For October, our staff was more than happy to suggest some new and long time favorite books and films to send chills down your spine. Keep reading... if you dare!

Does it have to be actually scary? If not, definitely James and Deborah Howe's Bunnicula. I read and re-read Bunnicula and its sequels exhaustively at a kid. For actually scary, devouring Junji Ito's Uzumaki means I can never look at spirals without experiencing a ripple eldritch horror deep in my being. Which is tough. I really liked spirals. Bunnicula is available on Libby and Hoopla. 

-Kat, Youth Sevices Department

IT AND SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. Both books and films. Buffalo Bill is problematic and not too scary in my opinion- but Lecter- I still have nightmares about Lecter. The whole banality of evil thing.I was a little disappointed It turned out to be a galactic spider, but the idea of an entity who can suss out your worst fears and deliver them to you is pretty horrifying. Stephen King's It is also available on Libby. Silence of the Lambs is available on Hoopla.

-Kerry, TCPL Foundation

The scary movie that got me into scary movies was The Babadook. It has tremendous insight into grief, parenting, and childhood, as well as a very creepy monster and some great scares. Both Essie Davis and child actor Noah Wiseman give committed and real performances.

Another scary film I keep coming back to is Hellbender, from the serendipitously named Adams (one 'd') Family.  It's a very indie production, filmed in the Catskills, about a mother and daughter who live in seclusion. It turns out that this is to hide and control some hereditary witch powers, and of course the outside world eventually intrudes. It's light on blood and heavy on teen rebellion, with a very good dynamic between Toby Poser (mother) and Zelda Adams (daughter).

Finally, within the realm of books, I'd recommend the anthologies of Ellen Datlow. She's a many-times award-winning editor of horror and dark fantasy, who inevitably collects smart, scary, unexpected stories. Among my favorite collections she's put together are Final Cuts, about Hollywood and film; Mad Hatters and March Hares, inspired by Alice in Wonderland; and Body Shocks, body horror that is not for the faint of heart.  Among the authors she's featured are Kij Johnson, Stephen Graham Jones, and Seanan McGuire. She has prolifically collected works for both adult and YA audiences, and the stories themselves range from ticklishly spooky to genuinely chilling, so there should be something for almost everyone who wants a Halloween read. Many of Ellen Datlow's anthologies can be found on Hoopla

-Alex, Access Services Department

I was JUST thinking about this book I read when I was a kid! Jane Emily by Patricia Clapp. 
Here are some more we have in our collection: A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher and Horrorstör by Grady Hendrix. A House With Good Bones is available on Libby, and Jane Emily, A House with Good Bones and Horrorstör are all available on Hoopla

-Effie, Adult Services Department

Gin Phillips’ Fierce Kingdom really stuck with me. A mother and her 4-year-old son are in the zoo when an active shooter starts hunting down human prey. It was so scary from the POV of the mom, and kept me on the edge the whole time. An interesting thought piece on active shooter incidents, and the level of self-reliance victims must wield to survive them. Fierce Kingdom is available on Libby

-Cady, Adult Services Department

Hmm...

• Scary books: Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark by Alvin Schwartz and ‘Salems Lot by Stephen King…I feel like there are a lot more to include but my mind is drawing a blank. Both available on Libby
• Scary movies: The Exorcist is still scary to me; Poltergeist might be the first horror movie I watched from start to finish?  Disney’s animated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow scared me when I was little. And there’s this sleeper movie you may have heard of called Halloween. It’s from 1978 and directed by some guy named John Carpenter.
• Scary music:  The album Songs in the Key of X: Music from and Inspired by the X-Files has some creepy songs on it.  The score from Candyman and scores by Angelo Badalamenti are creepy as well.
• Scary TV: The X-Files, The Twilight Zone, HBO’s The Hitchhiker from back in the 1980s and Tales from the Crypt.

-Tom, Access Services Department

As a kid, our school librarian would read us The Tailypo around Halloween and even now I get the shivers thinking about it. Being alone way out in the woods with no one else around but your dogs and hearing a creepy voice demanding its tail back. Eeeeeeek! For movies, I love a good jump scare and Host is filled with them. A group of friends attend a Seance on Zoom and something goes really, really wrong. Could spirits haunt you through your internet connection? OooOOoooOoooh Apparently! 

-Woody, Youth Services Department