Springfield-Greene County Library District discussion

This month's ReadUps theme is:

SUMMER SCARES!

The annual Summer Scares Reading List is designed to promote horror fiction as a great reading option for all ages, during any time of the year. The list is selected by a panel of authors and librarians and is sponsored by the Horror Writers Association (HWA) and other partners.

This month, we encourage you to read a book from the official Summer Scares list, but any horror title will fit into the theme!

To begin our discussion, we want to know: What are some of your favorite horror novels? Why do you like (or not like) horror?

I don't read much horror, because I get scared VERY easily. But for some reason, books about zombies don't frighten me as much as other horror does, so I've read quite a few of those. A few of my favorites are Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith, which I find very funny, and the Rot & Ruin series by Jonathan Maberry. Though I don't like being scared, I enjoy the speculative nature of these titles and other horror books like them. It's interesting to think about how society would react in a zombie apocalypse.

I also don't read a lot of horror. But I loved Justin Cronin's trilogy that began with The Passage. The series is about a new species of vampires that emerge due to human experimentation in the search for ever increasing longevity. It is not your typical "vampire" type book, and all three books were spellbinding.

I've had Wanderers by Chuck Wendig on my to-read shelf for awhile. It is classified as an apocalyptic horror read. I wondered if anyone has read it, and what they thought of it.

Janice wrote: "I also don't read a lot of horror. But I loved Justin Cronin's trilogy that began with The Passage. The series is about a new species of vampires that emerge due to h..."

The Passage sounds really good--thank you for sharing that title, Janice! It sounds like the kind of horror I could handle (kind of a blend of science fiction and horror). I had never heard of Wanderers, but it looks fascinating! The idea of people randomly sleepwalking is creepy but really interesting. The summary reminds me of another book I want to read: The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker. In that one, an "ominous sleeping virus" sweeps through California--people just fall asleep and nothing will wake them up. Has anyone read that one? I enjoyed Walker's first book, The Age of Miracles, in which Earth's rotation begins to slow down inexplicably, which has apocalyptic consequences. It's not considered horror, but has a very unsettling feeling that horror fans would probably enjoy.

Today's New York Times Book Updates page has several new horror books with brief reviews. I have Mexican Gothic on my radar. Here is a link to that page:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/bo...

I watch and enjoy horror movies, but rarely read it and I'm not certain why. I've always enjoyed genre movies more then genre books.
Incidentally though, I've happened to read two witch books this summer. I just finished one.
Witch tales bring together some of the best that the horror genre has to offer for me, usually there is a strong social commentary or moral, the "evil" is truly a pure evil (which is especially satisfying for some reason?), and they are mostly very spooky and with just the occasionally grotesque (but often pretty grotesque) climactic scene.

So, wanted to shout out two not-quite horror witch books I've enjoyed this summer. Hurricane Season and Rachel Rising Omnibus

Janice wrote: "Today's New York Times Book Updates page has several new horror books with brief reviews. I have Mexican Gothic on my radar. Here is a link to that page:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/22/bo......"

Janice, I want to read Mexican Gothic too! I've read one other book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Signal to Noise) and I loved it SO MUCH, but was a completely different type of book from Mexican Gothic, from the looks of it.

This month, I read Daughters Unto Devils, which is the July selection for Donuts and Death book discussion. It was extremely creepy, especially for a teen novel. Kind of like Little House on the Prairie, except with demon possessions. It was also a really quick read, great for my pandemic-era brain as it is currently functioning.

I've just started The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, who is doing a virtual author event for the library next week. I'm at the very beginning, but it's very weird so far and I'm excited to find out what's going on. I'm already attached to the characters and I'm not even a tenth of the way into the book.

Miranda wrote: "Janice wrote: "Today's New York Times Book Updates page has several new horror books with brief reviews. I have Mexican Gothic on my radar. Here is a link to that page:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020..."

I'm going to look for Signal to Noise, I hadn't heard anything about it. I have been wondering about The Only Good Indians, I am interested to know what you think of it when you finish!

Janice, I'll report back here after I'm done! :)

Miranda wrote: "Janice, I'll report back here after I'm done! :)"

Good, I'll look for it!

Chris wrote: "I watch and enjoy horror movies, but rarely read it and I'm not certain why. I've always enjoyed genre movies more then genre books.
Incidentally though, I've happened to read two witch books this..."
[book:Hurricane Season|46041168 is another one on my to-read list, glad to see it recommended.

Yesterday I started listening to Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks. I am really liking it. Much better than I anticipated!

Janice wrote: "Yesterday I started lisThe Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Deadtening to Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks. I am really liking it. Much better than I anticipated!"

I've been meaning to read "Devolution" because I really enjoyed Max Brooks' other books: World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War and The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection from the Living Dead. I'm happy to hear that you are enjoying it!

I'm currently reading Dread Nation by Justina Ireland and I am hooked! It's an alternate history in which there is a zombie outbreak in the Civil War era. Jane is a young Black girl who is training as a zombie-killing attendant whose job will be to protect wealthy white women from the undead. It's an interesting mix of zombie-fighting action and social commentary on race.

Did anyone else read an interesting horror title this month? 

Janice, I finished The Only Good Indians and loved it! The sense of creeping dread starts from the get-go and only gets more and more intense. It felt so real and visceral, and I felt very connected to the characters. A modern Native perspective is one that I'd like to see more of. The last section was so thrilling, but also YIKES VERY SCARY! A really interesting take on the "slasher" genre. Content warning: doggie murder (usually a deal-breaker for me, but it was fitting in this context).

Thanks for letting us all know, Miranda. I am going to push it up on my priority list!

I finished Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre a few days ago. I liked it much more than I anticipated. The author does a good job of building the suspense, and also there is more character development than I expected, but can't say I expected much!