest otherworldly turns a microscope on the brutal spectrum of oppression, both classist and sexual. In Blood Cypress, coming in 2025 with Raw Dog Screaming Press, losing Beau Carson to a possibly supernatural force reveals both the Carson family’s dysfunction and Lila Carson’s love for her brother. When the truth is too terrible to examine, when people would refuse to engage with real-life horror, we can use the speculative to make them look long. It lets us tell the truth by telling it slant; long-hidden, trauma rises, and we can bear it.

Horror is real. It helps us answer the ultimate question—turning one last time to William Faulkner—both of the South and the hurt child. Why do they live at all? Despite our pasts, we limp on, enduring; confronting our pasts, we become whole. Horror offers truth in a world that would turn away. Couched in the gothic, we can wrestle our demons. And sometimes, if only for the moment, we can beat them.

Happy Halloween: Welcome Clay McLeod Chapman As Summer Scares Spokesperson

 

Please note, the knife has been removed from our logo by request of 
a few schools who use the program with their students 

HWA ANNOUNCES SUMMER SCARES READING PROGRAM 2024 Spokesperson and Timeline

The Horror Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, Booklist, and NoveList®, a division of EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO), is proud to announce the fifth annual Summer Scares Reading Program. Summer Scares is a reading program that provides libraries and schools with an annual list of recommended horror titles for adult, young adult (teen), and middle grade readers. It introduces readers and librarians to new authors and helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list and promote reading for years to come.

Summer Scares is proud to announce the 2024 spokesperson, author Clay McLeod Chapman:

"To this day, I still have vivid memories of my grandmother escorting six-year-old me through our local library -- Go, Bon Air! -- and striking a deal: Pick two books, any two books, one for her to read to me and one for me to read to myself. When we both finished our individual reads, we could always come back and pick another pair. I can still list off practically every book I selected -- beginning with "Monsters of North America" by William A. Wise -- returning to the library to replenish our endless reservoir of reading every week of my childhood. Now I feel as if I'm returning to the library all over again, thanks to Summer Scares, where the deal this time is to pick those books that continue to make an impact on me and share them with as many readers as humanly possible."

Chapman is joined by a committee of six library workers who, together, will select three recommended fiction titles in each reading level, totaling nine Summer Scares selections. The goal of the program is to encourage a national conversation about the horror genre, across all age levels, at libraries around the world, and ultimately attract more adults, teens, and children interested in reading. Official Summer Scares designated authors will also make themselves available at public and school libraries.

The committee’s final selections will be announced on February 14, 2024, Library Lover’s Day. Chapman, along with some of the selected authors, will kick off Summer Scares at the 8th Annual HWA Librarians’ Day, Friday, May 31st, during StokerCon® 2024 at the San Diego Mission Bay Marriott.

Additional content, including podcast appearances, free webinar with Booklist, and lists of suggested titles for further reading, will be made available by the committee and its partners between the announcement of the Summer Scares 2024 titles and the kickoff event.

Of special note is the annual Summer Scares Programming Guide, courtesy of HWA Library Committee Co-Chair Konrad Stump and the Springfield-Greene County Library, which provides creative ideas to engage horror readers. Centered around the official Summer Scares titles, the guide offers tips and examples for readers’ advisory, book discussion guides, and sample programs, enabling librarians, even those who don’t read or especially enjoy the horror genre themselves, to connect their communities with Summer Scares. To see past year’s Summer Scares titles, spokespeople, and programming guides, please visit the program archive: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares-archive.html.

This year, Summer Scares is once again excited to partner with iRead and all ages Summer Reading Program developed by librarians for libraries. iRead is used by libraries across the United States and around the world through their partnership with the US Department of Defense, bringing Summer Scares to our military families deployed all over the world.

2024 also brings NoveList as an official partner after a few years of providing program support.

“The goal of connecting readers with their next favorite book shapes everything we do at NoveList. We know reading can transform and delight, including being delightfully frightened,” said Danielle Borasky, Vice President of NoveList. “The dedication of the Summer Scares program to connecting readers of all ages with horror aligns with our passion for matching every reader with their next book,” she added. “Our team includes devoted genre readers, including die-hard horror fans, so we understand the importance of genre fiction. We're thrilled to support a program that highlights how enriching horror can be for readers.”

