Clausen, Tammy Hennigh

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CLAUSEN, Tammy Hennigh

PERSONAL: Female. Education: Dominican University, M.L.I.S., 2002.

ADDRESSES: Home—Office—Berwyn Public Library, 2701 S. Harlem Ave., Berwyn, IL 60402.

CAREER: Cicero Public Library, Cicero, IL, young adult/adult services librarian; Berwyn Public Library, Berwyn, IL, public librarian and manager of readers' advisory department.

WRITINGS:

(With Becky Siegel Spratford) The Horror Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Vampires, Killer Tomatoes, and Haunted Houses, American Library Association (Chicago, IL), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: A long-time librarian and head of a department that helps readers select books, Tammy Hennigh Clausen is also the coauthor of The Horror Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Vampires, Killer Tomatoes, and Haunted Houses. "Many useful ideas are provided on how to match your readers with appropriate horror novels, and there are chapters on collection development and marketing your horror collection. Spratford and Clausen also give credible explanations as to what makes horror appealing and why horror fiction has become so mainstream," explained Karan Jones in the Australian Library Journal. Sixteen chapters take librarians and other readers through a short history of horror novels, including the enormous influence of horror films, a discussion of basic interview techniques to get an accurate understanding of what a reader is looking for, and descriptions of the many subgenres of horror—from age-old ghost stories to more recent splatterpunk. The book illustrates the differences between horror fans and fantasy fans, and the seven different appeal factors that draw readers to horror, but not necessarily the same horror types. In addition, sources of information on the genre are also included, both print and online.

"The writing is clear, understandable, and just personal enough to know it is written by a horror fan," noted Teacher Librarian reviewer Kenley Neufeld. At the same time, according to Kliatt contributor Joseph DeMarco, "the authors manage to pack enough material to educate someone who knows nothing about horror literature (and film)." Horror is a vast subject, a maze of mummies and witches, ghosts and zombies, and especially vampires, which have become popular through the novels of Anne Rice and the popular Buffy the Vampire Slayer television series, but the genre has also developed distinct variations that make it important to be able to steer a reader toward the type of book that will appeal to them. The guide is geared toward adults and teens, who are drawn to horror in large numbers. School Library Journal contributor Lynn Evarts found The Horror Readers' Advisory "a ready-reference tool that's sure to get a lot of use," although Kliatt contributor DeMarco warned that "the unwary librarian may never return to the lands of other genres, lost forever to the hypnotic appeal of Dracula and his children."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Libraries, May, 2004, "Scared Silly," p. 64.

Australian Library Journal, February, 2005, Karan Jones, review of The Horror Readers' Advisory: The Librarian's Guide to Vampires, Killer Tomatoes, and Haunted Houses, p. 95.

Kliatt, July, 2004, Joseph DeMarco, review of The Horror Readers' Advisory, p. 36.

Library Journal, September 1, 2004, "Fresh Meat for Horror Fans," p. 195.

School Library Journal, July, 2004, Lynn Evarts, review of The Horror Readers' Advisory, p. 135.

Teacher Librarian, October, 2004, Kenley Neufeld, review of The Horror Readers' Advisory, p. 38.