Lots of spooky and wonderful things have been happening this October, but it’s not over yet! You have just enough time left before Halloween to browse through some of my favorite links this month.
The Horror Writers Association (the professional organization I’m a member of) put on another great “Halloween Haunts” blog series this year. Many HWA members pitched in with memories, discussions, and goody giveaways. It’s not too late to send in your info/comment on posts to be entered to win!
In the spirit of the season, I doodled this little guy for you.
To start with you can read my post, “Reclaiming Horror,” right here. It takes a look at why horror as a book genre is in trouble and what we can do to fix it. Even if you’re not a fan of horror, I hope you’ll find it thoughtful and worth a read.
Two different horror novel boxed sets came out, pretty enough to make me drool on my keyboard: Jonathan Maberry’s now-complete YA zombie quartet and a Penguin Horror Classics set cherry-picked by Guillermo del Toro.
James Chambers wrote a beautiful nostalgic post to kick off Halloween Haunts: “The Old Stories Return.”
Carol MacAllister’s poem “A Demon’s Treat” (at the bottom of this post) made me smile!
Greg McWhorter recommended some alternative tunes to spice up your Halloween playlist.
On Twitter, Ellen Datlow drew my attention to this list of women writing excellent horror fiction at SF Signal.
This awesome article/photo set is of a dubiously true but undoubtedly spooky lake.
Here on my blog I set up some “Spook Packages” of suggested horror viewing/reading for every taste.
Heather L Reid gave a compelling explanation for why she began writing dark fiction (and loving all things Halloween) in her post “Night Terrors.”
Bram Stoker Award-winner Marge Simon was interviewed for Halloween Haunts, and shared a few poems.
Melissa Crytzer Fry always posts great nature photography blogs, but her one about bats is my fave!
Diann Daniel got to go see Stephen King speak (jealous), and was kind enough to share with us what she learned in her post “Four Writing Lessons I Learned from Listening to Stephen King.”
Lisa Morton gave a pretty cool summary of the actual history of Halloween for HWA’s Halloween Haunts. Hint: it’s not what you thought it was.
Matthew Warner gave a hilarious look at one child’s destiny to become a goblin… as interpreted through his artwork in “That’s My Boy.”
Lucy Snyder answered interview questions about her Bram Stoker award-winning horror story “Magdala Amygdala,” which I loved.
LitReactor introduced me to several of the latest additions to my Horror To-Watch list with ‘Ten Exceptionally Well-Written Horror Films.”
BookPage posted “13 of the year’s creepiest books.” I wants.
John Palisano passionately urged horror writers to write their hearts in “Opening the Vein.”
I reminisced about Halloweens and Octobers past here in “The Things a Picture Holds.”
Brian Taylor brought up the blessing/curse of all horror writers in “Horror Means…Stephen King?” And he’s right. I mean seriously, there are other authors.
I think my doppelganger is writing guest posts under another name again… “Scary Stories To Tell In the Dark: A Case for Scaring the Crap Out of Your Kids.” (Okay, okay. Maybe it was John Jarzemsky at LitReactor.)
“Welcome to the Neighborhood” by Yvonne Navarro is a charming recounting of one woman’s first Halloween at a busy trick-or-treat spot. Dog costume included.
LitReactor columnist Robbie Blair posted this thoughtful and fascinating post: “The Uncanny Factor: Why Little Girls Scare the Shit Out of Us.”
I love recommendations! Brian Taylor gives us some more with “My Five Must Watch Horror Movies for Halloween.”
Author Robin Wasserman talks about Stephen King and teen audiences in this incredibly thought-provoking post at The Atlantic: “Stephen King Saved My Life.”
Thinking about trying your hand at this spooky stuff? The Writer’s Digest shop put up a bundle for “Writing Horror & Paranormal Novels.”
And if you STILL haven’t gotten your fill (you greedy goblins, you), you can even browse my links roundup from last October. And as always, you can get your chills at my creeptastically beautiful tumblr.
If I’ve missed something great, feel free to share in the comments!
Happy hauntings!
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