Halloween Books @ Your Library

Halloween arrives this Friday, but it still isn’t too late to get in the “spirit” of this Holiday.  If you are looking for books to help you get ready, or to get you in the Halloween mood, check out the display at the library entrance.  It features books about Halloween – history, traditions, costumes, and more; as well as books and movies of horror and suspense. 

“Halloween Program Sourcebook” edited by Sue Ellen Thompson is a great book to start out.  It includes everything from the history of Halloween to ideas for parties, costumes, poems and plays.  Other books that include craft ideas, costumes and recipes are “Homemade Halloween:  quick and easy costumes, decorations, and not-so-frightening family fun”, “Halloween: a grown-up’s guide to creative costumes, devilish décor & fabulous festivities” by Joanne O’Sullivan, “Halloween Costumes for Kids” by Leila Peltosaari, and “Country Living Handmade Halloween: ideas for a happy, haunted celebration” by Zazel Loven.  

If you are looking for something else to fit this spooky season, the library also has many books, audiobooks, and movies of suspense and horror.  A classic horror tale is “The Amityville Horror” by Jay Anson.  This is the story of a real haunted house in New York.  Other books and videos about haunted houses and ghosts include “Haunted America” and “Haunted Heartland” by Beth Scott, “Ghosts” by Time Life Books, “America’s Haunted Houses”, and “America’s Most Haunted Town”.  You might also want to check out “The Exorcist” by William Blatty.  This is a well know novel, which was made into a film.  Did you know that Blatty was inspired to write this novel after  learning about a real exorcism that is told in the book “Possessed” by Thomas Allen?

If you want to stay more local, you might want to try Chad Lewis’ books on haunted locations.  We have “The Iowa Road Guide to Haunted Locations”, “The Minnesota Road Guide to Haunted Locations”, and “The Wisconsin Road Guide to Haunted Locations.”  We also have a video of Mr. Lewis’s presentation here at the library last fall.

If you are more interested in a scary suspense story, you might want to try some of the books or audiobooks by Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Ann Rice, John Tigges, or Thomas Harris.  Of course, there are always the classics – “Dracula”, “Frankenstein”, “Dr. Jekell & Mr. Hyde”, just about anything by Edgar Allen Poe.  You can read, listen to or watch these horror classics.

Stop in the library anytime this week to check out our Halloween display and be sure to come on Friday for our “Halloween Fun” day with treats and costumes!