Spooky Movies!

As we inch closer and closer to Halloween the sun starts to go down sooner and the ghouls start to come out earlier. And as is the trend at many libraries around the country this is when horror movies start to rise in checkouts. So the staff here wanted to share with you some of our absolute favorites for the spooky movie season.

The Babadook (Chris' pick)

Amelia lives a strained lifestyle after losing her husband the day she gave birth to her son. He is troubled by imaginary monsters and behavioral outbursts that get him removed from school. One evening he has Amelia read him a haunting children's story book about Mr. Babadook, which ultimately consumes his fear. She denies it's real, but slowly is forced to question that and confront the dark entity from the story as it presses the limits of her sanity.

This film has a rough start because of some exceptional emotional acting from the two main characters, but it's incredible use of silence and darkness pushes the tension in this film so fiercely that I was literally at the edge of my seat for nearly the entirety of the film. To cause legitimate horror without jump scares is a rare feat these days and from one pivotal point a 3rd of the way into the movie, I was completely locked in and glued to the screen. Easily one of the scariest films I've seen in a number of years.

The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (Jane's pick)

Ok, so I'm not a big scary movie or book person. In fact I don't read Stephen King novels and I haven't watched a horror movie in years. The last scary book I read on purpose was The Amityville Horror when it was first published.  That said, the very first, and probably last, scary movie I saw was The Ghost and Mr. Chicken which came out in the late 1960s. It’s really more comedy than horror, but at the time I thought it was very scary.

Don Knotts stars. His character works as a typesetter at a small-town newspaper and wants to be a full-fledged reporter. So he takes on the task of spending the night in the town’s haunted house. The situation allows many opportunities for Knotts to react to sight gags with the special brand of eye-popping nervousness that made him a star. This one is suitable for the whole family! Of course, there's a love interest and in the end Knotts solves the mystery of the haunted house and gets the girl!.Oh man, when that cobwebby, creepy organ started playing by itself I about jumped out of my skin! You would too!

The Omen (Chad's pick)

A secret cabal of Satanists strives to protect the Antichrist from being detected and their plans thwarted.  The Antichrist, Damien, is the adopted son of the American Ambassador to Great Britain, Robert Thorn.  At first Thorn refuses to believe his son is anything more than a little boy.  After several strange, ghastly deaths and mounting evidence, Thorn travels to Israel to meet with an expert on the Antichrist.  The tension in the final scenes escalates as the Satanists will do anything it takes to make sure no harm comes to Damien.

This movie is my one consistent go to after all these years.  There are many things about this that still makes it creepy.  Firstly, the soundtrack with its eerie sounding chant music sets the tone throughout.  The rest of the time the music is subdued enough to add a general air of impending horror.  The scene, which occurs within the first fifteen minutes of the movie, with the nanny at the birthday party, still sends shivers up my spine.  If you don’t know which one I’m talking about just watch the movie and you’ll never forget.

Storm of the Century (Gina's pick)

My favorite horror movie is actually a TV mini-series, Storm of the Century. Written by Stephen King, it is set in a small village in his home state of Maine during a major snowstorm. While all the townspeople are frantically scrambling for food and supplies to prepare for the storm, a stranger appears. 

He knows all the darkest secrets of the inhabitants, making them increasingly paranoid, and keeps repeating, "Give me what I want, and I'll go away." The suspense builds as the storm gets more intense and we all try to figure out what he wants, and if he will get it. The conclusion is shocking and quite disturbing.




Psycho (Maria's pick)

I'm not a huge of fan of horror, but I do love good suspense/thriller movies. I've recently become a Hitchcock fan, and I'm recommending the movie Psycho since it's the closest movie of his that could be considered horror. It's about a young secretary who steals $40,000 from her boss and runs away to meet up with her boyfriend. Trying to avoid the police, she travels on back roads and stops for the night at the Bates Motel and meets the polite but odd proprietor, Norman Bates.

I wouldn't say it's my favorite of the Hitchcock's films, but it's definitely the one that sticks with me and will never forget. So if you like a good classic and are in the mood to watch a good psychological thriller, this is perfect for you. And if you've never seen it, this is definitely a movie that everyone should watch at least once in their lifetime.

Arsenic and Old Lace (Patti's pick)

I also am not a big fan of horror films, but an all time favorite of mine is Arsenic and Old Lace. Cary Grant plays a drama critic who falls in love with his next door neighbor, played by Priscilla Lane. 

