Summer Scares 2024

 I will recap PLA 2024 at the end but there has been a lot of good talk about upcoming horror novels at the convention. I wanted to remind everyone that Summer Scares, a partnership between the Horror Writers of America, BookList and NoveList, is a great opportunity to promote horror outside of October. 

I can guarantee that your patrons don't only think that beach reads are cheery and light. Living near the beach, I see people check out plenty of thrillers, suspense, and horror novels to take with them. Don't prejudge what your patrons are interested in and seasonally limit what portions of your collection that you market to them.

There are adult, YA, and middle grade titles selected each year. They are always back list titles that are in print. An author is selected as spokesperson and this year it is Clay McLeod Chapman who is an excellent author to suggest to patrons who think they don't read horror. You can find out more about his books here. 

There are free webinars with the authors available courtesy of BookList. The Springfield-Greene Co Library (MO) creates a programming guide each year that has ideas for how you can include Summer Scares in your summer programming. 

Becky Spratford, Readers Advisory expert and secretary of the Horror Writers, maintains a regularly updated list of resources on her blog, RA For All: Horror. Her blog includes information about the 9 books selected for this year, a link to the programming guide, webinars, and other information to help you shake up summer reading by adding some horror to your programming, displays, and book suggestions. 


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