Trade treats readers for Halloween

Publishers and booksellers are preparing to give readers a welcome fright this Halloween with a range of spooky special promotions, activities and events, with one independent publisher crowdfunding for an entire new horror imprint. 

This Halloween, Liverpool-based independent publisher Dead Ink is launching a Kickstarter campaign to support the creation of what it is calling "a new kind of imprint”, having purchased the entire back catalogue and archive of the Eden Book Society, a publisher since 1919 of monthly horror novellas written under pseudonym and sent to a private list of subscribers.

According to Dead Ink, the imprint is "an experiment in an immersive subscription service that builds its own fictitious narrative". The first series it is publishing will imagine the reissue of the Eden Book Society's 1972 series. The imprint will launch on 1st April 2018 to release one novella a month, and Dead Ink has commissioned a number of well known authors, including Andrew Michael Hurley, author of The Loney (JMP) and Alison Moore, author of the Man Booker shortlisted The Lighthouse (Canongate), to contribute to it under their own pseudonyms.

Other publishers have been gearing up for the Halloween season with a range of social media activity and competitions to engage readerships and by putting authors and illustrators to work in stores across the UK and Ireland. 

At Bonnier Publishing UK, Bonnier Zaffre is launching a crime campaign on Monday (30th November) using the hashtag #SpookyThrillers to promote some of its leading thrillers, including Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker and Breaking Dead by Corrie Jackson. 

Bonnier Zaffre imprint Hot Key Books will be running a #worstnightmares campaign to correspond with the recently published Semi Definitive List of Worst Nightmares by Krystal Sutherland, asking followers to share their #worstnightmares to be in with a chance of winning one of 20 signed copies. It will also be using the same hashtag to promote other creepy tales, including Birdy by Jess Vallance and Shiver the Whole Night Through by Darragh McManus. And Kings Road Publishing children’s imprint Templar will be promoting its recently-published picture book Pretty by Canizales as "the perfect gift for Halloween" on its social channels. The "warts-and-all" story also has a topical feminist message, exploring the pressure to be perfect through a witch who learns that it’s better to always be yourself.

Hodder is sharing some of Stephen King’s scariest quotes as voted for by fans as part of its #KingForADay campaign, and a blog piece from his editor Phil Pride about the many different types of horror found across his work. The Hodderscape team will also be sharing their "Halloween reads" and bookish Halloween craft recommendations.

Michael Joseph’s marketeers have a special Halloween e-blast going out on Halloween (31st October) from NetGalley. It is also running a competition to win a The Chalk Man proof and tote bag from its Facebook page and horror platform Dead Good at the same as its pre-order digital ad campaign begins. 

From a wider Penguin position, it is also running a series of Halloween collaborations with Instagram creators, from illustrators to jewellery makers. Each person/brand will be sharing three of their favourite spooky reads, and Penguin will then be giving away a bundle of the books and something that Instagrammer has made. On Facebook the team is sharing various content pieces related to the season, such as as list of books that "Stranger Things" fans will enjoy and running a series of Twitter polls to find the scariest novel according to fans. 

To celebrate the publication of Alice Hoffman’s Practical Magic prequel The Rules of Magic, Simon & Schuster is having a "Practical Magic Takeover" on its social channels this Halloween. The team will be posting love spells, magical remedies and "other much-loved enchantments" from the books throughout the day, as well as an Instagram competition where fans will have to decode a mystical message in order to win a host of spellbinding goodies inspired by Practical Magic.

Independents celebrating Halloween include Faber, which this year is celebrating "Queen of Crime" PD James to mark the publication of a new collection of short stories, Sleep No More. It has put together a special PD James quiz, featured a story with the cover designer Angela Harding, and has delved into the archive for original covers and manuscripts, which it will be sharing across its social media platforms. Also in honour of a new short story collection, in honour of the new paperback edition of Susan Hill’s collection The Travelling Bag, Profile has teamed up with 29 libraries to put on "Susan Hill by Torchlight" evenings, complete with spooky decorations and posters for displays from the publisher.

Meanwhile, linking up with retailers, Oxford University Press Children’s is taking over bookshops and the National Trust across the UK and Ireland this weekend. In the South, Waddesdon Manor, a National Trust country house, has put on its fairy wings and vampire teeth for a special Isadora Moon Day over the October half term. Harriet Muncaster, author and illustrator of the popular series, met over 3,000 Isadora Moon fans across the day for a treasure hunt, craft workshop and spooky story time. Muncaster's Isadora Moon tour has also seen her put in appearances at Waterstones Portsmouth, Waterstones Hereford, Bath and Cheltenham Festivals, as well as in schools throughout the UK with independents Just Imagine and Chorleywood. Muncaster headed North yesterday, on Sunday (29th October), to host a sold-out fancy dress Halloween party at the flagship Waterstones store in Manchester Deansgate. 

Other events from Waterstones, intended to get the little ones ready for the season, saw Waterstones Birkenhead this weekend host a pumpkin trail with a creepy craft station, while a host of other branches, including Waterstones Harrogate, Lincoln, Westwood Cross and Islington hosted "scary story times" with readings of Julia Donaldson's Room on the Broom (Macmillan Children's Books), books from the Funnybones series (Puffin), and other witchy tales.

For older customers, tonight (30th October) Waterstones is promising a "fright night of fun" at its Covent Garden branch with American Horror expert Grady Hendrix, author of cult classics My Best Friends Excorsicm and Horrorstor, and Ian Doescher, author behind the Shakespeare meets Star Warsmashups; at its Gower Street branch, a Halloween edition sci-fi showcase with Alison Littlewood and Mike (MR) Carey; and, in Glasgow Argyl Street, a night of gothic fiction with writers Michael J Malone, Anthony O'Neill and Charles E. McGarry to tell all about their dark new novels. And on Tuesday, the night itself (31st October), its Gower Street branch again is stepping up with storytelling, wine and conversation with two authors from the historic heartland of the Essex Witchhunts, Syd Moore and Cathi Unsworth; London Piccadilly is hosting Kim Newman talking about the latest instalments of the bestselling Anno Dracula series; and, in Manchester Deansgate, Michael Hurley is introducing his atmospheric second novel, Devil's Day (JMP).

While Waterstones has its own special edition of Devil’s Day, including an exclusive essay from the author on the topic of "darkness", Foyles has also given the book its backing. It hosted Michael Hurley in conversation with Alex Clark last week and is promoting its release in with windows at its Charing Cross and Waterloo branches, using giving sheep skulls JMP has provided for its displays. 

One Foyles bookseller commented: "What really shines is the creeping sense of dread and unease woven throughout, lingering over every word but never feeling heavy-handed. Curling up with this unsettling and atmospheric book as the long winter nights draw in is a must for any literary fiction lover.”