Horror
February 2020
Recent Releases
Gwendy's Magic Feather
by Richard Chizmar; foreword by Stephen King

What it's about: Years after a sinister gift-giving box wreaked havoc on her childhood, 37-year-old Gwendy finds it in her possession again. 

What happens next: Returning to her hometown of Castle Rock for the holidays, Gwendy contemplates harnessing the box's power to cure her mother's cancer and solve a rash of local disappearances. 

Series alert: This unsettling 2nd entry in the Gwendy series follows the novella Gwendy's Button Box, co-written with Stephen King.  
Suicide woods : stories
by Benjamin Percy

A latest collection by the award-winning author of Thrill Me demonstrates his use of disparate influences as themes, in a volume that includes the tale of a therapy group whose drastic session in the woods has fatal consequences. Original.
The Pursuit of William Abbey
by Claire North

What it's about: Decades after he failed to save a young Zulu boy from a lynching, guilt-ridden English doctor William Abbey recounts his experiences in 1880s Colonial South Africa and the (figurative and literal) shadow that has followed him since that fateful day.

Is it for you? Readers interested in big-picture issues like the legacy of colonialism and the nature of guilt and culpability will want to check out this thought-provoking novel; period-authentic racist language may be off-putting for some readers. 
Song for the unraveling of the world : stories
by Brian Evenson

A new short story collection from a modern master of the form that brilliantly walks the fine line between literary fiction, sci-fi and horror. Original.
Graphic Novels
Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery": The Authorized Graphic Adaptation
by Miles Hyman

What it is: a haunting adaptation of Shirley Jackson's classic 1948 short story "The Lottery," illustrated by her grandson.

Art alert: Escalating dread is conveyed through the Norman Rockwell-esque illustrations' changing colors, panel sizes, and perspectives.

Reviewers say: "One of the strongest graphic adaptations of a classic work to come along in some time" (Booklist). 
The handmaid's tale
by Renee Nault

Illustrated with high-contrast artwork, a graphic-novel adaptation of Margaret Atwood's modern classic depicts the terrifying realities of women consigned to childbirth roles in the occupied Republic of Gilead.
Beautiful Darkness
by Fabien Vehlmann; illustrated by Kerascoët

What happens: Elfin Princess Aurora and her companions' whimsical adventures take a sinister turn when they leave the rotting corpse they've been living in and step into a woodland sanctum that is anything but.

Art alert: Bright, lush watercolors underscore this macabre tale's eerie and disturbing tone.

Who it's for: readers who appreciate fractured fairy tales and the cutthroat intrigue of Lord of the Flies. 
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Richmond Public Library
101 East Franklin Street
Richmond, Virginia 23219
(804) 646-7223
https://rvalibrary.org/
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