he Horor Writers Association (HWA), in partnership with United for Libraries, Book Riot, and Booklist, is proud to announce the fourth annual Summer Scares Reading Program. Summer Scares is a reading program that provides libraries and schools with an annual list of recommended horror titles for adult, young adult (teen), and middle grade readers. It introduces readers and librarians to new authors and helps start conversations extending beyond the books from each list and promote reading for years to come.
Summer Scares is proud to announce their 2022 spokesperson as author Alma Katsu: “I’m thrilled to be the author representative to the Summer Scares programming committee and to have the honor of representing my fellow horror writers and be an advocate for the great writing that’s being produced by the horror community. Horror is a widely-loved genre, for many readers constituting their earliest reads, whether it’s R.L. Stine or Edgar Allan Poe, and so I’m happy for the opportunity to work with librarians to introduce more horror stories and new authors to their patrons.”
Katsu is joined by a committee of five library workers who, together, will select three recommended fiction titles in each reading level, totaling nine Summer Scares selections. The goal of the program is to encourage a national conversation about the horror genre, across all age levels, at libraries nationwide and ultimately attract more adults, teens, and children interested in reading. Official Summer Scares designated authors will also make themselves available at public and school libraries.
The committee’s final selections will be announced on February 14, 2022, Library Lover’s Day. Katsu, along with some of the selected authors, will appear on a panel to kickoff Summer Scares at the 6th Annual HWA Librarians’ Day, Friday May 13 during StokerCon 2022 at the Curtis Hotel in Denver, CO.
Between the announcement of the titles and the kickoff event, the committee and its partners will publish lists of more suggested titles for further reading. Official Summer Scares podcasting partner, Ladies of the Fright Podcast, will also record episodes in conjunction with Summer Scares.
Of special note is the annual Summer Scares Programming Guide, courtesy of Konrad Stump and the Springfield-Greene County Library, which provides creative ideas to engage horror readers. Centered around the official Summer Scares titles, the guide offers tips and examples for readers’ advisory, book discussions, and special programs, and enables librarians, even those who don’t read or especially enjoy the horror genre themselves, to participate in Summer Scares.
As Stump notes: “The Springfield-Greene County (MO) Library is thrilled to continue working with the HWA to produce the 2022 Summer Scares Programming Guide. We’re excited to announce that not only will 2022’s guide be enhanced through an exciting new partnership with the Horror Studies archive at Pitt University, but we will be releasing the guide earlier than ever, on March 1, so library workers have more time to plan fun and thought-provoking programs that engage their communities with horror and Summer Scares.”
To see past year’s Summer Scares titles, spokespeople, and programming guides, please visit the program archive: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares-archive.html.
And keep your eyes peeled for more updates coming soon from Booklist, Book Riot, and United for Libraries, as well as at the HWA’s website: www.horror.org and RA for All Horror: http://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/p/summer-scares.html.