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Book Review: 100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction by Sumiko Saulson

100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction by Sumiko Saulson

Iconoclast Productions, 2018

ISBN: 9781387587469

Available at Lulu.com in hardcover, paperback, and premium paperback, and on Amazon as hardcover, paperback, and Kindle edition.

 

February is both Women in Horror Month and Black History Month, and in 2014, author and blogger Sumiko Saulson compiled interviews and biographical sketches of black women writers who have written in the horror genre, composed for and shared on her blog, into a book titled 60 Black Women in Horror Fiction. Saulson published 100+ Black Women in Horror Fiction as an expanded edition in 2018. It includes additional, very brief entries on black women horror writers that Saulson uncovered after 2014. Entries are listed in alphabetical order and each is accompanied by website addresses for the author. Following the entries are interviews of 17 black women authors profiled in the book. Poet Linda Addison, Africanfuturist Nnedi Okorafor, and horror writers Lori Titus and Eden Royce, among others, are included in the interviews section of the book, and David Watson shares a short essay on L.A. Banks and Octavia Butler.

The book is clearly a labor of love, and even a list of black women writers of horror is needed, but unfortunately, the majority of entries do not include typical biographical information like date and place of birth, family members, and  background information. They do include a list of the author’s publications, specifically those related to the horror genre. I examined the Kindle edition, and the website links do work, but not all of them are current: a few of them are no longer in existence (unfortunately, one of them is a resource Saulson cited as using in researching and writing the book: darkgeisha.wordpress.com). It is clear that this is an expanded version– that is, new entries have been added– and not an updated one, after reading the introduction, but this is really a starting point for exploring these women’s work rather than a detailed biographical reference. There are unfortunately a number of typos and punctuation errors in the book, but they don’t interfere with the ability to understand and use what is still a unique book for reader’s advisory and for readers wanting to diversify their experience of reading horror fiction.

Saulson’s original work can also be found on her blog at sumikosaulson.com, and I highly encourage you to visit and explore her resources. There are more black women writers of horror than there were when Saulson started this project on her blog in 2013, but their writing, and recognition for it, is a part of the horror community that needs to continue to grow.

Saulson has also edited a companion volume of original short fiction by 18 black women writers of horror whose profiles are included in this book, which also came out in February of 2018, called Black Magic Women: Terrifying Tales by Scary Sisters. Stay tuned for a review later this month!

 

 

Book Review: The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, Second Edition by Becky Siegel Spratford

Since Monster Librarian has been around for quite some time, we actually reviewed reader’s advisory reference books in horror before there were many reader’s advisory books on the horror genre and even before social media became all-consuming. Most of these are on a page on our original website titled “Librarian Resources”. It’s pretty sparse, because anything published after 2014 will be found on this blog instead of the original site, and there really wasn’t much in existence then. What was once a fairly restricted community of readers and writers has grown like crazy, and the past few years have really boomed in terms of providing all kinds of helpful resources.

So it was a very big deal when Becky Siegel Spratford wrote a second edition to The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, which was published in 2012. This month I saw her announce that the third edition will be coming out next year (wow!) so I’m republishing our review of the second edition now. She has kept it updated through her blog  RA for All: Horror.  If you visit now, Becky is counting down the days until the announcement of the titles for the HWA’s summer reading program, Summer Scares, for 2020.

With the horror genre having expanded its reach and audience considerably I will be curious to see the changes in the third edition!

 

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The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Second Edition by Becky Siegel Spratford

American Library Association, 2012

ISBN-13: 978-0838911129

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Second Edition, is the updated version of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, part of the American Library Association’s Reader’s Advisory series on genre fiction,. That is, the major professional organization for librarians endorses this as the authoritative text on reader’s advisory in the horror genre. The author, Becky Siegel Spratford, is a reader’s advisory librarian with a particular interest in the horror genre, and in promoting horror in the library– and is someone I admire very much. Updates for this edition can be found at her blog, RA for All: Horror. 

        The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror, Second Edition is an important book for a couple of reasons. First, because it’s published by the American Library Association, it is likely to reach a wide audience of librarians, and because it’s part of an established series on readers’ advisory, it has credibility as a resource for librarians who may not know much about(or like) the horror genre that other resources may not have. That opens a door for connecting a lot of people to books they may like. Spratford does a nice job of providing a concise history of horror, introducing some prominent authors, and addressing the classics. Spratford also mentions that many horror readers prefer to read only within one subgenre (such as werewolf books), and has set up the book to provide annotated lists for recommended titles in popular subgenres,. She also includes a chapter on horror resources and marketing, which does a very nice job of offering tools and strategies for growing and promoting library horror collections, not just during October but throughout the year. This is a topic that really needed (and needs) to be addressed– horror readers don’t just read horror as Halloween rolls around, and if your horror novels are shelved with the rest of the fiction they may not even know what the library has. I’m glad that Spratford specifically addressed this in her book.

