The Buzz: Word Horde titles get national praise, quilt show to open

Petaluma publisher's books named among “best horror” of the decade: Word Horde Books, based in Petaluma and run by writer-editor Ross Lockhart, recently learned that two of its titles have been named among the best horror novels of the last decade by the online website and magazine LitReactor. The titles were John Langan's multiple award-winning 2016 “The Fisherman” (ranked at No. 15) and Nicole Cushing's 2019 “A Sick Gray Laugh.” Of “The Fisherman,” LitReactor proclaims, “This novel will crush you, dizzy you, and chill you to the bone.” In describing “A Sick Gray Laugh,” the site calls the eerie mock-memoir “pretty damn weird,” praising Cushing's ability to mess with her readers' minds. Those aren't the only Word Horde titles to have caught the critics' attention this year, either. Craig Laurence Gidney's stunning “A Spectral Hue,” published earlier this year, has landed on National Public Radio's Book Concierge list of best books of 2019, with writer Jason Heller calling it, “A quiet, confidently told novel of identity – gay, black, artistic and ancestral – that resonates on a wholly realistic level.” Gidney's sublime achievement was also noticed by online horror-fantasy-science fiction book store Vernacular Books, which calls it the best horror novel of the year. Congratulations to Lockhart and Word Horde Books (wordhorde.com).

Museum's quilt show: “The Threads That Connect Us” is the name of the upcoming quilt exhibition beginning January 4 at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum (20 4th St.), which will have its opening reception that day from 4-5:30 p.m. The show, featuring over 20 expertly detailed antique and vintage quilts full of history and art, will run through Jan. 26. In addition to the quilts on display, there will be an exhibition of antique tools and machines, and a children's quilting activity table. During the course of the show, two special correlated events will be held. On Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m., in a colorful lecture titled “If These Quilts Could Talk,” the history of the works will be described. On Wednesday, Jan. 15, 7 p.m., Sara Zander will deliver a talk titled “The Origin and Resurgence of Crazy Quilting.” Learn more at PetalumaMuseum.com.

(Have an idea for a good BUZZ item? Drop David Templeton a line at david.templeton@arguscourier.com)