His eccentric but lovable and also very scary relatives keep him running and thinking everyone is nuts and he might be next. This movie will make you laugh and be memorable for years. This could be called a comedy/thriller also starring Raymond Massey and Peter Lorre. CHARGE!

The Village (Mary's pick)

One of my favorite thriller movies is M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.

This director uses the viewer’s photographic approach, thus enabling increased viewer participation.  As characters played by Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Adrien Brody and Bryce Dallas Howard move forward, the viewer takes on that journey.

The Village is a psychological thriller set in a closed society whereupon the community abides by fixed behavioral rules. To outward appearances this setting is nirvana whereby family life, respect, and kindness prevail.  Soon we realize that all of this has fear as the supreme motivator.  Boundaries are created not only in thinking, but also physical travel. Somewhat like the theme music from Jaws, a bell sounds when there are any transgressions.  Evidence of a cruel “of that we cannot speak” curtails any considerations of breaking the law. As beliefs are questioned, the unexpected backgrounds of all players are revealed in a twisted ending.  The adage of “The end justifying the means,” unfolds the terrifying truth.

The 1920s in Fact and Fiction

“The Roaring Twenties” has captured the imagination of many people.  The decade prior to the Great Depression seems to offer a rich and exciting tapestry of booze, flappers, and jazz.  The reality, however, was much different than what we imagine or even what we see in period photos.  Recently, many non-fiction and fiction books have taken the 1920s as their subject or the setting for their stories. 

The following are a small sample of the books available through the library.  If there is another topic or subject that interests you the librarians will be more than happy to help you choose your next book.

First here are some recent fiction books set during the 1920s:

Libba Bray, The Diviners (2012) YA

Evangeline Mary O’Neill, Evie to all of her friends, has a special power that allows her to see the secrets of people whose personal items she holds.  When she uses this power during a party and reveals the hidden secret of the son of a wealthy and powerful townsperson, Evie is exiled by her parents from her hometown of Zenith, Ohio to live with her Uncle Will in Manhattan.  Along with her pen pal and friend, Mabel, Her Uncle Will, and his assistant and ward Jericho, Evie is drawn into the search for an elusive killer stalking the streets of 1920s New York City. This book is the first of an anticipated triology.  The second book, Lair of Dreams, has recently been released and picks up where the firstbook left off.  

Although marketed for a YA audience this book has plenty for adults to like.  If you enjoy mysteries and supernatural/paranormal thrillers this book will definitely interest you.  Occasionally the 1920s-era slang can be a little much, but fortunately its usage doesn’t derail the storytelling to any serious degree.

Paul Elwork, The Girl Who Would Speak For the Dead (2011)

It’s the summer of 1925.  Thirteen year-old Emily Stewart discovers she has a unique gift.  Without any noticeable movements she can produce a distinct knocking noise from her ankle.  Along with her twin brother, Michael, they begin to convince neighborhood children that they can speak to the dead.  Soon, news of these “spirit knockings” leaks out to the adults.  From there Emily and Michael discover that this game of theirs gets too close to real grief and family secrets.

These non-fiction books examine different aspects of the 1920s and are sure to include stories to interest readers with many different tastes.

Karen Blumenthal, Tommy: The Gun That Changed America (2015) YA Karen Blumenthal has written an entertaining and fact-filled account of the gun that came to symbolize the 1920s.  Designed by the Auto-Ordnance company to be used in the trenches of Europe during WWI it came too late to see service.  After the war, the gun was marketed to foreign governments and police departments as a way to control striking workers and rioters.  Its high rate of fire along with its compact frame soon drew the attention of criminals, who saw the gun as a way to gain a competitive edge against their underworld rivals.  In response to the murder of an Illinois Assistant State Attorney, and the robbery of a mail truck carrying company payroll money the Federal government, along with state governments, such as New York, began passing the first federal and state laws regulating the carrying and ownership of firearms.

A footnote of interest to local readers will be that the Thompson submachine gun was designed and tested primarily in Cleveland in a two-story house on Euclid Avenue, near Millionaire’s Row.  The book is full of period photos and illustrations, which adds nicely to the text.  Although, designated for Young Adults, readers of any age should find this an interesting read.

