MonsterLibrarian.com is a site dedicated to helping librarians with horror genre collection development and readers advisory as well as helping readers of horror find another good book. This blog will track site updates.
Monday, March 8, 2010
3/8/10 Reviews of Hex Hall and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls, an interview with Rachel Hawkins, and a new contest.
A short update this time. In our young adult Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy section: Michele Lee reviews Rachel Hawkins' Hex Hall and also gets an opportunity to interview her. We are hosting a Hex Hall t-shirt giveaway contest so head on over to the review to the Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Section to enter.
March 2nd: New reviews, new author interviews, and more
In this update we have:
In the adult Zombie section: The Monster Librarian reviewing Pallid Light: The Walking Dead by William Jones Colleen Wanglund reviews Resurrection by Tim Curran Michele Lee reviews U.S. Army Zombie Combat Skills edited by Cole Louison In honor of the upcoming release of the movie Alice in Wonderland, Rhonda Wilson reviews Alice in Zombieland by Lewis Carroll and Nicholas Cook!
In the adult Supernatural horror section: In a take two review both Jennifer Lawrence and Colin Leslie review Brian Keene's latest Darkness on the Edge of Town Erik Smith reviews Skin Medicine by Tim Curran Rhonda Wilson reviews The Gray Zone by John R Little
In the adult Vampire section: Rhonda Wilson reviews Blood Bar by Norm Applegate
In the adult Human horror section: Rhonda Wilson reviews Scissors by Ray Garton and also interviews Ray Garton as well.
In the adult horror Non-Fiction section: Michele Lee reviews Writers Workshop of Horror edited by Michael Knost
In the adult Apocalyptic horror section: David Agranoff reviews The Day Before by John Skipp and Cody Goodfellow
In the adult horror Graphic Novels section: David Agranoff reviews Dark Entries by Ian Rankin
In the young adult Vampires section: The Monster Librarian reviews Blood Ninja by Nick Lake We are still running our Blood Ninja giveaway contest. Michele Lee interviews P.C. Cast co-author of the House of Night series
In the young adult Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy section: Rhonda Wilson reviews My Soul to Save by Rachel Vincent Jennifer Lawerence reviews The Iron King by Julie Kagawa We are still running our The Iron King giveaway contest.
In the Scary Books for Kids section: Kirsten Kowalewski reviews The Nose by Nikolai Gogol
We have started a new feature this month,book recommendations based upon horror movies that have just come out. It is a new effort to help librarians to take advantage of current horror movies to promote their horror books.
Keep reading! The MonsterLibrarian Back to the Main page
One non paranormal romance item with this update, the good folks at Simon & Schuster are sponsoring a contest for a copy of their latest book Blood Ninja, the debut book of author Nick Lake combining vampires, ninja, and destiny in feudal Japan. For a chance to win a copy head on over to the Contest page. Keep reading,
"Winter Chills" is a collaborative effort to give readers of horror fiction a virtual guide to horror titles for your winter reading.
For librarians, “Winter Chills” is an opportunity to get reviews and information you need to recommend appropriate titles for readers and make informed decisions about collection development. In addition to providing reviews of horror titles you might be interested in adding to your collection, “Winter Chills” highlights participating horror fiction review sites that cover both small press and mainstream horror. This year participating sites include Hellnotes, Horrorworld, and Horror Fiction Review. Come visit our Winter Chill's home page!
As part of Winter Chills we are reviewing:
In the adult Zombie section: Erik Smith reviews Dead Tide by Stephen A North Rhonda Wilson reviews Zombie Bastard by Jerrod Balzer.
Michele Lee interviews zombie author Eric S Brown.
In the adult Killer Animals section: Jim Cobb reviews Clickers by J.F. Gonzalez and Mark Williams
In the adult Human Horror section: Colleen Wanglund reviews The One-Percenters by John Podgursky
In the adult Supernatural and Occult horror section Rhonda Wilson reviews Gord Rollo's Strange Magic, Michele Lee reviews The Haunting of Sam Cabot by Mark Edward Hall, Erik Smith reviews Stronger than Death by Steven L. Shrewsbury.
Jennifer Lawrence reviews Blind Panic by Graham Masterson.