“I've been unofficially involved in parts of the Summer Scares program for the last couple of years and have worked to spotlight the selections in the NoveList databases. While collaborating with Summer Scares, I've also become an HWA member and a more active member of the horror community, which has been a wonderful gift,” said Yaika Sabat, MLS, Manager of Reader’s Services for NoveList. “I am fortunate to channel my lifelong love of horror into helping readers discover the genre in my work, both in NoveList and beyond,” she added. “As someone who began reading horror as a child and considers every season the right time to read horror, I'm thrilled to join the Summer Scares selection committee.”

Keep your eyes peeled for more updates coming soon from Booklist, Book Riot, NoveList and United for Libraries, as well as at the HWA’s website: www.horror.org and RA for All Horror: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html.

Questions? Reach out to HWA Library Committee Chairs Becky Spratford and Konrad Stump via email: libraries@horror.org.

Summer Scares Committee Members:

Clay McLeod Chapman writes books, comic books, children's books, as well as for film and television. His most recent novels include What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters. You can find him at www.claymcleodchapman.com.

Becky Spratford is a library consultant and the author of The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, third edition. She reviews horror for Booklist Magazine, is the horror columnist for Library Journal and runs the Readers’ Advisory Horror blog, RA for All: Horror. Becky is also a member of United for Libraries and is currently serving as Secretary for the Horror Writers’ Association.

Konrad Stump is a Local History Associate for the Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library, where he co-coordinates Springfield-Greene's popular “Oh, the Horror!” series, which attracts hundreds of patrons during October. He created the Donuts & Death horror book discussion group, featured in Book Club Reboot: 71 Creative Twists (ALA), and co-created the Summer Scares Programming Guide. Library workers who are interested in cultivating horror programming can contact him at konrads@thelibrary.org for free assistance.

Carolyn Ciesla is an academic library director in the Chicago suburbs. She has worked as a teen librarian and reference librarian, and reviews horror titles for Booklist Magazine. She’s currently enjoying providing all the scary books to her teen daughter, and revisiting a few along the way. You can find her all over the internet as @papersquared.

Kelly Jensen is an editor at Book Riot, the largest independent book website in North America. She covers all things young adult literature and has written about censorship for nearly ten years. She is the author of three critically-acclaimed and award-winning anthologies for young adults on the topics of feminism, mental health, and the body. She was named a person of the year in 2022 by Publishers Weekly and a Chicagoan of the year in 2022 by the Chicago Tribune for her anti-censorship work. She has also earned commendation from the American Association of School Librarians for her censorship coverage. Prior to her work at Book Riot, she was a public librarian for children, teens, and adults in several libraries in Northern Illinois and Southern Wisconsin. She is currently enrolled in a clinical mental health counseling master's program to bolster her work with mental health.

Yaika Sabat (MLS) comes from a background in public libraries of various sizes. She nowworks at NoveList as the Manager of Reader Services, where she trains library staff nationwide on readers’ advisory, creates genre-focused content, and works on reader-focused products and services. As a Horror Writers Association’s Library Advisory Council member, she works to help librarians understand and embrace the horror genre. Her other passions include writing, graphic novels, film (the scarier, the better), and folklore.

Julia Smith joined the Books for Youth team at Booklist in 2015, where she is now a senior editor. Her love of middle-grade literature and all things unsettling and strange draws her to creepy children's stories. You can follow her at @JuliaKate32 on Twitter. 

What I'm Reading: 4 Booklist Reviews

This is a cross post with RA for All Horror.

Over the next two days, I will be posting access to my draft reviews in the October issues of Library Journal and Booklist. In all I have 12 reviews that are going live this week. Sorry not sorry about exploding your TBR. I begin today with Booklist and my draft reviews with bonus appeal information.

Also, while we are doing this 31 Days thing, don't forget that you can access all of my reviews at any time on the permanent page here.

I will begin with the two stars. 

STAR 

Christmas and Other Horrors: An Anthology of Solstice Horror

Edited by Ellen DatlowOct. 2023. 448p. illus. Titan, $27.99 (9781803363264). REVIEW. First published October 1, 2023 (Booklist).

