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Prom Can Be Hell

As we “spring into terror” it’s time to recognize a truly special time of year- prom season.  As anyone who survived high school can testify, it’s a dangerous (and angsty) time of year. Even if you don’t read horror, you probably know of  Carrie, Stephen King’s terrifying novel, made into a movie starring Sissy Spacek.  I read it in high school, during study hall, and just as the bell rang in the book, the bell for class dismissal rang in my classroom. I jumped right out of my chair. It’s hardly King’s scariest book, but the cruelty other girls show towards Carrie is unforgettable to me.

If it were only one book, maybe I wouldn’t have seen a trend. But it’s not just one book. It’s hard to write about high school at all without some kind of  (to paraphrase Lewis Carroll)”will he, won’t he, will he, won’t he, will he join the dance”? I don’t read a lot of adult horror (and, in spite of the number of teens who read Stephen King, he wasn’t targeting that audience with Carrie) but there sure are a lot of YA titles that center on the prom, or some other important high school dance. I can’t say I’ve read them all, and we definitely don’t have reviews up for all of them (I have linked to the reviews for the ones we have) but especially lately there have been enough of them for me to provide you with a list of related books here, if you’d like to go beyond the classic King title.

Some recent ones include:

ghostgirl by Tonya Hurley (centers on a Halloween dance)

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Love is Hell by Scott Westerfeld, Melissa Marr, Justine Larbalestier, and Gabrielle Zevin

Never Slow Dance With A Zombie by E. Van Lowe (features a “winter formal”)

Once Dead, Twice Shy by Kim Harrison

Prom Dates from Hell by Rosemary Clement-Moore

Prom Nights from Hell by Stephenie Meyer, Kim Harrison, Meg Cabot, and Lauren Myracle

Suzi Clue: The Prom Queen Curse by Michelle Kehm

Zombie Queen of Newbery High by Amanda Ashby

Zombies vs. Unicorns edited by Holly Black and Justine Larbalestier.  “Prom Night”, by Libba Bray, is a strong finish to this fantastic anthology.

And here are some oldies, including a couple by tween horrormeister R.L. Stine.

Prom Dress by Lael Littke

Prom Date by Diane Hoh

Fear Street: The Prom Queen by R.L. Stine

Fear Street Seniors: Prom Date  by R.L. Stine

If you know of any other great scary stories that take place at a school dance, leave a comment so we can add to the list!

Parents, because prom can (obviously) have all kinds of hazards (beyond the ghosts and zombies attracted to the teen dance scene), you might want to look into some prom safety tips. And, for all you prom-goers, please don’t drink or text while driving or get in a car with someone who is, keep your cell phone charged, and stay sharp. Call your parents or 911 if things get bad. I mean, I hope you do that anyway, but please take extra care.

Posted on April 21, 2011 by , Reply

Moms vs. Zombies

Ah, motherhood. It’s a crazy time. Under all the chaos, and even when you’re trying desperately to escape them, there’s a part of you that loves those kids no matter what, and wants to protect your children from anything that might possibly ever harm them.

So what happens at the end of the world? What does a mom do in the event of a zombie apocalypse? Do they have plans in place, just in case? I asked a whole bunch of them.

One practical mom said her plan is to head to Sam’s Club, and pick up a survivalist friend along the way. I guess it would be awhile before they ran out of supplies!

After one smart mom suggested heading to Palm Springs, several more started to plan to caravan there. In their minivans, maybe? Apparently Palm Springs only has two exits/entrances, is easily defensible, and wind powered. Only problem is, that since almost all of us live in the Midwest, those gas guzzlers would probably run out of fuel before we got there.

A surprising number(at least, surprising to me since I don’t think I’ve seen a movie in three years) had seen Zombieland and said they’d prepare with cardio. Since it’s the Midwest, it’s probably not that much of a surprise that many of them chimed in “Double Tap”!

One realistic mom said “I just stubbed my toe getting out of the shower”. She was pretty resigned to being zombie food! Another said “I am very, very smart”- meaning she’d quickly become brain food”!

One movie-watching mom said “As slow as they are in the movies, I think we could probably outrun them”! I must say, it’s not the first time I’ve heard that one!

A couple of them tracked down the zombie vaccine. Children must be immunized, you know! And several uninitiated ones headed off to track down the Zombie Survival Guide and Zombieland. And ammo. Knowledge is power, you know, and you’ve got to protect the children!

A few of them noted that their four year olds have already educated them about zombies. Add my obsessed five year old to that group. Although he seems to be moving on to cryptids, the zombies keep shuffling in.

Are moms going to survive the zombie apocalypse with their children intact? Some will… and maybe now a few more than before. Unless, as one mom who reads a lot noted, they’re Brian Keene’s zombies. In which case, when the birds get infected, we’re all doomed.

My thanks to the moms from IMLM who contributed their musings. I probably won’t survive the zombie apocalypse, but I sure hope they do!

Posted on April 3, 2011 by , 2 comments

Winter Chills! Zombie Anthology Contest

As part of our Winter Chills! program we are having a giveaway contest for three zombie anthologies (The Undead: Zombie Anthology, The Undead Vol 3:Flesh Feast, and History is Dead).  To enter just leave a comment below and share with us your favorite zombie moment whether it is from book, movie, or videogame. Note: Contest is open to North American residents only.

Posted on January 3, 2011 by , 21 comments
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