Sunday 30 October 2011

Sunday October 30th, 2011 Don’t turn out the lights: Horror at the Library

Tomorrow is Halloween, the perfect night for a horror story. Visit one of your Thunder Bay Public Library branches and pick up some terrifying reads. If you are not sure what to start with try one of these scary, scream out loud suggestions.

Let’s start with one of the most chilling stories, The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty, published in 1971. No one can explain 11 year old Regan’s strange illness. When the little girl begins to psychologically change and develop frightening physical features, two Jesuit priests are called upon to save Regan’s life from what they believe is a demonic possession. If the book doesn’t scare you enough, try watching the movie which was produced shortly after the book was released. Both are available at the Library.

If the possessed little girl in Blatty’s novel didn’t frighten you then meet Damien, a little boy believed to be the Antichrist. The Omen by David Seltzer is the horrifying story of Robert and Katherine Thorn, their son Damien and the mysterious, deadly events that seem to follow them. This novel will definitely scare you but the suspense will make you want read on and find out what happens to Damien and his parents.

Why not spend the evening with Thomas Harris’ haunting character Dr. Hannibal Lecter; a psychiatrist, a killer and a cannibal. Harris introduces Dr. Lecter in his first book Red Dragon (1981) and continues the story in the Silence of the Lambs (1988), Hannibal (1999), and the prequel, Hannibal Rising (2006). The Hannibal Lecter series were made into films, which are also available at the library along with the novels.

Imagine being secluded in a haunted hotel that has the power to control both the living and the dead. This is the setting of Stephen King’s The Shining. When the Torrance family, Jack, Wendy and their special son Danny, decide to spend the winter as caretakers for the Overlook Hotel, their lives are put in danger when the hotel’s evil forces start to take over. Read more spine-chilling stories by Stephen King such as Carrie, It, and Pet Sematary.

Another frightening setting is the possessed house in The Amityville Horror by Jay Anson. The book is based on the Lutz family’s short time living in an old house in Amityville where paranormal activity terrorizes the family, causing them to flee. Even though there has been controversy over whether the events that took place are true, the book will still give you the creeps.

If you’re a fan of zombies and have not seen the new tv series Walking Dead (the complete first season is available at the Library), then start by reading the graphic novels by Robert Kirkman. Walking Dead is the story of one survivor trying to find his family in a world taken over by human-eating zombies.

A similar story is Richard Matheson’s novel I am Legend written in 1954. The sole survivor, Robert Neville is caught in a world where disease has turned people into vampires. You may be more familiar with the recent movie starring Will Smith where he plays a lone survivor of an incurable virus that has turned humanity into mutants. Outnumbered by the living dead, will any of these characters survive?

So get a little scared this Halloween by reading, or watching, a horror story. You may be so frightened that you will want to sleep with the lights on.

Lindsey Long

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