Celebrate Spine-Tingling Tales with Oh, The Horror Programs in October
Giant inflatable Wicked Pumpkin Creepers and Animated Werewolves rising from neighborhood lawns means one thing – it’s time for the Library’s annual Oh, The Horror series exploring the creepy and the bizarre. We’ve got books galore, movies and storytellers of spine-tingling tales.
The series kicks off with Monsters of the Ozarks at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 4, in the Library Center auditorium. Ozarks Alive founder Kaitlyn McConnell talks about legendary Ozarks monsters including Momo, Gowrow and Goat Man.
At 7 p.m. Oct. 11 in the Library Center auditorium, hear Bigfoot: History, Legends and Modern Sightings with cryptozoologist and author Lyle Blackburn. See “The Silence of the Lambs” in a free showing Oct. 12 at the Moxie. Author Victoria Cosner on Oct. 18 at the Library Center will talk about real-life “Murderous Mavens.” See the whole, scary schedule in Bookends.
The series is a nod to the year-round popularity of the horror genre. (Interesting note: The number of checkouts over a year’s time tells us that horror titles are the most popular among people who use the Park Central and Midtown Carnegie branches.)
“The horror genre gives people a safe place to indulge in and face their fears, especially regarding societal fears in unsteady times or fears about our own mortality,” says series organizer and library staffer Konrad Stump. “You can watch a world fall into chaos from the comfort of your own home. Ghosts come back, zombies rise, so you can face death and imagine what might lie on the other side.”
He explains, “Horror is kind of the black sheep of the genre family. Most bookstores do not even have a horror section. But, it falls into the same category of ‘speculative fiction’ as fantasy and sci-fi. Looking at the (Aug. 18) success of the library’s annual LibraryCon, which caters largely to fantasy and sci-fi fans, we knew horror fans had to be out there and we wanted to celebrate the genre to reach them, especially at a time of year when everyone is looking for a good scare.”
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