The spooky time of year is here! Looking to embrace the spirit? The library team is prepared to help with their favorite eerie staff picks! Explore a variety of movies, non-fiction books, TV series, and chilling reads below. Enjoy the selections picked just for you!
Emily - The Shining by Stephen King
Emily chose a book for her staff pick that was so terrifying that Joey had to store it in the freezer on an episode of Friends.
First published in 1977, The Shining quickly became a benchmark in the literary career of Stephen King. This tale of a troubled man hired to care for a remote mountain resort over the winter, his loyal wife, and their uniquely gifted son slowly but steadily unfolds as secrets from the Overlook Hotel's past are revealed, and the hotel itself attempts to claim the very souls of the Torrance family. The Shining is available in regular print, large print, audiobook on CD, and e-Book on Libby.
Rachel - Pet Sematary by Stephen King & Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen
Rachel couldn't decide so you get two staff picks for the price of one! By the way, both are free.
Pet Sematary was one of the first Stephen King books Rachel picked up years ago. While rereading King's entire collection in publication order, Rachel hit this one again. The ability to challenge your beliefs, emotional and moral reactions, and even the motivations behind your decisions is what truly sets King's writing apart as horrifying. Pet Sematary is the "perfect" example of this.
Pet Sematary by Stephen King is available in regular print, large print, and audiobook on CD.
Growing up during the Cold War era, Rachel, who experienced nuclear drills at school, approached this non-fiction book with a sense of curiosity... and dread. What she discovered was the terrifying reality of how quickly the world can be transformed in a matter of minutes. Forbes described the book as "A gripping geopolitical thriller that keeps readers on the edge of their seats, highlighting the imminent threat of our own demise," a sentiment that Rachel wholeheartedly shared. Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen is available in regular print.
Kelsey - Teen Wolf TV Series
Kelsey's staff pick highlights Stiles Stilinski, the human best friend who brings comic relief to the serious challenges that Scott faces while navigating two distinct worlds.
The high-school anonymity Scott McCall was trying to break free from couldn't have happened in a more mysterious, complicated way. While walking in the woods one night Scott encounters a creature, is bitten in the side, and his life is forever changed. Is he a human or a werewolf? Or a little bit of both? controlling the strange urges he now feels is the toughest part, and he's afraid the urges could end up controlling him. Will the bite be a gift or a curse, especially as it relates to the mischievous Allison, whom Scott can't get enough of? With a total of 7 seasons, this series is perfect for binge-watching during the spooky season. Teen Wolf Season 1 is available on DVD.
Aric - Repo! The Genetic Opera
and Subspecies
Aric has chosen two staff picks to share with you! Here are his thoughts on each of them.
Repo! The Genetic Opera - a horror musical with some great songs but, admittedly, sometimes not sung by the greatest of singers. It was performed on stage for years before becoming a film. The musical takes place in the not-so-distant future where people go into hock to the company, Geneco, for organ replacements due to organ failure. The problem is, if you miss a payment, they send someone to repossess the organ. Creepy and fun with some great music. Repo! The Genetic Opera is available on DVD.
Subspecies - this DVD set has all 5 movies. The movies are low budget horror films filmed in parts of Romania including historic castles and an actual Ossuary, religious rooms decorated with the skulls and bones. What I loved of the VHS copies of the early Full Moon Entertainment Films was their Videozone Feature. This would show the making of the films, the actors, and locations which was something new for movies at the time. I would watch the movie and devour the special features of these early 1990 films. Subspecies is available on DVD.
Mel - The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Mel is a big fan of Riley Sager and always turns to his books for a good scare.
At seventeen, Lenora Hope hung her sister with a rope in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-your-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. It's now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope's End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer -- I want to tell you everything. The Only One Left by Riley Sager is available in regular print, large type, audiobook on Libby, e-book on Libby, and on Playaway.
Marcus - The Night of the Hunter
Marcus selected The Night of the Hunter as his staff pick, praising Robert Mitchum's performance as the preacher and the outstanding cinematography that contribute to the movie's intense horror elements.
A psychotic self-styled preacher marries and murders a young widow for her money. He then pursues her children to get his hands on the money, only to meet his match in the form of a saintly farm woman. The Night of the Hunter is available on DVD.
Kyle - 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King and Evil Dead 2
Choices are hard! Kyle wanted to make sure you were ready for the spooky season with recommendations for both reading and watching. Here are his opinions on his top staff picks.
Stephen King has mostly distanced himself from the horror genre he is most known for and while I love his late career sensibilities, those early career horror King novels still rock my world. Arguably my favorite standalone novel ever, 'Salem's Lot, is one of his most creepy novels to date. Instead of rich, flamboyant vampires, Stephen's vampires dwell in the dark corners of small towns and suck the life out of the community. When you hear of contemporary vampire stories they are almost never as scary as I found this. 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King is available in regular print, large type, audiobook on CD, and e-book on Libby.
Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead is a generational classic of independent cinema and a revolutionary serious zombie flick that is horrifying amongst its southern-gothic cabin setting. So, of course, the follow up is sort of a soft-reboot in which the hero gains a chainsaw arm and the genre switches from a southern-gothic horror into a slapstick-horror-comedy and stays just as revolutionary. It balances the line perfectly between being over-the-top comedic and silly but still taking itself seriously and not becoming a joke of a film. Evil Dead 2 is available on DVD.
Bobbi - The Autopsy of Jane Doe,
The Haunting of Hill House,
and The Cabinet of Curiosities
by Preston & Child
Have you not yet discovered something to get you into the spooky spirit? Bobbi is here to save the day with three additional fantastic staff picks to assist you!
It's just another night at the morgue for a father and son team of coroners, until an unidentified, highly unusual corpse comes in. Discovered buried in the basement of the home of a brutally murdered family, the young Jane Doe, eerily well preserved and with no visible signs of trauma, is shrouded in mystery. As they work into the night to piece together the cause of her death, the two men begin to uncover the disturbing secrets of her life. The Autopsy of Jane Doe is available on DVD & Blu-ray.
This modern reimagining of the Shirley Jackson novel follows siblings who, as children, grew up in what would go on to become the most famous haunted house in the country. Now adults, they are forced back together in the face of tragedy and must finally confront the ghosts of their past. Some of those ghosts still lurk in their minds, while others may actually be stalking the shadows of Hill House. The Haunting of Hill House is available on DVD.
A new building site in Manhattan uncovers thirty-six bodies buried since the late 1800s. The developer and the mayor are trying to overrule any attempts to delay construction on the old crime scene. But FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast notices something important: all the victims were killed by removing their spines. This exactly matches the M.O. of a serial killer the FBI are currently pursuing. What is the connection between the two cases, 130 years apart? Perfect as a stand alone novel or jump into the whole Pendergast series, The Cabinet of Curiosities by Preston & Child is available in regular print, Audiobook on CD, and e-book on Libby.
There you have it!
Spooky staff picks just in time for your October must watch/read lists! Until next time library friends!