Table Of ContentA L A R E A D E R S ’ A D V I S O R Y S E R I E S
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Becky Siegel Spratford
Tammy Hennigh Clausen
The
Horror Readers’ Advisory
The Librarian’s Guide
toVampires,
Killer Tomatoes,
andHaunted Houses
ALA READERS’ ADVISORY SERIES
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers’ Advisory:
The Librarian’s Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, and Sorcerers
The Mystery Readers’ Advisory:
The Librarian’s Clues to Murder and Mayhem
The Readers’ Advisory Guide to Genre Fiction
The Romance Readers’ Advisory:
The Librarian’s Guide to Love in the Stacks
The Short Story Readers’ Advisory:
A Guide to the Best
A L A R E A D E R S ’ A DV I S O RY S E R I E S
Horror
E
H
T
Readers’ Advisor y
The Librarian’s Guide to
Vampires, Killer Tomatoes,
and Haunted Houses
Becky Siegel Spratford
Tammy Hennigh Clausen
American Library Association
Chicago 2004
While extensive effort has gone into ensuring the reliability of information appearing
in this book, the publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, on the accuracy or
reliability of the information, and does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to
any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in this publication.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed
Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992. (cid:1)
Composition by ALA Editions in Flare Gothic and Berkeley using QuarkXPress 4.1
on a PC platform
Printed on 50-pound white offset, a pH-neutral stock, and bound in 10-point coated
cover stock by Victor Graphics
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Spratford, Becky Siegel
The horror readers’ advisory : the librarian’s guide to vampires, killer
tomatoes, and haunted houses / Becky Siegel Spratford, Tammy Hennigh Clausen.
p. cm. –– (ALA readers’ advisory series)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8389-0871-3
1. Fiction in libraries––United States. 2. Libraries––United States––Special
collections––Horror tales. 3. Readers’ advisory services––United States. 4. Horror
tales––Bibliography. I. Clausen, Tammy Hennigh. II. Title. III. Series.
Z711.5.S68 2004
028(cid:2).9––dc22 2003025530
Copyright © 2004 by the American Library Association. All rights reserved except
those which may be granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act
of 1976.
Printed in the United States of America.
08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
PREFACE ix
1
The Evolution of Horror Literature and Film 1
2
The Readers’ Advisory Interview:
Matching Horror Novels with Readers 9
3
The Classics: Time-Tested Tales of Terror 19
4
Ghosts and Haunted Houses: Home Scream Home 25
5
Mummies, Zombies, and Golems:
The Walking Dead under Wraps 32
6
Vampires: Dracula Will Never Die 39
7
Werewolves and Animals of Terror:
The Beast Walks among Us 49
8
Maniacs and Other Monsters:
The Killer Lurking in the Corner 58
9
Black Magic, Witches, Warlocks, and the Occult:
Double, Double, Toil and Trouble 66
10
Demonic Possession and Satanism: The Devil Inside 72
v
vi
CONTENTS
11
Scientific and Biomedical Horror:
The Doctor Will See You Now 81
12
Psychological Horror: Mental Mayhem 90
13
Splatterpunk or Extreme Horror: Horror’s Cutting Edge 98
14
Horror Resources: How to Hunt for the Haunted 105
15
Collection Development: Cultivating the Seeds of Fear 117
16
Marketing Your Horror Collection:
Make Them Come Back to Your Lair of Horror 122
APPENDIX: THE BIG THREE 135
BIBLIOGRAPHY 143
INDEX 149
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
W
e have many people to acknowledge, without whom this book
would not have been completed. First we need to thank Gail
Lofgren, former director of the Berwyn Public Library, for giving two
young librarians the chance to create an entire Readers’ Advisory
Department from scratch; and the current director, Bill Hensley, for trust-
ing us to keep pushing the envelope of traditional library services. We also
need to acknowledge the great patrons at the Berwyn Public Library for
their patience, support, and enthusiasm. They have learned to trust our
professional opinions, even if it meant confusing them by moving the
books around umpteen times.
We would also like to acknowledge Marlene Chamberlain and the staff
at ALA Editions for trusting us to carry on the well-regarded tradition of
the Readers’ Advisory Series. We are also extremely lucky to be readers’
advisors in northeastern Illinois. This luck of geography has allowed us to
work with outstanding readers’ advisors as well as have the support of an
established network of librarians offering these services. And of course we
cannot forget the man who initially got us excited about readers’ advisory,
Professor Bill Crowley at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois.
Without his course on the subject, neither of us would have gone into this
field, and without his faith in our writing skills, we would never have been
offered the chance to write this book in the first place. Bill, we cannot
thank you enough.
Over the course of writing this book, we came into contact with many
horror experts whose knowledge and experience guided us. Alan Ziebarth,
the Chicago Public Library’s West Branch manager, gave a presentation at
the 2002 ILA Annual Conference entitled “Dark Feasts: Building a Core
Horror Fiction Collection” and was extremely helpful. Tammy interviewed
vii
viii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Barry Kaufman, proprietor of the House of Monsters in Chicago
(http://thehouseofmonsters.com), picking his brain for information about
the world of horror films. His vast knowledge and recommendations con-
tributed greatly to this book.
Becky would like to thank her family, specifically her parents for the
hundreds of evenings when they found her in bed, asleep on top of a book,
and gently removed her glasses and turned out the light. Becky would also
like to thank her husband Eric for his encouragement, love, and under-
standing, always. And finally, her daughter, Samantha, who was born dur-
ing the writing of this book, for being the very best baby.
Tammy would like to acknowledge Tobes for his encouragement and
support as her de facto research assistant. She would also like to thank her
husband John for keeping their lives in order while she was locked in the
basement writing.
PREFACE
W
elcome to the world of horror fiction, where monsters roam the
streets, vampires attack at night, ghosts haunt every home, and
mayhem is the norm. Readers have been drawn to works of horror for cen-
turies, and as readers’ advisors, we become their navigational assistants. In
an attempt to help you to steer your horror readers in the right direction,
we have created this book. Our goal was to provide librarians with a ready
reference resource for horror-related questions. In this pursuit we have
provided chapters detailing the history of horror, how to interview your
horror patrons, a detailed description of horror resources, tips for develop-
ing your library’s horror collection, and how to effectively market your
horror collection and services. We have also broken down the vast uni-
verse of horror books into eleven subgenres. We have provided an intro-
duction to each subgenre’s specific characteristics and appeal factors,
along with an annotated sampling of suggested titles. These lists are by no
means comprehensive, but rather, they should serve as a starting point for
both you and your patrons.
We envision this book as both an introduction for readers’ advisors
who are unsure of how to manage their horror collections or their horror-
related inquiries; and as a resource for the more horror-aware librarians to
turn to for either ready reference or new ideas. Although this book is
meant to be used as a how-to guide for librarians, we tried to keep it from
reading like a textbook. We injected our enthusiasm for the subject
directly into the text. We hope that by sharing our battle-tested tech-
niques, personal favorites, and professional secrets, we can provide you
with a unique reference tool.
When we were first approached to write this book, we were flattered,
but also a bit frightened. But since this was going to be a guide to all things
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