Inside Spinal Dread: A Horror Literature Festival

As a bookworm and horror fanatic, I was thrilled to hear that the Anaheim Public Library in Orange County, CA, was going to be hosting a horror literature festival called Spinal Dread.  The free event featured presentations, workshops, and vendors. It was a wonderful way for fellow horror enthusiasts and bibliophiles to connect and explore the horror genre.

I heard about Spinal Dread through social media and couldn’t believe that Tananarive Due was going to be the keynote speaker. I’ll share more on her in a bit. While theme park haunt attractions and Halloween pop-ups are popular during this time of year (and I do enjoy them), events like spooky book fairs are rarer. Literature gave us some of the earliest forms of horror and the genre existed in books before films. With that being said, we need more literary conventions dedicated to horror.

The program lineup included a fantastic array of lectures and activities, many of which took place in The Cellar, the library’s basement. Very spooky. Darcy Staniforth gave a spirited talk on haunted libraries across the globe during her presentation, Spirits Among the Stacks. She’s a scholar who has extensive knowledge on paranormal subject matter. She told us about a haunted library in India where employees are given a book of psalms to ward off any ghosts that may attempt to bother them.     

Best-selling author Francesca Lia Block gave an insightful discussion about the gothic literary genre titled The Lover, The Secret and The Dark House: Creating Gothic Conflict. She shared what makes a gothic story and gave advice for writers working on their own gothic fiction projects. There was also a live makeup demo by Emmy award-winning makeup artist, Erica Preus. She’s worked on a variety of TV series and movies, such as American Horror Story. For the festival, her father was gracious enough to be her model, and she was transforming him into a frightful clown. During her presentation, From Palette to Screen: Creating Movie Monsters, the audience had a chance to ask her all sorts of questions about her work.

All the presentations had something special to offer, but I was highly anticipating Tananarive Due’s talk. She’s an award-winning author and prestigious writer whose work highlights Black voices in horror. Her novel, The Reformatory, received the Bram Stoker Award along with several other recognitions. Due was also an executive producer on Shudder’s documentary Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror and co-authored a Black horror graphic novel with her husband titled The Keeper. She’s also been a guest judge on The Boulet Brothers’ Dragula and a featured commentator on the Shudder original series Horror’s Greatest.

Her presentation, Reader or Not, Here It Comes: How the Horror Genre Continues to Save Our Lives, delved into how horror provides a sense of comfort and escape. She opened up about how she avoided writing horror and including Black characters in her early works because she was uncertain of how to navigate those paths on her own. She also provided interesting background information about her book The Reformatory and the seven-year journey she took to get it finished. It was riveting to hear her speak about her experiences.

There was one part of the presentation that truly gave me goosebumps. When she was a journalist, she was tasked with the assignment of interviewing Anne Rice over the phone. She explained how she asked Rice how she felt about critics who said she was wasting her time writing about vampires. Due shared Anne Rice’s response from the article with us and read the direct quote. It was inspiring and emotional to hear, especially for someone like me who has been a huge admirer of Anne Rice since I was a teen.

At the end, Tananarive Due did a book signing and we all got lucky because the Anaheim Public Library Foundation donated over 100 copies of The Reformatory for attendees to take home for free. I had the opportunity to meet Due and express my appreciation for what she’s doing for the horror genre.

What an amazing horror literature festival! Vendors included authors selling their macabre stories and small businesses displaying spooky artwork and accessories. There was also a food truck and beer from Asylum Brewing being served in The Tell-Tale Cemetery outdoors. I felt enlightened by the time I left. Books, libraries, and horror just have a way of doing that to me.

The Anaheim Public Library hosts many events throughout the year, so check out their calendar to see what they have lined up next. And make sure to look up the guest speakers I mentioned to learn more about their work.

Where to Stalk

Anaheim Public Library

Tananarive Due official website

Francesca Lia Block official website

Darcy Staniforth Instagram

Erica Preus official website