Becky Spratford

@raforall.bsky.social

4102 Followers 2042 Following

Matching books w/ readers thru the library especially #HorrorForLibraries. Jersey Girl in exile. Reviews for LJ & Booklist. HWA Sec. Rep @laneheymont.bsky.social. Bram Stoker Winner, WHY I LOVE HORROR (Saga Press) https://bit.ly/WhyILoveHorror. (She/Her)

The text of this photo is above.
The graphic of me with WHY I LOVE HORROR for my signing appearance on Saturday, June 27 from 11:30-12 at the S&S Booth #3212. Use the link to see the FULL signing schedule.
Bram Stoker statue for WHY I LOVE HORROR
Becky in the middle with 3 librarians in the shirts
Graphic for the Library Insights Summit 2026 - Connecting Publishers & Librarians. Join us Friday, June 26, 2026, McCormick Place, Chicago. This is a slide for the panel I am on-- Smarter Marketing for Maximum Library Impact. It has the head shots of the panelists. Becky Spratford, Kaycie Hoffman Blaylock and Rebecca Vnuk. It lists the website for more info (linked above). Brought to you by Forward Reviews, with IBPA, BISG, and NISO. Use the link in the body above to access more information.
Bram Stoker award Nomination certificate for WHY I LOVE HORROR by me.
Screen shot of the panelist "So You Want to Edit an Anthology." 2 row of 3. Going left to right and listing the names each person included on screen. Top row: Becky Siegel Spratford (she/her), Jamal Hodge- Bestiary f Blood, Richard Thomas he/him, KC Grifant, James Chambers, Kristy Park Kulski (she/her).
Poster for the event. Text says: Description It's never too early to celebrate Halloween! Start the countdown by joining us for this exclusive online event, as best-selling authors Rory Power, Lisa Springer, Andrew Joseph White, and Nat Cassidy discuss the horror genre and share insights into their writing processes, moderated by horror advocate and author Becky Spratford! Now, that's something to scream about!. Then there are head shots of all of the authors and moderator. Date and time are April 15, 2026 at 6pm eastern. Presented by Anderson County Library System. Registration is required to get the zoom link. Go here to access the zoom link: https://raforall.blogspot.com/2026/04/free-virtual-program-with-horror.html
An event flyer for a virtual panel titled "Celebrate Halfway to Halloween," presented by the Anderson County Library System. The top of the flyer features a dark purple background with green lightning bolts. The title "Celebrate Halfway to Halloween" is written in large, gold, stylized script. Below it, text reads "A Virtual Event" and "April 15th, 6:00pm - 7:30pm." A note in the corner mentions that registration is required to receive the Zoom link. The middle section describes the event as an online discussion about the horror genre and writing processes featuring best-selling authors. Four portrait photos of the panelists are arranged in a row: Rory Power Lisa Springer Andrew Joseph White Nat Cassidy At the bottom left, there is a portrait of the moderator, Becky Spratford, identified as the Co-Chair of the Horror Writers Association's Library Committee and author of "Why I Love Horror."
The Chicago River from Wolf Point with the sunset reflecting off the buildings.
An event flyer for the Green Hills Public Library "Author and Book Fair." The design features a white background decorated with whimsical, earth-toned illustrations of stacked and open books, leaves, and abstract shapes. The central text reads: "Author and Book Fair, April 22 | 2026, Meet and Mingle with Authors." It notes the event is for "All ages and genres" and is located at 10331 Interlochen Drive. The library’s website, greenhillslibrary.org, is listed at the bottom.
Cover of Wretch by Eric LaRocca.
Poster for the event-- Women in Horror Author Panel. Head shots of the authors and moderator. Moderated by me. Featuring Tananarive Due, Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, and Jennifer McMahon. The text says " Join us for an online Chat with dynamic women crafting the creepiest horror stories around. Explore the horror genre with authors Tananarive Due, Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, and Jennifer McMahon. Moderated by author and horror advocate Becky Spratford. Dive into spooky stories, get writing tips, and hear what inspires these amazing women authors. Whether you are a horror fan or wirter yourself, this panel is going to be a scream. Virtual, Thursday, March 26. 6:30-8pm. There is a link to register which is included above. and the bottom right it says-- Wake County Public Libraries.