In the adult Horror Anthologies section: Colleen Wanglund reviews Thomas Ligotti's Teatro Grottesco
In the adult Graphic Novel section: The Monster Librarian reviews Blackest Night by Geoff Johns
In the young adult Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy section
Jennifer Lawrence reviews Intertwined by Gena Showalter Kirsten Kowalewski reviews Wicked Lovely by Melissa Marr Michele Lee reviews Elphame's Choice by P.C. Cast
We are also hosting a giveaway contest for HarlequinTeen's latest release The Iron King in our Contestpage
For the adult Killer Animal section: The Monster Librarian reviews Fragment: A Novel by Warren Fahy.
For the adult Supernatural Horror section: Colleen Wanglund reviews The Revelation by Bentley Little, Bob Freeman reviews Little Graveyard on the Prairie by Steven E Wedel, KDP reviews Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett, and Kirsten Kowalewski reviews Drowned Sorrows by Vanessa Morgan.
For the adult Horror Non-Fiction section: Bob Freeman reviews Shadows Over Florida by Scott Goudsward and David Goudsward
For the adult Werewolf section: Michele Lee does a take two review of Lorne Dixon's Snarl
Mid December update new reviews for adults, teens, and children
In this update we have:
In the adult Horror Anthologies section: Erik Smith reviews Harlan County Horrors edited by Mari Adkins
In the adult Werewolves section: Rhonda Wilson reviews Lorne Dixon's Snarl
In the adult Human Horror section: Rhonda Wilson reviews Bryan Smith's Depraved and gets a chance to interview Bryan Smith about his latest projects.
In the adult Supernatural horror section: Both Erik Smith and Rhonda Wilson review Wrath James White's The Resurrectionist. In addition Erik Smith interviews Wrath James White about the book.
We are launching our new Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy page for teens with Rhonda Wilson reviewing Rachel Vincent's My Soul to Take and My Soul to Lose. We are also having a My Soul to Take t-shirt contest . In addition, Rhonda gets a chance to interview Rachel Vincent about her new series.
In our Scary Books for Kids section: KDP reviews John Connolly's The Gates.
We would also like to congratulate Michele Lee who has taken on our position of Zombie Review Editor. With the explosion of zombie titles that have recently come out for both adult and young adults, we felt it was it time for someone to wrangle up these undead titles. For any zombie title review requests or inquiries she can be reached at zombiemichele at gmail dot com.
Happy Holidays from the Monster Librarian staff!!! Back to the Main Page
12/6/2009 New reviews of horror fiction for adults and teens.
We hope that all our visitors are having a happy holidays. In this update we have:
In the Vampire section for adults: David Agranoff reviews Once a Samurai...by D.C. Rhind.
In the CthulhuMythos section for adults: David Agranoff reviews Queen of K'n-Yan by Asamatsu Ken
In the Horror Anthologies section for adults: Erik Smith reviews Smells like Fish by Trever Palmer
In the Human Horror section for adults: Rhonda Wilson reviews The Lucid Dreaming by Lisa Morton
In the Supernatural Horror section for adults Colleen Wanglund reviews Found You by Mary SanGiovanni
In the Graphic Novels section for adults: The Monster Librarian reviews Victorian Undead by Ian Edginton
In the Supernatural Horror section for young adults Kirsten Kowalewski reviews A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
In the Dark Fantasy section for young adults: Kirsten Kowalewski reviews The Wall and the Wing by Laura Ruby Bret Jordan reviews The Shadowmask by R.A. and Geno Salvatore
In the adult Werewolf section: Kelly Fann reviews C. Fern Cook's Wild Evolution.
In our Apocalyptic Horror section Erik Smith reviews William Ollies' The Damned
In our young adult Vampires section in preparation for the latest Twilight movie New Moon Rhonda Wilson reviews Stephenie Meyers's New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Bret Jordan reviews Hybrid by Angie L Reed
Final Halloween update more reviews and more author interviews
In this our final Halloween update we have:
Rhonda Wilson reviewing Wolf's Trap and Wolf's Gambitby W.D. Gagliani for our adult werewolf section. Rhonda also had a chance to interview W.D. Gagliani.
Bret Jordan reviews R.I.P by Terry Lamsley for the adult supernatural section.
In our adult horror anthologies and collected works section, Rhonda Wilson reviews Dark Jesters edited by Nick Cato and L.L. Soares and Magick & Misery by Lincoln Crisler. Erik Smith reviews Creeping Shadows by Alan Draven, Brandon Ford, and Jessica Lynne Gardner.
For fans of Bizarro fiction, Rhonda reviews Cannibals of Candyland by Carlton Mellick III.
A reminder that our good friends over at Spook House Dave! are having a Halloween Special which I am told is humbly considered to be the best online Halloween special for kids and cool parents to come along since somebody uploaded "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" to the Internets.
I would also like to remind everyone to check out our partner sites who are part of Halloween Horrors! book review project. Go to the Monster Librarian's Halloween Page to check it out.
Happy Halloween! The Monster Librarian Back to the main page
Our Halloween update: New reviews, author interviews, and a contest
Happy Halloween everyone!
Just a reminder that our Halloween Horrors! book review project is still going on with some of the best horror review sites on the web collaborating to bring you reviews of horror books for this Halloween. Visit our Halloween page to learn more.
In this update:
For adults: For those librarians who might be looking for a zombie book to take advantage of the popularity of the movie Zombieland that is in theaters now, The Monster Librarian reviews Zombies: Encounters with the Hungry Dead edited by John Skipp and Season of Rot by Eric S. Brown.
Also for those that enjoy young adult vampire titles Kirsten Kowalewski interviews Kimberly Pauley author of Sucks to be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire(maybe) and we are running a giveawaycontest for her book. Also The Monster Librarian reviews the latest in Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods series The Van Alen Legacy.
For kids:
KDP reviews David Siden'sBang goes a Troll. Also in case you missed in Where the Wild Things Are is coming out as a live action movie and Kirsten Kowalewski takes a look at the book by Maurice Sendak.
In case you have missed it, the folks over at Spook House Dave! show are running a 31 days of Halloween with a new show each day this month. Stop on over and take a look!
Keep reading and share a scare this Halloween! The Monster Librarian Back to the main page
We have launched our Halloween Page tonight with items for both children and adults
We have launch our "Share a Scare" reading initiative with a promotional video thanks to the wonderful folks at the Spook House Dave! show. We have included in our Halloween page some suggestions on how you can share a scare with a friend or family member.
We have started a new feature where we will suggest titles of horror books that go along with well known horror movies.
In addition, we here at MonsterLibrarian.com are pleased to announce the third annual “Halloween Horrors!” horror book review event.
“Halloween Horrors!” is an excellent way for librarians to get acquainted with horror genre titles both mainstream and small press. The event provides a tool to help librarians with reader’s advisory and collection development as well as become familiar with online review resources for what can be a challenging genre.
Each participating review site will have a project page dedicated to reviews of horror genre books that links to the other participating sites’ review pages.
Participating sites in this year’s project include MonsterLibrarian.com, Horrorworld, Hellnotes, Fearzone, Horror Fiction Review, Dark Scribe Magazine, Dread Central, and The Black Glove.
Head on over to our Halloween page to get started.
For our part of the Halloween Horrors! project we offer the following reviews.
In the adult Human Horror/Slasher section Rhonda Wilson and Erik Smith both review The 13th by John Everson Erik Smith reviews Hacks by Brian Knight Rhonda Wilson adds her take on Personal Demons by Gregory Lamberson
In the adult Zombie section Rhonda Wilson reviews Don of the Dead by Nick Cato
In the adult Horror Adventure/Urban Fantasy section Rhonda Wilson reviews Charlaine Harris' Dead and Gone David Agranoff reviews John Shirley's Bleak History
In the adult Horror Graphic Novel section The Monster Librarian reviews High Moon by David Gallaher and Trick'r Treat by Marc Andreyko. Bob Freeman reviews North 40 by Aaron Williams
In the adult Horror Anthologies section The Monster Librarian reviews Hellbound Hearts edited by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan Rhonda Wilson takes a second look at Taste of Tenderloin by Gene O'Neill
In the young adult Supernatural section Kirsten Kowalewski reviews Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.
In the young adult Werewolf section Kakari reviews Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
In our Scary Books for Kids section Kirsten Kowalewski reviews A Practical Guide to Vampires by Treval Vorgard Dhegdeer: A Scary Somali Folktale retold by Marian A. Hassan Halloween Night by Marjorie Dennis Murray Halloween Day by Anne Rockwell Sarah’s Little Ghosts by Thierry Robberecht
Finally, Rhonda Wilson interviews both Don of the Dead author Nick Cato and Personal Demons author Gregory Lamberson.
Keep reading! The Monster Librarian Back to the main page
9/2/09 Reviewing zombie titles, a slasher story, and a tale of the supernatural.
In this update we give you a double dose of zombie mayhem with Bob Freeman reviewing Derek Gunn'sThe Estuary and the Monster Librarian reviews Anthony Giangregorio'sRoad Kill.
We are still running our two contests. The first is for a copy of the latest y/a vampire title Night Runner by Max Turner and the other is for a copy of Rick Yancey's Gothic horror Monstrumologist at our Contest page.
Keep reading! The Monster Librarian Back to the main page
For young adults we have Kirsten Kowalewski reviewing Richard Lewis 's Monster’s Proof and Stacey L. Wilson reviews Katie Alender's Bad Girls Don’t Die.
For adult readers Michele Lee reviews Paul Kane's Red as part of Werewolf month, Bret Jordan reviews Alexander Zelenyi's Experiments at 3 Billion A.M., and David Agranoff reviews Midnight Walk edited by Lisa Morton.
Keep reading! The MonsterLibrarian Back to the main page
MonsterLibrarian.com is excited to announce that we have two different reading projects launching in July.
For those looking for something scary to read this summer, five sites dedicated to horror fiction reviews are collaborating on a special summer reading project titled Hazy Days of Horror. The participating sites include Hellnotes, Dark Scribe Magazine, Horror Fiction Review, Horrorworld, and MonsterLibrarian.com. By visiting any one of the participating sites’ Hazy Days of Horror page you will find not only that site’s reviews but a link to the other sites’ review pages, creating a virtual guide to reading horror this summer. This project is intended to both help librarians with their horror reader’s advisory and collection development this summer but also to help readers find another good book to read. Go to our Hazy Days of Horrorpage. Participating sites will be launching their pages and posting their reviews in the first week of July.
In addition to Hazy Days of Summer, MonsterLibrarian.com is proud to announce that July is Werewolf Month! This is our second annual appreciation for all things lycanthropic and whether it is horror, urban fantasy, or paranormal romance, we will be bringing you a list of new werewolf titles coming out, reviews, and this year we will be featuring the werewolf artwork of Jerrod Brown. Come visit our Werewolf page to see more.
Finally, Michele Lee reviews Tales from the Crypt #4 Crypt-Keeping it Realby Stefan Petrucha, Alex Simmons, Scott Lobdel, Joe R. Lansdale, John R. Lansdale, Aries Kaplan, Jim Salicrup.
Keep reading! The MonsterLibrarian Back to the main page
We would like to welcome Stacey L. Wilson who reviews Melissa Strangway's56 Water Street and Neil Gaiman'sThe Graveyard Book in the Scary Books for Kids section. She also reviews young adult vampire titleLook for Me by Moonlight by Mary Downing Hahn.
This week we start the launch of Spring into Terror. Spring into Terror is a collaborative horror fiction review project where your favorite horror review sites link up to create a guide to reading horror this spring.
Kirsten Kowalewski reviews a trio of monster books in the Scary Stories for Kids section: I Need My Monster by Amanda Noll, ill by Howard McWilliam Monsters on Machines by Deb Lund, ill. Robert Neubecker Monster Musical Chairs by Stuart J. Murphy, ill. by Scott Nash
We are gearing up for our 2nd annual Spring into Terror review project with an art contest.
Spring into Terror Art Contest
MonsterLibrarian.com and a number of other horror fiction review sites are conducting our second annual Spring into Terror horror fiction review project. As part of Spring into Terror we are holding an art contest to celebrate reading horror this spring. Theme: Reading horror (books or graphic novels)
Deadline for submissions: 4/15/09
Prize: A Spring into Terror grab bag of horror and thriller books including at least one limited edition title.
The criteria for entries are: File format: JPG File Size: 2 Megs or Less Medium: Digital, painting, or illustration Dimensions: Any, but the larger the picture the larger the file Send submissions to: monsterlibrarian@monsterlibrarian.com
By submitting art work as part of the contest you are giving MonsterLibrarian.com permission to use the submitted work
Keep reading! Monster Librarian Back to the main page
3/5/09 New reviews of horror and interview with Gord Rollo
In this update we have a treat. Two of our reviewers, K.D. Payne and Rhonda Wilson, review Gord Rollo's Crimson in the adult Supernatural horror section and K.D. Payne also interviews Gord Rollo in our author interview section.
Michele Lee reviews Unspeakable Horror edited by by Vince A. Liaguno and Chad Helder in the adult Horror Anthologies and Collected Works .
Jennifer Lawrence reviews Drood by Dan Simmons in the adult Supernatural horror section.