Datlow, the most award winning editor in speculative fiction, comes through once again, with an anthology of 18, original stories by some of the biggest names in Horror today. The contributors were asked to add their voice to the human tradition of telling ghost stories during the darkest days of the year. The resulting range of scares is as wide as the topics considered. From a gory tale of Austrian folklore to open the book by Christopher Golden, to Cassandra Khaw’s defiant stand against the world, to the existential dread and wood demons of Josh Malerman’s Finnish solstice rituals, and even a few hot and bright, Australian set nightmares, there is something here for every reader. However, it is the gut punch of Tananarive Due and Stepen Graham Jones’ stories which tower above the rest and cannot be missed. The inclusion of a note by each author at the end of each story and the creepy illustrations at the start of each tale, both enhance the reading experience. Pair it with Hark! The Herald Angels Scream, edited by Golden to spice up your Winter Holiday themed displays for years to come.

Further appeal: This is a holiday anthology that completely embraces the spirit of the season without being Christmas focused. Most of the series's are set around Dec 20- early January. I really did love the multiple southern hemisphere set stories as a northerner. So cool to have hot holiday stories. 

The TOC is diverse in every way from identity of writers to how they write to what themes are explored. Every story was solicited by Datlow and they are ALL original to this anthology. It features some of the best and most popular Horror authors right now and will be in high demand by fans of hose authors and those looking for a different type of holiday season read.

I cannot get Due or Graham Jones' stories out of my head. Due's story in particular is set in the world of the story she wrote for Other Terrors and in her story notes, she hints that these characters need a novel (!!!). Graham Jones' story is perfect for fans of The Babysitter Lives. 

I am very tough on Datlow edited anthologies and do not give them all a star, but this one is worth all the stars. It will be a library holiday season and Halloween staple for years to come. 

Three Words That Describe This Book: Holidays, All Original Stories, Range of Scares

Readalikes: Every person in the TOC, you can suggest their books. Golden's Road of Bones specifically, is an excellent winter set story. The link above goes to my review of the other holiday anthology.

Also, see this post by me about the tradition of reading Horror during the Winter Solstice.

STAR

Under Her Eye: A Women In Horror Poetry Collection Volume 2

Edited by Lindy Ryan and Lee MurrayNov. 2023. 200p. Black Spot, paper, $14.95 (9781645481379); e-book (9781645481386). REVIEW. First published October 1, 2023 (Booklist).

Horror poetry is having a moment. Readers are discovering the format as their go-to place to elicit the dark emotions of the genre that they crave. With its brevity and free form style, poetry twists words in ways that viscerally amplify the terror. Award winning editors, Ryan and Murray, have taken the unease up another notch by inviting 112 poets, all women and nonbinary femmes, to contribute a poem focused on domestic violence, Horror in what should be the safest spaces. The individual poems are brutally honest and poignant. Ranging in length, style and topic, each gives readers more than they expect, over and over again. Three standouts are by Ali Jiang, EF Schrader, and Emily Ruth Verona, whose “Prime Real Estate Opportunity,” uses footnotes to chilling perfection. The volume benefits the Pixel Project, a global non-profit whose mission is to raise awareness for the cause to end violence against women. They have provided a list of resources in the back of the book which raises its stakes from merely providing a good read to offering a lifeline and hope to those suffering in silence. Consider shelving a copy in the 300s and one in your Horror collections. 

Further Appeal: This book is hard to read, but that is the point. It is shining a light on domestic abuse to make people pay attention. You also need to have this book In your collections because of the resources provided b y Pixel Project-- worldwide contacting. Having this book on your shelves could literally save someone's life. Get it with other resources for those suffering from domestic abuse. Don't hide it in poetry. And don't tell me you can't change where it is selves, that all poetry goes with poetry, because that is a self imposed rule, one that does a disservice to why someone would read this book, that says you don't care about helping someone save their own life. Yes, I am being overly dramatic, but it is to show you how dumb this argument is. You will not go to library jail if you make a cataloging choice that is not the automatic default. Trust me, I have been doing this for years at the school library and it has had amazing results-- and no one has been fired or sent to library jail, rather he opposite, the kids and teachers are finding books easier.

Three Words That Describe This Book: visceral, poignant, brutally honest

Readalikes: Tomorrow, I will have a review of Emily Ruth Verona's debut novel, so keep an eye out for that. The TOC will direct you to many women Horror writers who have stories and novels as well as poetry. This anthology can be used by you, the library worker, to help readers find more horror poetry as well.

But specifically, Into the Forest and All the Way Through, a collection of true crime poetry about missing women by Cynthia Pelayo is hard to read, but a perfect readlaikes.