William J. Mann, Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood (2014)

Hollywood has never been a stranger to scandals and salacious stories involving its stars. This was particularly true of Hollywood in its infancy. William J. Mann has written a fascinating history of Hollywood centered on the murder of William Desmond Taylor, president of the Motion Picture Directors Association.  This murder had remained unsolved since 1922, until Mann unraveled all of the details and discovered the identity of the murderer.  Besides the glitz and glamor one would expect in a book on Hollywood, the scandals, violence, drugs, and booze of the era are all laid bare for the reader. This book won the 2015 Edgar award for Best Fact Crime Book of the Year.  NPR called it, “one of the best books of the year.” 

Eric Burns, 1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar (2015) Many of the same concerns we have today concerned Americans in 1920.  The economy seemed to be faltering, many Americans wanted closed and secured borders, and acts of terrorism were a constant threat.  As Burns believes 1920 not only set the stage for the Roaring Twenties, but also for the remainder of the 20^th century and the beginning of the 21^st century.

Burns’ new book, tackles the year 1920 in a piecemeal fashion.  Each chapter discusses separate subjects and could be read individually without the reader losing the main thrust of the argument.  Despite these reservations Burns has put together a readable and interesting look into how one year laid the framework for the rest of the 20th century and beyond.

If one of these books piques your interest, or if you'd like other suggestions, please see one of our helpful and friendly librarians for assistance and other book recommendations.

Good Reading!

Urban Fantasy: Zombies, Wizards, and Pyromancers! Oh My!

As the summer slowly approaches it's end, kids start going back to school, and the days start to be come shorter many people start gearing up for the fall and winter months. Some try to squeeze in their last minute vacations, some people start gearing up for Halloween already, and some are just trying to hang on to that last bit of summer before the temperature drops on us.

Not me. This time of the year means one thing: AMC's The Walking Dead is coming back. And since its fresh in my head, its reminding me that over the past year I have really fallen in love with a new subset of narrative that has really become one of my favorites in recent readings: Urban Fantasy. Urban fantasy is for the most part exactly what it sounds like; The fantastical and unbelievable in the current day modern setting as opposed to High Fantasy where the world and its rules are completely fabricated. In preparation for the return of one of my favorite programs, I wanted share some of the tidbits I've been nibbling on to hold me over.

The Walking Dead: By Robert Kirkman

 

Well let's just get this one out of the way. This is comic and graphic novel series that started of the flag-bearers of the the zombie boom. Written by Robert Kirkman (who you might remember from my Marvel Zombies review), this series lays the groundwork for what fans of the show will remember. But if you came into this series of comics expecting to see the same story from the show, you will be very much surprised. 

As the show takes liberties to this source material, reading through you will find that the story moves at a much faster pace than its television counterpart, You will find that some of the characters aren't the same the first time around, some of the characters were created specifically for the show, in the comic a number of them develop differently and have very different personalities, and some scenes that I thought were highly memorable sometimes didn't even happen in the comic series. 

Arguably you can consider the zombie genre to be more dystopian than it is urban fantasy, but since you are dealing with monsters I feel it fits here. It is always interesting to me to see how when a book or comic series gets translated to more visual medium like TV or Movies. The Walking Dead is a great example of both of them can sustain life and maintain an interesting level of involvement of each other without feeling like one is doing an injustice to the other. There are two Compendiums of the comic series available and I suggest you give them a read if like me  you are bitten by the zombie bug. 

The Dresden Files: By Jim Butcher

This series... THIS SERIES..  Man. My friend at my local game night started recommending when I explained to them how much I liked Hold Me Closer, Necromancer as one of my first real entries of urban fantasy genre. As explained to me, Harry Dresden is a private eye working in Chicago, but he is also the city's only practicing Wizard (you can find him in the yellow pages). So along those lines, I expected to read murder mysteries with an occasional splash of magic in some of the hairier moments.

What I wasn't expecting was some of the funniest and cleverly written dialog between an incredibly lovable cast of characters spanning through pretty much every single realm of fantasy I can think of. Seriously, this series has everything: Wizards, necromancers, teens who turn into werewolves, evil fairy godmothers, pixies with an uncontrollable affinity for pizza, three different families of vampires, holy knights, fallen angels, archangels, living temple dogs, mobsters, Valkyries, Greek gods, Santa Claus, and one poor diminutive police sergeant just trying to do her job. 

I ate this series up. I think in the span of like 3 months, I read all 15 released volumes of this series, all of the available graphic novels, a series of side stories from compilation books, and even gave a few episodes of the failed TV show a try. Fans of this series tend to be pretty ravenous about it, and it didn't take me long to see why. The first few kind of set the stage but when the main narrative starts to roll, it was next to impossible for me to put this series down. If you are a fan of fantasy in any capacity, this series has a little bit for everyone. 

