Product Description

This book is aimed at librarians looking for a new way to find suggestions for readers seeking that great new horror read. Hundreds of popular horror fiction titles are categorised, not according to standard subgenres and themes, but according to their underlying appeal features, and under topics and themes not usually found in the library catalogue - "the plot thickens" (complex plots), "I'm too sexy for my fangs" (erotic horror), "graffiti and gore" (big city horror), "favourite monsters", and many other themes that appeal to horror readers and fans. Approximately 350 titles of the best and most current horror fiction titles are covered, with a few popular classics also included. For each title, there is bibliographic information and a brief, punchy plot summary, designed to spark reader interest and capture the appeal connection. These unconventional and sometimes whimsical reading lists can be used to identify read-alikes rooted in shared appeal features or in the specific characteristics on which the lists are based. Specific lists can be posted on a library web site, put in a newsletter, or used for patron handouts to encourage circulation and reading. Finally, horror fiction readers and fans looking for new reading material will enjoy browsing through this book and using its checklists or reading plans, as will readers' advisors who wish to better acquaint themselves with the genre and its newer publications, particularly in terms of appeal features.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1151676 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 182 pages

From Booklist
The second book in Libraries Unlimited Read On . . . readers'-advisory series covers the horror genre. Unlike in their Hooked on Horror (2d ed., 2003), which analyzes horror by its subgenres, Pulliam and Fonseca have taken 350 popular horror titles from the last decade and divided them by their appeal factors. The authors point out that some readers may prefer books that are plot driven, while others want books that emphasize characters, while still others are interested in the mood of the book, and these factors are not found in the library catalog.

Five chapters analyze the appeal factors of story, mood, setting, character, and language, with each chapter further subdivided into various themes--complex plots, plot twists, intense endings, gross stories, home-alone frights, wilderness horror, and psychic detectives, to name just a few. Annotated bibliographies for each theme help librarians and readers understand each book's appeal. The book ends with three appendixes, which list horror films, series titles, and books that blend genres. The index cites authors, titles, subjects, and characters. A useful addition would be an index that divides the listed books by their horror subgenres so that librarians and readers could have another way of finding these titles.

This is an excellent guide that will help librarians understand the horror genre and help readers find horror books that appeal to them. A must purchase for all public and high-school libraries. Merle Jacob
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"The authors have put together a great detailed guide that is definitely lighthearted and does not take itself too seriously. It will be a great addition to any public library reader's advisory collection and sure to help a harried librarian trying to help an avid horror reader looking for the next read." -

Public Libraries

About the Author
JUNE MICHELE PULLIAM and ANTHONY J. FONSECA are authors of the award-winning Hooked on Horror (1999) and Hooked on Horror II (2003) from Libraries Unlimited. June is Instructor of English and Women's and Gender Studies, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, where she also teaches a class on horror fiction. Tony is Head of Serials / Electronics Resources Librarian at Nicholls State University in Louisiana.