SBPT15 Week 8: "How to Fall in Love with Horror" - by Emily (Emily Reads Everything)

THE INTRO

Welcome to the Summer Blogger Promo Tour, hosted by The Book Bratz! 

If you're not familiar with it, the SBPT is like a temporary meme, only much more fun and interesting. Basically, a grand total of 56 bloggers who signed up for it have been divided in groups of 8 bloggers each. Every group gets to swap posts through the whole summer - that is, every blogger in the group (plus the host) is featured on one of their companions' blogs every Sunday, always contributing with a different and original post. You can read all about the SBPT here and here.

My blog stop today is at The Book Bandit, where I'm explaining why Indie Books Are Not Evil :). I hope to introduce you to some overlooked, but all praiseworthy authors!

And now, without further ado, let me introduce one of my blog tour pals!
Offbeat YA is proud to present Emily (Emily Reads Everything), whose mission is turning you into a horror fan if you aren't already :). She's sharing some of her favourite horror novels that beginners in the genre can sink their teeth into, so to speak.

THE BLOGGER

Name: Emily | Blog: Emily Reads Everything | Twitter: @Emren

Emily is a dedicated Teacher of Blind Students from Texas. When she isn't working, reading or blogging, she's helping her husband make braille accessibility kits for popular board games with their small business 64 oz. Games. If she can do one thing with her blog, Emily wants to highlight authors and books that you might not have noticed otherwise.

THE POST

How to Fall in Love with Horror
Recommendations by Emily (Emily Reads Everything)

Hi everyone! I’m Emily from Emily Reads Everything. I’m so excited to be here on Offbeat YA today! It was great getting to know Roberta as part of the Summer Blogger Promo Tour. We both like more unusual books and we love introducing people to our favorites. 
I love scary books and I was really happy when Roberta suggested that I write a post about horror novels. Horror is such a divisive genre. People either love to be scared or they hate it. The Atlantic talks about the reasons behind why this is. In order to really enjoy being scared, you have to feel safe. This is probably why I don’t like heights or roller coasters but I do love horror novels and scary movies.
If you are thinking about reading a horror novel, you are probably thinking of something by Bentley Little, Dean Koontz, or Stephen King. These are the Czars of the horror novel world; everyone knows about them. Therefore, when you mention horror novels, you are probably thinking about a book by one of these three. They all write wonderful, terrifying stories but if you are feeling hesitant about jumping into the horror genre, you might not want to start with them
When I was thinking about how someone would go about falling in love with scary stories, I started to think about all the diversity in the genre as well. These are books that are considered horror, but are nothing like a typical horror novel. If you are looking for a ‘starter’ horror novel, try taking one of these for a spin.

Boy’s Life by Robert McCammon 

This first one, was my very favorite book for a long time. I’ve reread it more times than I can count. This book is a series of vignettes featuring Cory Mackenson, a young boy in Zypher, Alabama. Early in the book, Cory goes with his father on his milk route one morning and witnesses a car plunging into the local lake. When Cory’s father dives in to rescue the driver, he witnesses something that will haunt him forever. This book is about solving this murder but it’s also about the strange goings on in this small town. In this book, around every corner there is a surprise. I’m recommending it for those just starting out because there is a lot going on in this book. It’s not only horror, it’s also mystery and paranormal. I think it would really ease someone into the genre.

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Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix

Horrorstor is such a fun concept for any book! It’s set up like a catalog for a certain Swedish company. However, as you turn each page you realize there is something deeper and much more sinister going on. The story hides in the pages of the catalog and you have to pay attention so you don’t miss anything. This is a great intro into horror because it’s lighter than some scary books. Though, may be surprised by how frightening a catalog can be.

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House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski

This book drew me in right away because of the pages inside. You have to read this as an actual book, you absolutely can’t read this as an ebook. This book is a found manuscript that follows the story of a photographer, Will Navidson, and his family after they move into a new house. Having lived in the house for a very short time, they return one evening to find a hallway where only wall had been before. What happens if your house expands when you aren’t watching it?

One of the peculiar pages in House of Leaves

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World War Z by Max Brooks

This book is a really unique take on a zombie apocalypse story. I know that Zombies have fallen out of favor because they were so overdone in the last few years. In my opinion though, this is the best one. Definitely check out the audio book. World War Z is written as an oral history that documents the zombie apocalypse after the world has survived it, so you go in knowing it has a happy ending. The audio book has a different actor for every different narrator. Its by far one of the best audio books I've ever listened to. If you happened to miss World War Z during the height of the zombie craze, definitely check it out now!

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John Dies at the End by David Wong 

Finally, this book was written entirely on the internet before it was published. It’s the totally true story of David Wong and John. They didn’t know what they were doing when they took a mind altering substance called Soy Sauce. It’s not like other drugs. It makes people see what’s really there, things that you can’t imagine, things from your worst nightmares. Once it’s taken, it can’t be undone. You should read this one because it’s a cross between Kevin Smith and Stephen King. You will laugh while you are scared out of your mind.

Thanks to Roberta for letting me take over her blog today. I had a lot of fun thinking about what books I would recommend to someone who didn’t necessarily love horror. I hope you enjoyed my choices as well. Let me know if you disagree with my choices! I’d love to know what you would have picked.