Firebug: By Lish McBride

This YA novel is what I am currently reading.  It is set in the same universe as the previously mentioned Hold Me Closer, Necromancer. Written by Lish McBride, this story focuses around Ava, a young girl who is half Human and half Firebug. This gives her innate ability to control pyrokinetic powers. Quite simply, she is able to form a massive fireball to the tiniest wisp of a flame using only her thoughts.

After losing her mother, Ava finds herself under the control of a vampire named Venus. Venus is a major player of Boston's "magical mafia" called the Coterie, and she has been working Ava as the Coterie's reluctant personal assassin. That is however, until they charge Ava to kill someone incredibly close to her. Ava refuses, effectively signing her own death warrant, and is forced to go on the lam to try to evade capture against a very powerful supernatural organization.

Much like her previous books, a little bit of everything in fantasy comes into play in her series. McBride has always been very good at tongue-in-cheek dialog and has some great moments of tit-for-tat verbal sparring among the characters. I am currently in the early stages of the story but it already seems to be promising what I loved about her previous books and I'm looking forward to pressing on when I get home. 

Many of these titles can be found in our very own Kirtland Library and all of them can be found in the Clevnet catalog. So if you are a fan of fantasy, or perhaps put slightly off by classic fantasy, give the urban fantasy genre a try. It's a very entertaining way to try to fit the fantastical into modern mundanity. 

What we're reading now! {June}

In a new addition to our little blog here, we thought it would be fun if we shared with you what it is we are following from month to month. Could be books, could be movies, could be crafts or games. So as we roll through this hot summer, here's what we're read reading now!

Chris: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

As a child of the 80's and a guy who plays a lot of video games, I'm suggested this book often. It's 2044 and the world is basically falling apart. There are no jobs, less food, and even less space to live. The only solace many people have is in a virtual world called OASIS. Both the real and online worlds are sent into a frenzy when the game's creator James Halliday passes away and leaves his multibillion dollar estate and fortune to the one who can solve his game within OASIS by finding his three keys which open three gates. Five years pass with nobody finding a clue and people begin to question if there was really a contest at all.
 

Until an unassuming student named Wade finds the first clue and is ranked on the world leader board. Now it becomes a race as he's thrust into the limelight and now pitted against his friends, idols, and people very willing to kill to get ahead. So now, just to survive Wade needs to use his knowledge of Halliday's passion for 80's pop culture and video games to get the jump on the rest of the world to be the first to find Halliday's easter egg. The entire world is an MMO (massively multiplayer online game), everyone in it is a player, and the real world is the prize. But when push comes to shove, is it really what Wade wants?

This one can feel like fan-fiction at times but the story is fun and really starts to sprint to the finish as you read along. Its a little thick with references but ultimately it was very fun to read.

Gina: The Weight of Blood by Laura McHugh

Set in a small town in the Ozark Mountains, The Weight of Blood tells the story of Lucy Dane, a seventeen-year-old who is searching for the truth behind two mysteries: the brutal murder of her friend, Cheri, and the disappearance of her mother when Lucy was a baby.

The story is told from alternating points of view, including Lucy; her mother, Lila; and several other main characters. At first I found this confusing, since the chapters narrated by Lila are set in the time before Lucy was born, so that the plot is not chronological. But telling the story this way allows the reader to feel more involved and to better understand the characters. Since Lucy never really knew her mother, the author allows Lila to tell her own story, and we learn much more about Lucy’s father and uncle from her point of view. As Lucy’s investigation broadens, she learns that there may be a connection between the two cases, and those closest to her may not be who they seem.

This is a suspenseful debut novel with fascinating characters and a descriptive setting. I look forward to her next book.


Jane:  Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

There is an anonymous quote that says "when a butterfly flaps it's wings in one part of the world it can cause a hurricane in another part of the world."  This is what happens when Dellarobia Turnbow finds a mountaintop covered in monarch butterflies in rural Tennessee.  Somehow the butterflies have gotten off their natural course.  Is it an act of God or is it global warming?  Whatever the cause, it is bringing scientists, environmentalists and gawkers to Dellarobia's mountain and creating havoc with her family.   Dellarobia's father-in-law wants to clear cut the mountain, for much needed money.  Her mother-in-law, Hester, is sure it's a spiritual sign.  For Dellarobia, the butterflies signify her desire to get something more out of life.

Kingsolver is a wonderful writer.  She brings people and places to life and subtly educates the reader.