Skip to main content

13 in 13 Horror Challenge

That's not me in the picture, but I loved it and had to share. (It's from girlslife.com)












13 in 13 Horror Challenge 

I was in the mood for a truly spooky read. Blame the cold fall nights, or the crunchy leaves on the sidewalks. Blame my weird taste, or just my mood. Whatev's. It's time to get the horror on. What I wasn't really prepared for was the complete lack of horror books out there. Seriously! Where are they? Good luck finding them in Barnes and Noble. They have reshelved the little they sell into general fiction or SciFi. I kid you not. What they have on offer is all old boy's school (King, King, Hill, King). 

So, I dedicate this challenge to the ladies of horror. I am also going to pound out some classics I have missed over the years. My major focus this year will be on HAUNTED HOUSES. 

I used this list and this list as well as this to formulate a general pile of titles to get going on. I'm not going to list them here in case I start something and drop it, but I have the list going on Goodreads. Feel free to check it out and read along.

So, the rules. I have to read 13 complete titles. That means, if I'm reading a collection- I have to read the entire collection. No skipping stories. I can cease reading, pick a new title, swap titles, or try something else at any point as long as I finish 13 books by the 31st. Everyone's definition of horror seems to vary greatly, but I feel I have more than a good grasp on what is real horror and what is not (i.e. Twilight, or anything with a scantily clad male with leather accessories on the front). 


I have no problem with well written indies. Personally, I love Hugh Howley and think Amanda Hocking is a great storyteller (both of whom started as "indies"). That said, if I find something in the Kindle store that scares the crap out of me, it makes the list. 

As I get reading, I can share a couple of horror titles that I have read over the years that I highly recommend reading on a chilly October night. Happy Hauntings. 

I also can't help reading horror for kids.  A great many grade school kiddos come into the library looking for "scary" reads. What most of these kids really mean is that they want something that is a "tiny bit spine tingling, but not mind altering". I'm a big fan of Lois Duncan, The Creepover series, Mary Downing Hahn, and Adam Gidwitz. Oh, and good old Goosebumps. 

Every once in awhile, THAT KID comes in. I was THAT KID growing up, so I recognize them right away. THAT KID read books like the ones listed above in first grade and is ready for something much, much scarier. For them, I recommend: early King, some Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, VC Andrews, Shirley Jackson, and Ray Bradbury). 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Attention Lucky Leprechauns.....

Whoo hoo! Time for some lucky, Irish fun. One lucky, lucky person will win a $25 gift card to Amazon to spend on whatever your little heart desires. Rules: Fill out the form. Comments and follows are not required, but sure are nice! US only, I am just too new at this to attempt International at this point. Check out all of the blogs on the hop! There are loads of chances to win some great stuff. Thank you for entering, and please feel free to stop back and visit me anytime! Contest open: March 17, 2011 to March 20, 2011. Winner will be notified on the 21st by email. Hop to here to see the list of participating blogs! Loading...

My First Ever Giveaway!!!!!

It is time to give back, my friends! I've been plotting this one for a while and the time is here. I give you: My First Giveaway!!! Here's what's up for grabs: One autographed copy of Blessed by Cynthia Leitich Smith and one advanced reader copy of The Iron Queen by Julie Kagawa. I know! I'm excited too!!! Here are the rules: 1. Open to US peeps only (sorry! Broke grad student here) 2. The giveaway is open from 2/13/11 to 2/20/11 because I hate long giveaways. 3. I will email the winner on 2/21/11 and they will have 48 hours to reply or a new winner will be chosen. 4. Random.org will pick the winner. 5. No extra entries (everyone is equal in my eyes). 6. Fill out the form to win!!! Following and comments are not required for the giveaway, but sure are appreciated! Loading...

Teddy Bear Storytime

Tonight's storytime followed the same format I use for all of my day storytimes as I have temporarily suspended my idea of doing storytime in reverse in order to get the kids sleepy. They only seem to run out into the library to pick out movies and books and the effect is lost. So here is what we did tonight. Our theme was teddy bears, but our night storytime is always wear jammies, bring a lovey, and low action. My opening song is Hello Bubbles which I learned from Read Sing Play here . BTW this woman is a storytime goddess and I have picked up many great ideas on her blog. Story the 1st: The Red Hat by Lita Judge  Why? Because I want to get across to my kids that books do not always have to have words in order for us to "read" them, and I want to give pre-readers a chance to feel proud they finished a book on their own. I plan to try to read or highlight at least one wordless read for the next couple of storytimes. Flannel Board: Ten in the Bed I used a mod...