Poster for the event-- Women in Horror Author Panel. Head shots of the authors and moderator. Moderated by me. Featuring Tananarive Due, Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, and Jennifer McMahon. The text says " Join us for an online Chat with dynamic women crafting the creepiest horror stories around. Explore the horror genre with authors Tananarive Due, Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu, and Jennifer McMahon. Moderated by author and horror advocate Becky Spratford. Dive into spooky stories, get writing tips, and hear what inspires these amazing women authors. Whether you are a horror fan or wirter yourself, this panel is going to be a scream. Virtual, Thursday, March 26. 6:30-8pm/ There is a link ot register which is included above. and the bottom right it says-- Wake County Public Libraries.
A graphics collage of the book covers of all 9 Summer Scares 2026 titles. Top row are the adult titles, middle row the YA titles, and bottom row the MG titles. All authors and titles listed in the body of this post. All titles are listed in the text immediately above this.
Image is to announce the cover reveal of Alma Katsu’s incarnate: a novel. The cover is mostly hot pink and pixilated with a painted human eye on the top right corner that looks like the paint is dripping over the hot pink. The author and title are in white all lower case type. The image also shares some of the things you can expect from this book in a list to the left of the cover. They are all in clack capital letters: SOCIAL MEDIA DEEP FAKES ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TROLLS INFLUENCERS INSTAGRAM TIKTOK BURY YOUR PAST CONTROL YOUR FUTURE FEMALE RAGE BODY HORROR TECHNOLOGY THE FUTURE THE END LIES LIES LIES On the bottom is the tag line: NO ONE ESCAPES REAL LIFE Coming Set 22
Becky and Cat Valente laughing
Event poster for WHY I Love Shirley Jackson event. In-store fundraiser for the SHhrley Jackson Awards! Moderated by me and featuring John Lnagan, Eric LaRocca, Paul Tremblay & Catherynne Valente at Copper Dog Books on Saturday January 31 at 7pm. Registrations is Preferred.
A photo from my seat as I sat in front of an outdoor fireplace at a Nashville air bnb at dusk. There are candles on the mantle and hearth. Very peaceful.
Cover of Rachel Harrison's PLAY NICE. Features a purple haunted house with a devil's tale wrapped around it, dripping blood on the tail.
A post from the NYT book review of their 10 best books of the year. It includes Angel Down by Daniel Kraus. Use the link for all full list.
Covers of the books in Becky's Nightstand Reads" post-- The End of the World as We Know It" New Tales from Stephen King's The Stand edited by Brian Keene and Christopher Golden, Under Her Skin: A Women in Horror Poetry Showcase Volume 1 edited by Lindy Ryan, When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired by Shirley Jackson edited by Ellen Datlow, Professor Charlatan Bardot’s Travel Anthology to the Most (Fictional) Haunted Buildings in the Weird, Wild World edited by Eric J. Guignard, and Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm edited by Philip Pullman. As well as the cover of WHY I LOVE HORROR edited by me.
Becky in her hotel room wearing her StoryFest badge
Becky wearing we Jade Daniels is my Final Girl shirt.
A sign at ILA Annual Conference listing RA FOR ALL as on the if coffee and tea sponsors.
Becky in the NYPL reading room.
A display of books entitled “Nonstop Tension” filled with all Stephen Graham Jones and Stephen King books with one by T Kingsolver.
Flyer for an event at Northbrook Library in IL. All of the info is in the text.
A book mark for WHY I LOVE HORROR with a list of contributors on the back.
Photos of a drone show at the Vanderbilt football game halftime show. A giant V in the sky.
Becky standing outside of the HQ for BookPage.
Parnassus Bookstore with Rachel Harrison, Alma Katsu and Becky Spratford on stage. Shot the audience.
Slide advertising a live event. Text reads-- Maxwell I Gold; Live in COnversation with Cynthia Pelayo. Where: Instagram. When: Friday, September 19th, 8:30 PM EST. Slide has headshots in circles on the left of both authors and the book cover of Gold's new poetry collection-- Songs of Enough on the right.
Book cover of PLAY NICE by Rachel Harrison
Cover of ACQUIRED TASTE: CHILLING STORIES by Clay McLeod Chapman.
Cover of WE ARE ALWAYS TENDER WITH OUR DEAD by Eric LaRocca
A screen shot of the USA Today bestseller list. At 16 - THE END OF THE WIRKD AS WE KNOW IT: NEW TALES OF STEPHEN KING’S THE STAND edited by Brian Keene and Christopher Golden with the cover. At 17- LUCKY DAY by Chuck Tingle with the cover.
A photo of Becky Siegel Spratford on the left, the cover of WHY I LOVE HORROR in the middle, and a photo of Sadie Hartmann on the right.