        However, there are aspects to the book of which librarians should be aware. Spratford chose to define horror as “a story in which… unexplainable phenomena and unearthly creatures threaten the protagonist and provoke terror in the reader”.  That’s a very narrow definition. I recognize that for purposes of writing a reader’s advisory guide it’s necessary to set limits of what qualifies as belonging to a genre, but reader’s advisory librarians attempting to serve horror readers should be aware that many horror readers don’t require there to be a supernatural or unexplainable element in their reading. Because of the way she defines horror, Spratford’s breakdown of subgenres is sometimes problematic. For instance, in her chapter on “shape-shifters”, she included not only werewolf titles but killer animal books, and these two types of books appeal to different audiences. Many killer animal books have no supernatural aspect at all, such as Cujo, Stephen King’s novel about a rabid dog terrorizing his neighborhood (Spratford writes that Cujo “comes under the spell of demonic forces”, but that is not the case). Her chapter “Monsters and Ancient Evil” also combines in one list books that will appeal to different audiences- Lovecraftian fiction and more modern monster novels. In addition, Spratford leaves out the notable category of human horror. Books in this category aren’t literary novels of psychological suspense- they display the worst of human nature, without needing to employ the supernatural. Usually they have graphic gore, violence, and sexual situations (such as in the work of Wrath James White). This category doesn’t fall under Spratford’s definition of horror, and so it isn’t addressed in the book. Spratford  is covering a huge amount of territory in a limited number of pages, but it would really have benefited users, and readers, to have these particular issues dealt with, and hopefully we will see that in the next print edition. In addition to covering a wide variety of authors and subgenres, Spratford addresses whole collection reader’s advisory and mentions several categories of books outside the genre that horror readers might also enjoy, I especially appreciated her mention of nonfiction, as there are a lot of appealing nonfiction titles that horror fiction readers will probably never find on their own.

        Horror is a very difficult genre for both collection development and reader’s advisory. It doesn’t get much respect, or even recognition. The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Second Edition, although not a perfect tool, does a great job providing resources to librarians serving horror readers. Highly recommended for purchase by public and academic libraries.

Review by Kirsten Kowalewski

 

Book Review: Nightingale by Amy Lukavics

Nightingale by Amy Lukavics

Harlequin Teen, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1335012340

1951 isn’t the best time to be a teenage girl, especially one who doesn’t want to conform to society’s expectations. Talk about horror! Amy Lukavics, author of frightening and gruesome YA titles Daughters Unto Devils, The Women in the Walls, and The Ravenous, has another terrifying tale in Nightingale, which this reader feels is on par with Sarah Pinborough’s work, with a plot that twists and turns, constricting like a snake in the shadows.

It’s 1951, not the greatest time to be a teenage girl, especially one who doesn’t conform to society’s expectations of becoming another June Cleaver. Despite the same first name, though, June Hardie is an unconventional girl. She doesn’t fit in: in fact, even her family doesn’t seem to like her very much. The only time anyone pays attention to her is when stripping her of any self-confidence, or training her to fill a stereotypical role. Her happiness exists in the form of her science fiction stories, an escape that she prays will become a reality. One morning, her mother calls her “Nightingale” and suddenly displays a sweet side that doesn’t quite fit… and June snaps.

She wakes up at Burrow Place Asylum, a place that resembles a mix between the mental institution in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and the psychiatric institution in Shutter Island. The nurses and doctors shatter any remaining hold on reality June held onto, feeding her medication and eliciting visions that she knows can’t be real. Her fellow patients, or captives, warn her to keep a low profile and avoid severe “treatment” that has caused others to disappear. Her roommate, Eleanor, believes herself to be dead but might be the closest thing to a friend in the world.

What starts off as a teen book about a girl seeking to develop her unique identity morphs into a story for any age or gender as the plot drives the reader through unpredictable pathways. When the ride comes to a sudden end, “shocking” is an understatement as a descriptor.

This is definitely a breath of fresh air for YA thrillers. Lukavics knows how to snare readers, pin them down, and scare the living crap out of them– not a simple task these days. Adult readers, especially those who are fans of Sarah Pinborough, shouldn’t let the YA label stop them from picking up this outstanding novel. Highly recommended for mature teen readers ages 15+ and adults.

Contains: gore, violence, mature language.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms