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All Hallow’s Read: Pass It On!

All Hallow’s Read is a Halloween tradition sparked in 2011 by Neil Gaiman, who suggested that it’s the perfect time to gift someone with a scary book. I’ll let him explain.

Note the part where he said to visit the library because the librarian is a great source for information on scary books? Take that to heart. Visit the All Hallow’s Read website here. You can find ideas for good scary books here at Monster Librarian, as well. If you haven’t started this tradition yet, this year is the time to start. Let the shivers start!

 

Posted on October 12, 2014 by , Reply

Holiday Gifts for Horror Readers

December is zooming along. If you haven’t already started shopping for the horror readers in your life, now is a great time to start.

So, what to give? Well, you could start out by setting the scene. The perfect Christmas here involves Christmas carols playing,  a nice cup of hot chocolate,  a fire in the fireplace, and a big fuzzy blanket to curl up in while watching Christmas specials and reading.

 

Metal X-Mas (2CD Special Edition). Okay, maybe this isn’t the most relaxing recording of Christmas music ever, and I have to admit that I have not listened to every song, but it’s totally worth it just to hear Alice Cooper sing a Christmas carol.

 

McSteven’s Haunted! Spiced Hot Chocolate. This would make a perfect stocking stuffer. McSteven’s sells their hot chocolate in little tins and has different ones for various special occasions. They also have a Halloweenville gift set with three kinds of holiday hot chocolate and a Vampire’s Brew that comes in a coffin shaped container. Haunted hot chocolate is good enough for me, though, especially if it’s got a bit of a kick.

Nightmare Before Christmas Blanket with Sleeves – Fleece Comfy Throw. There are a million different fleece blankets out there and you certainly don’t have to choose this particular one. I saw a purple one with zebra stripes that looked fun. But running with the theme of Christmas and horror it’s hard to find a better fit. I like the ones with sleeves because they keep your arms warm and I get really cold very easily. You’ll have to come up with a pillow on your own.

 

 

Christmas Classics  DVD Gift Set, with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.

Grown-up horror lovers may think they’ve grown out of the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials, but the Abominable Snowman in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Winter Warlock in Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town are scary enough that my kids ran out of the room when they first saw them. They really are scary, and they take you back to that time when it didn’t take Black Christmas to give you a scare. Also, no holiday season is really complete without them. Admit it. I don’t think I would give this just on its own to a horror lover, but if you’re putting together a holiday package, I think it would make a nice addition to the mix, and it’s family friendly.

Weightless Books

(e)Books That Don’t Weigh You Down
There are all kinds of horror readers. Some are collectors, some love their ratty paperback copies. Some devour ebooks, and some are horrified by them. Luckily, there are all kinds of books and magazines out there to read as well. I’m going to assume that ravenous ebook readers already have their e-readers, and just say that, while I love my Kindle Touch (which apparently isn’t available from Amazon anymore), if you know the one you love does more than read novels and is seeking a new one,  the Kindle Fire HD looks pretty awesome, and has gotten good reviews.I am, however, philosophically opposed to the imposition of DRM on my ebooks. If I buy it, then it ought to be mine, to take where I please, not “licensed” to me by Amazon or a publisher. So I am a fan of sites that offer DRM free ebooks, and my favorite is Weightless Books, owned by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant. They will sell you a DRM-free ebook that you can then download to whatever devices you have in whatever format you need it, with only the request that you not share it out with your friends but rather encourage them to purchase the books (or magazine subscriptions) that you have purchased from them.  They offer a lot of speculative fiction from independent presses and subscriptions to Apex, Nightmare, Weird Tales, and Innsmouth Magazine, which are delivered directly to your e-reader in your requested format. I love getting to support an independent store, and so I suggest that a gift certificate to Weightless Books would be a great gift for a reader interested in exploring new and interesting ways of looking at things (mostly through fiction). 

Cemetery Dance Publications   

 

Or, you can purchase directly from a small press. There are some fantastic titles out there that are not available anywhere else.  One of the better known independent presses is Cemetery Dance. Cemetery Dance publishes a magazine with horror fiction, art, and author interviews, but it’s best known for its quality limited editions. These are expensive, but often the material isn’t available anywhere else, and the books are usually completely gorgeous. If you really want to show your love, you could sign someone up for the Cemetery Dance Book Club. Dark Regions Press also publishes quality dark fiction in limited editions, as well as a variety of other formats. Dark Regions just had a kickstarter to fund publication for the second title in a new imprint, Black Labyrinth, which will be a series of novellas that sound like they will be gorgeously illustrated. You can find links to these presses and other small presses in the links over to the right, if you scroll down.

I hope that helps you with your shopping, if you aren’t done already (and I am a last minute shopper, myself). Have a great time picking out just the right gift for the horror lover in your life, and may you have happy holidays this year!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on December 15, 2013 by , Reply

A List of Lists: Links to Booklists Recently Shared on Facebook

October is a busy month, and it kind of wore me out. One thing I did to make it easier to share some of the great booklists out there during the time that includes Teen Read Week and Halloween was to post them on our Facebook page. Over the past few years we haven’t really posted there very much but it is an easy way for me to post a link to something cool right away when I find it. Unfortunately, our Facebook page doesn’t actually have a lot of viewers, which means that if the only way you get information from Monster Librarian is through our blogs, then you probably missed out on seeing some pretty cool stuff (even if you “liked” our page, Facebook’s evil plan to force us to pay for advertising means our reach isn’t necessarily all that great, so actually visiting every once in a while instead of waiting for us to show up in your news feed is a good way to see what’s going on).

So I thought I’d share some of the links to booklists that I posted there that I don’t think got posted here while I was working on developing original content here. Some of them are pretty cool, and all of them are just a little different.

 

Bewitching Tales: Great Books for Halloween Reads from School Library Journal.

Pretty self-explanatory.

 

The Devil’s 10 Best Appearances in Literature at Flavorwire.com.

I’d argue with some of these choices, but it is an interesting list. Actually, it’s an interesting idea for a list as well.

 

Find Your Next Supernatural Read by Carli Spina at The Hub, the blog for the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA).

A nice list of YA choices.

 

Horror in YA Literature is a Staple, Not a Trend by Kelly Jensen in School Library Journal.

I love this article. If you are interested in YA at all, read it!

 

Genre Guide: Horror for Teens at The Hub.

It’s really nice to see teen horror get its own genre guide. And about time.

 

Ten Best Halloween Read-Aloud Picture Books for Kids at BookRiot.

There are some nice choices here, and it’s always nice to see the early elementary crowd get some recognition– they love the scary stuff, too!

 

Top 10 Horror Fiction for Youth: 2013 by Gillian Engberg from Booklist Online.

Pretty self-explanatory.

 

Top 10 Horror Fiction: 2013, by Brad Hooper from Booklist Online.

Also self-explanatory. It’s nice to have a summary of good recent titles, though.

 

RA for All: 31 Days of Halloween– Love for Monster Librarian by Becky Siegel Spratford at RA Horror for All.

Becky had a different post on reader’s advisory in horror fiction every day of the month, including a very interesting series of guest posts from the folks at Booklist. I just happened to link to this particular day because I’m proud to be included here, but really, anyone interested in reader’s advisory in horror fiction ought to visit here regularly.

 

10 Novels That Will Scare the Hell Out of You by Julie Buntin at The Huffington Post.

These are all titles that tie into the haunted house subgenre.

 

The Top Ten Horror Stories by Stephen Jones from Publishers Weekly.

Anthologist Stephen Jones, editor of A Book of Horrors, shares his top ten favorite horror short stories.

 

Halloween Reads @ your library from MonsterLibrarian.com

This is not the only original booklist I’ve produced over the last month or so, but it is one that’s directly related to Halloween. I put together new and original content and booklists every year at this time, so it’s worth it to browse not only this year’s archives for October, but past years as well. This list is part of something new I’m trying where I focus on a particular topic or creature (I’ve already touched on The Phantom of The Opera, The Invisible Man, and witches) for a list of books or media that can be used to promote horror through library collections, so look out for the “@ your library” posts for related booklists.

 

Halloween Reading: Joseph D’Lacey’s Top Ten Horror Books from The Guardian.

This is a list of choices made by horror author Joseph D’Lacey.

 

Quiet Horror, Still the Darling of the Horror Genre by Paula Cappa.

Paula writes about a genre of horror that has gone unnoticed for some time and is just recently gaining a little recognition– quiet, or atmospheric, horror. Paula’s blog is a great place to visit for older examples of stories in this genre, but more current titles (like Alison Littlewood’s A Cold Season) are now sneaking into the mainstream as well.

 

5 Must-Read Werewolf Novels from Barnes & Noble.

The werewolf genre is another one where the audience is depressingly underserved. Here are a few titles to give you a place to begin in making suggestions. The essential word there is “begin”.

 

The 5 Scariest Short Stories on the Market!

The title here is misleading, as these are not new stories by any means, but the list does show that quiet horror is starting to get some notice again.

 

13 of the Year’s Creepiest Books from The Book Case at BookPage.com.

This is a list of recent titles, and you’ll probably recognize some of the names.

 

The 5 Creepiest Anime Series of All Time from Geek Magazine.

Yikes. I’ll stick with Fruits Baskets, thank you very much.

 

9 Children’s Books That Absolutely Terrified Us from The Huffington Post.

It’s always nice to see Der Struwwelpeter on these kinds of lists. Well, maybe nice is not the right word. The author here made some interesting choices that I suspect many people may disagree with.

 

10 of the Creepiest Books That Kids Love at Babble.com.

I love this list because it contains books outside the usual suspects, like Heckedy Peg by Audrey Wood, a book that I LOVE and used to read aloud in storyhours all the time.

 

Horror Stories: 25 Must-Read Books that Inspired Scary Movies at Complex.com.

Very cool list– the author comes down on the side of “the book is better than the movie”, but either way, I think it’s a win.

 

So there you have it. Lots and lots of links to booklists of all kinds, for children, teens, and adults, from creepy anime to haunted houses. It takes a long time to compile a month’s worth of booklists, so please visit us on Facebook to see what other treasures I turn up!

Posted on November 9, 2013 by , Reply
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