Chase Talks About Integrated Advisory & the Horror Genre

Typically, the horror genre gets shelved in the mystery/fantasy section, so it’s not always easy to browse the shelves to find a good scary book. October is always a great time to spotlight a library’s horror fiction collection. A fun way to promote this collection, as well as particular books within it, would be to have a promotion called “Capture the Cereal Killer Books.” Essentially, the library would pair up horror novels with popular brands of cereals. Examples:

·      Cap’n Crunch pairs with horror novels that take place at sea such as The Terror by Dan Simmons.

·      Rice Krispies’ Snap, Crackle, Pop characters translates well into stories about creepy children. A Choir of Ill Children by Tom Piccirilli involves conjoined triplets who have separate bodies but share a brain along with other oddities.

·      Fred Flintstone is the spokes-caveman for Fruity Pebbles and Coco Pebbles. The horror novel The Descent by Jeff Long explores the horrors of subterranean creatures living deep in caves. Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror by Steve Alten brings a paleontologist face to face with a prehistoric creature deep under the sea.

·      Count Chocula/Frankenberry are naturally perfect for this promotion using classic and contemporary monster stories like Dracula by Bram Stoker.

Some themes and cereals may be a stretch, but the main point is to call attention to them. The book selections can either be set up in a specific display with their respective cereal boxes and signage, or they can be left on the shelves with prominent, representing bookmarks sticking out of the top so patrons know the areas to find the horror genre. This would be a month-long promotion and have different type of incentives that would fit various library budgets. For instance, participants could receive small boxes of cereal as they check out one of the titles, or the library could offer up a prize of horror books and movies to patrons who read the most. However, this reading program could tie into a larger program such as breakfast with a local horror writer hosted by the library for participants who read a designated number of “cereal killer” books. An alternate to a horror writer could be breakfast with ghost hunters who talk about their experiences, which have been some of the most successful programs at the library where I once worked.