Horror Readers’ Advisory: How to Help Your Scariest Patrons

A recent poll of thousands of library workers identified Horror as one of the Top 5 genres they were “most scared of,” and yet, the genre is basking in a popularity among our patrons that hasn’t been seen in decades. We cannot ignore it any longer. It’s time to stop worrying that your Horror readers are monsters and start remembering they only like to read about them. The library world’s Horror expert, Becky Spratford, is here to help you conquer your own fears and walk you through today’s horror landscape. In this webinar she will explain how to talk to fans, break down the appeal of horror, identify what resources will serve you best, and most importantly, give you dozens of authors and titles to start suggesting with confidence, immediately. Becky will break it all down for you so that you can get up to speed on this fast-growing genre without terrorizing yourself in the process. Let’s have some fun, talk about books, help patrons, and learn about the scariest genre together.

Presenter: Becky Spratford [MLIS] is a Readers’ Advisor in Illinois specializing in serving patrons ages 13 and up. She trains library staff all over the world on how to match books with readers through the local public library. She runs the critically acclaimed RA training blog RA for All. She is under contract to provide content for EBSCO’s NoveList database and writes reviews for Booklist and a horror review column for Library Journal. Becky is a 22 year locally elected Library Trustee [still serving], a former Board member for the Reaching Across Illinois Library System, and currently on the Executive Board of the Illinois Library Association. Known for her work with horror readers, Becky is the author of The Reader’s Advisory Guide to Horror, Third Edition [ALA Editions, 2021]. She is on the Shirley Jackson Award Advisory Board and is a proud member of the Horror Writers Association and currently serves as the Association’s Secretary and organizer of their annual Librarians’ Day. You can follow Becky on Twitter @RAforAll.

The recording and handouts will be available on Niche Academy after the live event as well as our library of over 700 recorded sessions. To access Niche, go to: https://my.nicheacademy.com/floridalibrarywebinars

Register here via Zoom for the live event or through the link below.