[Bookish Event] Buzz Book Expo 2020

Buzz Book Expo was a two-day online book expo where publishers from all over the world had a chance to discuss their upcoming horror releases!

If you missed the live event, don’t worry! The team recorded the event and that will be available for you to check it out when you have time on Brian Keene’s Youtube channel.

Let’s dive in!

Day One | Saturday 8/22

Kick-off with Mary SanGiovanni, Matt Wildasin & Katie Southard
Excuse me while I fangirl, but also feel like I’m sitting and watching close friends kick off this event! If that’s weird, I’m just going to roll with it! 🙂 I haven’t met any of these gems in person, but I would love to one day. I adore them and their contributions to the horror community. If you haven’t yet, please go check out these links:

• Mary’s Website
• The Make Me Read Your Book Podcast
• Matt Wildasin’s Twitter
• The Horror Show With Brian Keene Podcast

Rose O’Keefe of Eraserhead/Deadite
I need to read more bizarro. Rose went over a bunch of things that I definitely need to keep an eye out for. I loved hearing that there seems to be a trend in theme park related horror! I’m so here for anything in that vein! Another book mentioned in this session that I will be keeping an eye out for is Not Seeing Is A Flower by Erhu Kome.

C.V Hunt of Grindhouse Press
Grindhouse Press just puts out so many books that are right in my wheelhouse!! From this session, I’m really looking forward to Horrorama: Volume 1 edited by C.V. Hunt and Go Down Hard by Ali Sean. And then a new release from Tim Meyer is definitely one I’ll be keeping an eye our for! I missed the title of this one unfortunately.

David Niall Wildon of Crossroads Press & Katie Southard of Make Me Read Your Book Podcast
What a fun interview! I had heard of this press, but I don’t believe I own anything from them. I’ll have to take a look.

Jarod Barbee of Death’s Head Press
I LOVE this publisher. I have a bunch of their books very high up on my to-buy list! I read Wile Young’s The Magpie Coffin a while back and I cannot wait to snag the rest in the series that are out so far! I also can’t wait for Wesley Southard’s Cruel Summer to come out!

Rob Errera of Bad Hound Press
The last session of Day One!

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Day Two | Sunday 8/23

Michelle River of Eerie River Press
Michelle jumped on first to discuss the press and answer a few questions. Then Tim Mendees jumped on to do a reading from It Calls From The Sky Anthology. Tim got me totally hooked, I need to check out his work ASAP. Then Michelle came back tot talk about recent and upcoming releases.

A couple of books that I need to snag immediately are the Drabble collection called Forgotten Ones, and the story story collections, It Calls From The Forest, volumes one and two. I also can’t wait to read the other anthologies she discussed!

Jacob Haddon and Jessica McHugh of Lamplight
I hadn’t heard about Lamplight before! This magazine collection of stories sounds AWESOME. They also have a Radio Play section where you can listen to tales. I’m going to check that out ASAP. Jessica read some blackout poetry, and it was SO neat!

Paul of Thunderstorm Books
I first recently heard about Thunderstorm press this year, and I LOVE their work. The limited editions and Mary SanGiovanni’s Tempest Line is stunning! One day I would love to own a book from one of their special lines!

Jason Parent and Douglas Wynne of Crystal Lake
These two spoke about all kinds of things book related, from working with Crystal Lake, their works, and more! I love Crystal Lake! Which reminds me… I have an anthology from them I still need to get to!

Blood Bound Books
I LOVE that their mission is to spread hope through dark fiction! All of the programs they have were really interesting to learn about. I was really interested in learning more about the books for classrooms.

If you’re someone that donates blood, make sure you’ve got these guys on your radar. I wish I could donate, but I pass out every single time… If anyone has tips to not pass out, I’d love to hear them! For full context, I sometimes pass out when I get my flu shot… But a 6 1/2 hour tattoo session? Not a problem.

Also during this session, Kristopher Triana popped in!

Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing
Another fun session! This one was complete with two dog visits!

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What an event!
This was SO much fun to tune into over the weekend. I have added a ton of books to my TBR list. Thank you so much to everyone that was involved in running, planning, promoting, and participating in this!

To watch the event on demand, check out Brian Keene’s Youtube channel by clicking here!