K.D. Payne reviews Eden by Tony Monchinski in the adult Zombie section.
We would like to welcome our newest reviewer, Rhonda Wilson. We have a packed update for you:
In the adult horror Graphic Novel section: Bob Freeman reviews The Fall of Cthulhu written by Michael Alan Nelson, illustrated by Jean-Jacques Dzialowski
K.D. Payne reviews The Chair written by Peter Simeti, illustrated by Kevin Christensen, edited Erin Kohut
In the adult Horror Anthologies and Collected Works section: Bret Jordan reviews Mama’s Boy and Other Dark Tales by Fran Friel K.D. Payne reviews Traumatized by Alexander S. Brown Rhonda Wilson reviews Hot Blood by Jeff Gelb and Lonn Friend David Agranoff takes a second look at Sheep and Wolves By Jeremy C. Shipp
In the adult Werewolves section: Rhonda Wilson reviews Pride by Rachel Vincent
In the adult Human Monsters and Psychological Horror section: The Angry Princess reviews Splattered Beauty by Brandon Ford
1/17/09 Reviews of books with Zombies, Werewolves,and the Supernatural
In this update K.D. Payne reviews Wayne Simmons' Drop Dead Gorgeous in the adult Zombie section, Wrath James White's Succulent Prey in the adult Human Horror section, Nate Kenyon's The Reach and Black Cathedral by LH Maynard and MPN Sims in the adult Supernatural section. The Angry Princess reviews Zoe Whitten'sRedemption Lostin the Human Horror section. Bob Freeman reviews Evil Ways by Justin Gustainis in the adult Urban Fantasy section. Michele Lee reviews Victor Pelevin'sThe Sacred Book of the Werewolfin the adult Werewolf section. Kirsten Kowalewski reviews Laura Ruby's The Chaos Kingin the teen Dark Fantasy section and Mike Thaler'sThe Librarian from the Black Lagoon and Ella Burfoot'sDarkness Slipped In in the Scary Books for Kids section. We have started our Coming Horror Fiction Releases for 2009 and will have updates through out the year. Finally, we have updated our Winter Chillshorror book review project page. Keep reading! Monster Librarian Back to the main page
With this update we are launching our Winter Chills seasonal horror book review project. Horror fiction review sites such as HorrorWorld, Dark Scribe Magazine, and Horror Fiction Review are reviewing horror titles for your winter reading leisure. As reviews are posted, we are providing links to each other's reviews. As each site posts further reviews, new links willl be provided. For this project, MonsterLibrarian.com is going graphical, with all reviews of graphic novels, including reviews of Hybrid by Peter Kwong art by Pablo Churin and Mary Cataioa and Zombie Tales Vol. 1 by Andrew Cosby, John Rogers, Keith Giffen, Michael Alan Nelson, and Johanna Stokes in the adult graphic novel section and Death Valley by Andrew Cosby, Johanna Stokes, and illustrated by Rhoald Marcellus and Agnes Quill: an anthology of mystery by Dave Roman, illustrated by Jason Ho, Raina Telgemeier, Jeff Zornow, and Dave Roman in the young adult Graphic Novels section. We encourage you to check out the reviews at all of the participating sites and read a little horror under the covers this winter. Visit our Winter Chills page to learn more.
Keep reading! Monster Librarian Back to the main page
In addition, we have an interview with Melissa de la Cruz, author of the young adult vampires series Blue Bloods!
In January, please visit us for our first winter horror review project titled Winter Chills, where we will be reviewing books that will be having you shiver with fear with other horror review sites!
Keep reading! Monster Librarian Back to the main page.
11/18/08 new reviews of books for kids, teens, and adults
In this update Bret Jordan reviews Dean Lorey'sNightmare Academy: Monster Madness and Kirsten Kowalewski reviews Margery Cuyler'sSkeleton Hiccups in the Scary Books for Kids section. Bret also reviews The Stowaway by RA and Geno Salvatore in the young adult Fantasy section and the Monster Librarian reviews Melissa de la Cruz's newest Blue Bloods book Revelations in the young adult Vampires section.Michele Lee reviews A.P. Fuchs' Blood of the Dead in the adult Zombie section and the Monster Librarian reviews Richard Laymon'sThe Woods Are Dark in the adult Supernatural section. In conjunction with the release of the newest Blue Bloods book there is a Blue Bloods sweepstakes going on check our Contests page for more information. Keep reading! The Monster Librarian Back to the main page.