Please also check out the work of editors Lindy Ryan and Lee Murray who I wrote about in this article about the best horror anthologists for The Lineup.

I reviewed the first book in this series here.

The Daughters of Block Island

By Christa Carmen

Oct. 2023. 332p. Amazon/Thomas & Mercer, paper, $16.99 (9781662512988); e-book (9781662512971). REVIEW. First published October 1, 2023 (Booklist).

Blake heads to Block Island, 14 miles off Rhode Island, to confront her birth mother. Arriving in a winter rainstorm, she heads to a haunted mansion, now a Bed and Breakfast, where she sets out to untangle the complicated history of her family. Blake feels like the heroine in a Gothic novel, that is, until she is murdered, but not before she got a letter off to the sister she never knew. A few weeks later, Thalia returns to Block Island, the home she left behind ten years ago, to finish what the sister she never met started. However, whoever silenced Blake will stop at nothing to keep the secrets of the island and its generations of sisters quiet. Told in two parts, from Blake’s and Thalia’s perspectives, no one is safe in this compelling and atmospheric thriller that pays homage to classic Gothic novels while still adding something fresh to the beloved genre. An easy sell to fans of the Brontes but also, those who enjoy the creepy, psychological suspense of Simone St. James or Gwendolyn Kiste's LAMBDA award-winning Reluctant Immortals.

Further Appeal: This is a classic Gothic fiction fan's dream of a book. It is consciously a book about books and a book about storytelling itself. Everything Gothic is perfectly rendered. It is Rebecca dialed up to 10. 

Other themes explored, family secrets (so many both secrets and families interconnected in those secrets), addiction issues, lesbian MC. The setting is the biggest character: the island, the weather, the house, its place on a cliff, all the other buildings. Carmen double down on the atmosphere and it shows; it enhances the reading experience. 

The novel also has some modern psychological suspense twists that work very well with the Classic Gothic frame.

This book will have wide appeal to a huge swath of library patrons.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Gothic, Psychological Suspense, Atmospheric

Readalikes: Of course the dozens of books mentioned in the book-- the classic Gothic titles. Jennifer McMahon is another good option here. I would not suggest to every fan of Mexican Gothic or The Hacienda though, because those have supernatural monsters at the center of the story; this does not.

I would like to note, I called out Carmen's story in Orphans of Bliss: Tales of Addiction Horror edited by Mark Matthews as amazing. I said it would be on year end best lists, and I was correct. It was nominate for a Stoker this past year. This is Carmen's first novel, an it is with Amazon so it will have wide distribution. You need to be aware of it.

Speaking of her publisher, she is joining Zoje Stage who I would also list as a readalike, especially Mothered, which I reviewed here.

Root Rot & Other Grim Tales

By Sarah Read Oct. 2023. 300p. Bad Hand, paper, $15.99 (9798988128625). REVIEW. First published October 1, 2023 (Booklist). 

Bram Stoker Award winner Read returns with a collection that more than lives up to its promise of providing “grim tales,” 18 stories that use both fairy tale frames of yore like dark woods and wishes granted and familiar tropes from science fiction and fantasy such as parallel worlds or an uninhabitable NYC. Each story is original, terrifying, and compelling but when Read pits what readers think is coming against the extremely sinister tone at the heart of each tale, it is as if she is stabbing their tender spots* with a knife, twisting it, and leaving it to dangle long after the last page is turned. Two of the best examples are “Root Rot,” which presents the Tooth Fairy in her full body horror glory and “Terror Bay Resort '' set in the 26th Century, in a heated Arctic, at the Franklin Expedition museum. Suggest freely to those who enjoy dark, immersive, and character driven speculative fiction that firmly grabs its readers as written by Cynthia Pelayo, Cassandra Khaw, and Lauren Beukes.

Further Appeal: That asterisk above was a note to my editor which asked her to keep the phrase "tender spots" because the visceral image it invokes is a great reflection of the tone of many of the stories.

I really enjoyed how half the book is nostalgic, fairy tales of yore esque and then the second half is terrors of the world to come, grim tales for the future. But, I wish there was a break in the book to denote that, a way for the reader to know the switch is coming. 

The title story is A LOT in a very good way. "Wish Wash" was one of my favorites in the Shirley Jackson Award winning Anthology, The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors.

Sinister is the key word here. In fact, you could describe this book in 1 word it is sinister. Even the settings are sinister, especially the future ones, such as an uninhabitable NYC overtaken by sky whales, or a melting arctic where the Franklin expedition's lost ship is now visible and a tourist site. The illustrations enhance the sinister tone. And that cover! It will draw readers to the book without you having to say a thing.

Some of the stories here are are among the best I have read this year. Read, a librarian as well as an award winning and talented writer, is someone you need to be aware of. Order this collection from the award winning small press.

Three Words That Describe This Book: Sinister, discomfort, immersive 

Readalikes: The three authors above have lots of options and all capture the tone and imagination of Read's work. The aforementioned anthologies, The Hideous Book of Hidden Horrors, edited by Doug Murano is a good readalike here. Actually all anthologies edited by Murano are a good choice here.

Also Read's debut, The Bone Weaver's Orchard, which won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel is a great read. 

Free, NOT TO MISS, Virtual Slate of Library Programs in October

 

Click here to see the full slate of programing

The HWA Library Committee has been working with Wake County Public Libraries since late last year to help them craft a virtual program called, "Nightmares Not Included: A Celebration of Horror Fiction" for this October. 

Before we get to the awesome programming and Horror resources they have made available to all, I want to use this  opportunity to remind every who reads this that the Horror Writers Association Library Committee is there  to help ANY library who contacts us. We will meet with you to discuss what your goals are-- from one program to a month long series, to anything in between. We work with authors and HWA members to help you make connection. All you need to do to get this process started is email Libraries at horror dot org.

I tell you this because this is exactly what Wake County Public Libraries did. When you look at this slate of programming in awe, know that they did the work to market it, make an awesome lib guide, and run the virtual series. This is part of our regular work at libraries; however, the rate limiting step for all of us is connecting with the authors. That's where the HWA Library Committee comes in. The HWA Library Committee will get you the connections, but you need to give all of us time. You cannot email us in July for October. Laura from Wake County Libraries first emailed Libraries at horror dot org on 11/19/22 for October 2023. 

The Library Committee worked with Laura and her team to discuss their goals, get them in contact with people to help them provide the programs, and provide introductions to get the conversations started. I will be clear, Wake County Public Libraries is paying the presenters an honorarium, but it is way less than their official speaking fees because the bookings went through us, the HWA Library Committee. The committee is not just there to connect libraries with authors, but we are also vetting the library and making sure they will make the experience worth the authors' time. We confirm that the library has bought the author's books and makes them available for checkout. We also make sure the library has set up a way for participants to buy their own copies before during or after the event.

On the other side of the equation, the Library Committee also knows which author's will do the best for a library patron audience. We will give you authors that can deliver.  And finally, we will make sure the authors represent the breadth of Horror, both in the way they write and  their own personal identities. 

Now on to this October's series, which is FREE to anyone and everyone who is reading this. First, click here for the amazing LibGuide they have created for the series. There is info about every program and this link to  the books by all of the participants and a link for more Horror titles for those who want even more options. 

And then there is the list of programs. Look at that flyer. And the supporting web page presented as a Lib Guide.

In that online Lib Guide, there is a page for each program. Let's use Sadie Hartmann's Horror Fiction "Starter Kit," which is opening the entire series, as our example. 

When you click through, you get the description you see here on the left from the print flyer, as well as a tab to learn more about the presenter, and an "In the Media" tab with links to interviews and articles featuring Hartmann. Again click here to see that level of detail.

Of course, I would love to see you all at my panel on 10/11 as I have a chat with four Bram Stoker Award winners-- Stephen Graham Jones, Paul Tremblay, Alma Katsu, and Hailey Piper. You can click through for the specific section of the Lib Guide for details. 

Finally, what I love about this series is the breadth of programs they are offering, both in terms of the topics and times of day. Personally, I am a huge fan of the final program, a Saturday morning virtual event. So fun. 

There is a FAQ page as well which notes that these amazing programs are free, but only available live. Again, anyone reading this can register. The library has kindly made these events available to anyone. And they have set up sales through a local book store, Page 158 Books.

I hope you can join Wake County Public Libraries for some of their "Nightmares Not Included" events. Fell free to let your Horror fans know about the programming as well. 

And use their awesome event as inspiration to do your own. It is not out of reach for you no matter how small your library is. And the HWA Library Committee is here to help-- Libraries at horror dot org.

It is too late for this October, but what about April for Halfway to Halloween?