The advertising graphic for the Simon & Schuster Fall 2025 Season Showcase for Adult Librarians. Use the link to get all of the info that is on this graphic and more.
Book Cover for WHY I LOVE HORROR-- a mottled gray and white background with a tall and long black figure with claw like hands. It is black and ominous with a tiny head, Not too scary, just ominous. on its left, it is holding the hand of a small black human figure who is leading it confidently. Overlaid is the title- WHY I LOVE HORROR (1 word per row). The letters are in a dark gray but the letters that overlap with the monster are in red. In the top right corner it says "Edited by Becky Siegel Spratford" And down in the bottom right in the space just above where the monster and figure are holding hands it says "Essays on Horror Literature."
Graphic for the Barnes & Noble Rewards & Premium Members 25% off sale for any online pre-order. Dates are July 8-11. And the cover of WHY I LOVE HORROR: ESSAYS ON HORROR LITERATURE edited by Becky Siegel Spratford is centered. Alt text for book cover: a mottled gray and white background with a tall and long black figure with claw like hands. It is black and ominous with a tiny head, Not too scary, just ominous. on its left, it is holding the hand of a small black human figure who is leading it confidently. Overlaid is the title- WHY I LOVE HORROR (1 word per row). The letters are in a dark gray but the letters that overlap with the monster are in red. In the top right corner it says "Edited by Becky Siegel Spratford" And down in the bottom right in the space just above where the monster and figure are holding hands it says "Essays on Horror Literature."
Becky and Joe in front of the sign advertising his signing after the crowds were gone
Becky and Joe on stage at ALA Annual with Becky laughing because the whole room was singing her happy birthday.
StokerCon 2026: Celebrating Ten Years. With the logo of the event. A red star burst dripping blood from the bottom. The Bram Stoker Award statue in the middle with 2016 and 2026 on either side. In wite STOKERCON above it and TEN YEAR below it. And then the ticket details for 2026. June 4-7 at the Westin in Pittsburgh.
A pin made from the book cover of Why I Love Horror. Alt text for the cover in detail at http://raforall.blogspot.com/p/about.html
Promotional graphic for "THE STATE OF RA TODAY happening Saturday, June 28 at 1 p.m. ET in Room 124 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center during ALA's Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Panelists are BECKY SPRATFORD, ROBIN BRADFORD, E.E. LAWRENCE, LILA DENNING, AND JESSICA TROTTER. MODERATED BY SUSAN MAGUIRE
View of Lake Michigan from a top of stop 40 in Michiana Shores
pull quotes from the Booklist Starred review of WHY I LOVE HORROR. Centered in red at the top is "A TREASURE TROVE FOR READERS OF HORROR." And then in black a pull quote "Spratford, well-known in the library worked as a horror expert, has gathered the most important voices in the genre today...The result as illuminating, moving, and inspiring." In the bottom left is the cover of WHY I LOVE HORROR: Book Cover-- a mottled gray and white background with a tall and long black figure with claw like hands. It is black and ominous with a tiny head, Not too scary, just ominous. on its left, it is holding the hand of a small black human figure who is leading it confidently. Overlaid is the title- WHY I LOVE HORROR (1 word per row). The letters are in a dark gray but the letters that overlap with the monster are in red. In the top right corner it says "Edited by Becky Siegel Spratford" And down in the bottom right in the space just above where the monster and figure are holding hands it says "Essays on Horror Literature."
A photo of the newspaper clipping (Suburban Life October 8,2006) from when the La Grange (IL) public library broke ground on their current building. A name tag from that era that reads "La Grange Public Library Becky Spratford Trustee." A photo of the Board at that time-- Carolyn Coryell (now deceased), Jane Byczek, Bill Coffee, former Director Steve Moskal, Mary Nelson (now deceased), a 31 yo Becky, Steve Wolf (now deceased). Finally, a campaign button from when we went for referendum for the building that says-- Build Your Library, Build You Future around the outside in an arc. The word VOTE is all caps and the biggest fault in the middle. Under that the date-- November 2nd and the old LGPL logo (3 logos ago).
A picutre of Becky in her office wearing a La Grange Public Library Tshirt and purple cardigan.
A framed certificate from the Illinois Library Association presented to Becky Spratford in recognition of distinguished serive and leadership to Illinois libraries as an ILA Executive Board Member 2022-2025. Signed by Amy Beyers, ILA President and Cynthia M. Robinson, ILA Executive Director.
A selfie of Chuck Wendig, Gerardo Pelayo, Becky Spratford, and Cynthia Pelayo in front of a bar at Lula Cafe in Chicago.