CHICAGO — Like the zombies, ghouls, and vampires which inhabit many of its books, the popularity of horror fiction is unstoppable. Even if you don’t happen to be a fan yourself, you won’t be “scared” to advise readers on finding their next great fright thanks to the astute guidance provided by horror expert Becky Siegel Spratford in the newly updated third edition of “The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Horror,” published by ALA Editions. This definitive resource for library workers at any level of experience or familiarity with horror fiction:
- details the state of the genre right now, including its appeal factors and key authors, assisting readers in getting up to speed quickly;
- presents ten annotated lists of suggested titles, all published since 2000, each with a short introduction providing historical context;
- delves into horror movies, TV shows, podcasts, and other formats; and
- offers abundant marketing advice, programming options, and pointers on additional resources.
Spratford is a Readers’ Advisory Specialist in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All and its evil twin RA for All Horror. She is under contract to provide content for EBSCO’s NoveList database and writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. She received the prestigious Richard Laymon President’s Award from the Horror Writers Association (HWA) in 2021. You can follow her on Twitter at @RAforAll.
Many book retailers and distributors are experiencing service disruptions or delays, including Amazon. For speediest service, order direct from the ALA Store. ALA Store purchases fund advocacy, awareness and accreditation programs for library and information professionals worldwide. ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman publishes resources used by library and information professionals, scholars, students, and educators to improve programs and services, build on best practices, enhance pedagogy, share research, develop leadership, and promote advocacy. ALA authors and developers are leaders in their fields, and their content is published in a variety of print and electronic formats. Contact ALA Editions | ALA Neal-Schuman at [email protected].
Originally published at https://www.ala.org/news/member-news/2021/09/spratford-s-new-guide-horror-fiction
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