Home » Posts tagged "scary books" (Page 2)

All Hallow’s Read: Give a Book This Halloween

All Hallow’s Read is a “new” Halloween tradition established by author Neil Gaiman, who suggested on Twitter a few years ago that we all give someone we love a great scary read on October 31st. After all, why should gifts wait for birthdays or Christmas? I love this idea.

I’m not the only one, by far. But in particular, a number of authors have decided that All Hallow’s Read is a great opportunity to not only give the gift of fear to the ones you love, but also to share it with other people who might not be so lucky. Ten authors have banded together for a blog tour– Fiction Frolic for All Hallow’s Read— to encourage people to donate books to the nonprofit literacy organization Books for America, based in Washington, D.C., between now and October 19. Donating books will enter you in a giveaway, but who needs a reason to share their love of reading? Here are the details about the giveaway and about donating books, sent to me by the authors participating in the Fiction Frolic. I hope you’ll decide to donate!

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Help Raise 1,000 books for charity and enter to win $200, signed books and swag!

We are excited to share about an ambitious blog tour—Fiction Frolic for All Hallow’s Read—where ten authors from several genres are working hard to raise 1,000 books in three weeks for Books for America.

From October 1st to 19th, donate a new book (or books!) and earn extra bonus points in a huge giveaway that these authors are hosting.

Two winners will each receive the following PRIZES! a Rafflecopter giveaway

$100 Amazon G.C.
5 signed books from the authors hosting the event
A swag bag
Plus—in honor of All Hallow’s read, gift a signed copy of one of our books to a friend!

With a total of $200, 12 signed books (including the gifted books) and major swag, what better way is there to raise books for charity and celebrate All Hallow’s Read?

Each author participating is also donating signed copies of their books to Books for America, an awesome charity that is officially sponsoring their event and excited to be involved with All Hallow’s Read. In 2011, Books for America donated more than $800,000 worth of books and materials to DC area schools, shelters and dozens of other educational programs and organizations.

The authors are blogging throughout the event at The Fiction Frolic Blog.
• 10/1-5 Read about how books shaped their love for reading and writing.
• 10/8-12 Read their scariest, funniest or craziest Halloween experiences, or learn about their favorite Halloween themed book or movie, or favorite work of “dark” literature.
• 10/15-19 Enjoy some flash fiction, short stories and novel excerpts.

So donate, share, and look for daily ways to enter to win. Donate to charity for bonus points!.

This event is sponsored by:
Eleanor T Beaty, author of the YA paranormal Veiled Mist
Brewin’ author of the supernatural horror, The Dark Horde
Andy Gavin, author of the fantasy horror, The Darkening Dream
Laxmi Hariharan, author of the YA fantasy, The Destiny of Shaitan
Kimberly Kinrade, author of the YA paranormal thriller/romances, Forbidden Mind & Forbidden Fire
Richard Long, author of the supernatural thriller/horror, The Book of Paul
M.C. Mars, author of the mind-bending novel, Burner
Melissa McPhail, author of epic fantasy Cephrael’s Hand
Sheryl Steines, author of She Wulf & Days of First Sun
Pavarti K Tyler., author of the Lit Fic Shadow on the Wall and the erotic horror Consumed by Love

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Kirsten, 1 comment

Help a Reader Out: The Babysitter

A mystery keyword searcher is looking for… a scary book about a babysitter telling a couple of kids a scary story.

Gosh, babysitters figure in so many scary stories, but usually (oddly, considering that they’re the ones supposedly in charge) they’re victims. I don’t know if our mystery searcher has a specific book in mind or is just looking for any story that fits these criteria. If it’s something specific, I don’t know that I have an answer, but there is one extremely creepy short story I know of where a babysitter tells her charges a very creepy story. That story is “The Specialist’s Hat”, and it appears in the short story collection Pretty Monsters, by Kelly Link. If anyone out there has knowledge of a BOOK with this theme, please post it in the comments below.

Thanks!

ETA: It looks like we have a winner! If you haven’t checked out the comments below, Jericho suggested “When Nobody’s Home: Fifteen Baby-Sitting Tales of Terror” by Judith Gorog. If you’re interested in finding out more about her or her books, I did respond in the comments, but I’ll copy it below, too. Here’s what I said:

I am not personally familiar with Judith Gorog’s books, but it looks like she was responsible for a lot of scary books and short story collections for children and young teens, mostly written in the 1980′s and 1990′s (this particular title was published in 1998). Since we get a lot of requests for the scary stuff for kids in these age groups, I’ll list some of the titles I found at the Pennsylvania Center for the Book (for the entire article click here). One review I saw for “In a Messy, Messy, Room”(at the lower end of the age range) recommended setting the book out with Alvin Schwartz’s “In a Dark, Dark, Room” and “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark”, so if you can find them, they look like they’re worth checking out!

A Taste for Quiet and Other Disquieting Tales. New York: Philomel, 1982.
When Flesh Begins to Creep. London: Gollancz, 1986.
Caught in the Turtle. New York: Philomel, 1983.
No Swimming in Dark Pond and Other Chilling Tales. New York: Philomel, 1987.
Three Dreams and a Nightmare and Other Tales of the Dark. New York: Philomel, 1988.
In a Messy, Messy Room, and Other Strange Stories. New York: Philomel, 1990.
Winning Scheherazade. New York: Atheneum 1991.
On Meeting Witches at Wells. New York: Philomel, 1991.
Please Do Not Touch. New York: Scholastic (Point Horror), 1995.
When Nobody’s Home: Thirteen Tales for Tonight. New York: Scholastic, 1994.
Zilla Sasparilla and the Mud Baby. Cambridge: Candlewick, 1995.
In a Creepy, Creepy Place and Other Scary Stories. New York: HarperCollins, 1996.

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Kirsten, 2 comments

School Scares

School is starting back up again, so what better time to bring out the school stories? While we don’t want to give kids nightmares about starting a new grade, pretty soon they’ll be lugging home reading records for their 100 Book Club, 15-minutes-a-day-of- independent-reading-homework, Accelerated Reader, or whatever various programs the school is using to try to motivate kids into reading. I have to tell you that I personally find that it’s a drag to have to check the boxes, record the minutes, count the pages, or whatever. To be fair, I have kids who read, or at least love to be read to (which is still okay in first grade) and I’d have to follow them constantly with a timer to manage it all. Maybe it’s exciting to see those results on paper if you’ve struggled to reach the goal. But either way, whether you have an eager reader or a struggling one, there are some fantastic scary school stories out there, and I thought I’d direct you to a few of the ones we have reviewed here. This is far from a comprehensive list, of course, but it’s a good place to start! They run the gamut from picture book to YA, so check out the reviews before handing them over to your kids!

Zombie Queen of Newbury High by Amanda Ashby

Eighth Grade Bites: The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer

High School Bites by Liza Conrad

Down a Dark Hall by Lois Duncan (this is one of my favorites from way back)

Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins

Scary School by Derek Taylor Kent

Monster’s Proof by Richard Lewis

Nightmare Academy: Monster Hunters by Dean Lorey

Monster and Me by Robert Marsh

Sucks to Be Me: The All-True Confessions of Mina Hamilton, Teen Vampire(maybe) by Kimberly Pauley

Vampire High by Douglas Rees

The Librarian from the Black Lagoon by Mike Thaler