ghost stories

  • Listen to these Haunting Tales for Hallowe’en.

    Time to turn down the lights, cuddle up by the fire, and listen to some frightening tales from days gone by. Here are several spooky stories from when we were podcasting our Thrilling Tales: Storytime for Grownups, earlier in the pandemic, and before: The House of the Nightmare, by Edward Lucas White. A lonesome road… Continue reading

  • Lucky Thirteen: Scary Short Stories for Kids

    Lucky Thirteen: Scary Short Stories for Kids

    I have a love of short stories that I only discovered as an adult, which is a shame. I think one of the most satisfying things in the world is a well written short story and I think they’re wonderful if you (or your child) are not a big reader. For me it’s attention span… Continue reading

  • Christmas Horror!

    Ah, Christmas! A magical time filled with colored lights, falling snow, and visits from old St Nick. Yet colored lights can’t hide the fact that each day it gets darker earlier and stays dark longer. Falling snow is awfully good at making footprints look strangely shaped or just covering them up all together. And isn’t… Continue reading

  • Let’s bring back ghost stories for Xmas

    The night has come for ghosties and ghoulies to peer from the flickering shadows, while we gather round the firelight to tell tales of terror and grue! No, not Hallowe’en: Christmas Eve! A century and more ago, this was the night to share scary stories: “And not only do the ghosts themselves always walk on… Continue reading

  • 13 Tales for 13 Nights of Halloween

    13 Tales for 13 Nights of Halloween

    It’s that time of year again: time to gather round for a bone-chilling storytime. I’m so sad not to be joining you all at Lotties’ Lounge, Tippe & Drague, Floating Bridge, The Palace Theatre, Capitol Cider, The Pine Box, or any of the other wonderful venues where we’ve done ‘Ales from the Crypt over the… Continue reading

  • Vampires, Possession, and … Elk? It’s Horror Season!

    Darkness encroaches! This year’s horror novels bring us several takes on possession, some very creepy homes, vampires, and even a vengeful elk spirit. So make a hot beverage, grab a blanket, and settle in on the couch as you prepare to feel a frisson of fear from an outstanding recent horror novel. The Only Good… Continue reading

  • The Haunted Podcasts of Autumn

    The Haunted Podcasts of Autumn

    Well, we’ve definitely turned the corner into the spookiest time of year. No, I don’t mean election season: I’m talking about the lead up to Hallowe’en. This time last year – and for the past five years – I’d be stepping out into the chill winds of Autumn to go read haunting ‘Ales from the… Continue reading

  • Scary Stories: All Grown Up Now

    As October looms near, I can’t help but to think about making a Spooky Stories display for the library. As a children’s librarian, I am mostly gathering books for young readers. I just put on hold several of my favorites, like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz, and the thought occurred… Continue reading

  • Longer nights: Stranger tales

    You can feel it in the air, can’t you: Autumn is just around  the corner, and here at the library that means gathering around to hear some spooky stories. Once again this Fall, we’ll be presenting our ‘Ales from the Crypt spooky story time in bars around town (visit the Booktoberfest page soon for details,… Continue reading

  • Never mind Hallowe’en: Christmas is the Original Haunted Holiday.

    It’s that time of year again – a time of ghosts and goblins, of sudden chills and flickering candle flames at the stroke of midnight, of frights and haunts and things that go bump in the night. No, this isn’t a leftover post from Hallowe’en. For the Victorians, the spookiest holiday of the year was… Continue reading

  • Spooky Stories in Libraries and Bars, all October!

    Turn down the lights, get yourself a drink and gather round while we take you on a little trip down a dark and twisted road to the place where your fears like buried. This month we have extra spooky story times for grown ups in store, at the library and coming soon to a pub near… Continue reading

  • Spooky Stories LIVE, all October long!

    Turn down the lights. Get yourself a drink and gather round, while we take you on a little trip down a dark and twisted road. This month we have extra spooky story times for grown ups in store, at the library and coming soon to a pub near you as a part of our celebration of… Continue reading

  • Crime: Murder can be scary!

    Hallowe’en is the time for dipping into ghost and horror stories, but there is plenty of spooky crime fiction out there too. Continue reading

  • Happy Hallowe’en: A Spooky Story for you.

    After years of sharing thrilling tales with a lunch hour crowd in the Central library, I was thrilled to have the opportunity to share a short and spooky tale for Hallowe’en, on NPR’s All Things Considered. Enjoy! For more such tales, join us at the library for Thrilling Tales: the story time for grownups. Continue reading

  • New Horror to keep you awake at night

    Old-fashioned creepy Victorian horror sneaks up on you in the night, haunts your dreams and harasses you the next day. Recent novels guaranteed to do all three are John Harwood’s The Séance, Sarah Waters’s Little Stranger and John Langan’s Mr. Gaunt and Other Uneasy Encounters.  In Harwood’s tale, a young woman inherits the seedy mansion,… Continue reading

  • Horror Stories

    This is a great time of year to sit around and share ghost stories, as featured in this post from last week, but some readers prefer something a little stronger to properly curdle their blood. The distinction between ghost stories and other horror is nicely drawn in the Modern Library anthology Great Tales of Terror and… Continue reading

  • Ghost Stories

    October is prime time for sharing scary stories, and people who might never think of checking out a horror novel stop by the library to find something to send a chill down their spine. I love chilling and thrilling tales, and read a lot of them as I select stories for the Thrilling Tales Adult Storytime,… Continue reading