Noe Valley Voice October 2010
RETURN TO HOME PAGE
FEEDBACK

More Books to Read

The Witching Hour Approaches

By Susan Higgins
Adult Services Librarian
Noe Valley/Sally Brunn Branch Library

 

For many, October means just one thing: Halloween is coming! Halloween has become a favorite holiday for kids and adults alike. And it offers a great excuse to read something scary. To put you in the Halloween mood, here is a selection of thrillers, witch stories, haunted house novels, and other tales of terror that you can find at the Noe Valley/Sally Brunn Branch Library.

 

For Adults

á         Eighteen Best Stories by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Vincent Price and Chandler Brossard with an introduction by Vincent Price, includes favorites such as “The Black Cat,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Masque of the Red Death.”

á         Poe: 19 New Tales of Suspense, Dark Fantasy, and Horror Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, edited by Ellen Datlow, is an anthology of new tales commemorating the 200th anniversary of Poe’s birth.

á         Haunted San Francisco: Ghost Stories from the City’s Past, compiled and edited by Rand Richards, is a collection of stories set in San Francisco including “The Kearney Street Ghost” by Mark Twain, articles about ghost sightings from the San Francisco Chronicle, and stories by Jack London and Ambrose Bierce.

á         The Violet Hour by Shamus Award winner Daniel Judson is a Halloween thriller set in the Hamptons.

á         The witches of Eastwick return to their Rhode Island seaside town in The Widows of Eastwick, John Updike’s sequel to his 1984 novel.

á         White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi is a ghostly story of twins of Haitian descent raised in a British house, one suffering from an affliction that causes her to eat non-food items.

á         When tragedy strikes on the coast of Cornwall, a girl discovers that she has the ability to speak to the dead in the illustrated novella Isis by Douglas Clegg.

á         Daughters of the Witching Hill by Mary Sharratt is a historical novel based on the 17th-century Pendle witch-hunt trials.

 

For Teens

á         Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror is a collection of fun and spooky cartoons, including “The History of Halloween,” “The Reluctant Corpse,” and “Homer’s Favorite Halloween Carols.”

á         Thirteen-year-old Vlad is being hunted by a vampire killer in the first book of the humorous series The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer.

á         The Ghosts of Kerfol by Deborah Noyes is a collection of short stories based on Edith Wharton’s classic ghost story “Kerfol.”

á         Fifteen-year-old Chloe starts seeing ghosts and is sent to a group home full of paranormal activity and suspense in The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong.

 

Halloween Books for Older Children

á         Geronimo and his detective friend Hercule Poirat work to solve the mystery of a town’s stolen pumpkins in time for Halloween, in The Peculiar Pumpkin Thief by Geronimo Stilton.

á         Find out if Freddy is brave enough to go monster hunting after hearing spooky noises coming from his attic in Going Batty by Abby Klein.

á         A fairy tries to outwit Jack Frost and his goblins in Trixie the Halloween Fairy by Daisy Meadows.

 

Halloween Picture Stories for Younger Children

á         Enjoy Halloween from a chicken’s point of view with Minerva Louise on Halloween by Janet Morgan Stoeke.

á         A Halloween version of “The 12 Days of Christmas,” The 13 Days of Halloween by Carol Greene features goblins, spiders, bats, and ghosts.

á         Young children waiting for the arrival of Halloween can get a preview by peeking under the flaps for mildly spooky surprises in Trick or Treat? by Melanie Walsh.

á         Start with one spider and end with 13 ghosts in Over in the Hollow by Rebecca Dickinson, a counting book with a Halloween theme.

 

LIBRARY EVENTS

 

A Book Club Invite

Attention, book lovers! The Noe Valley Book Discussion Group welcomes new members to its lively monthly meetings. The next one takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 20, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the library’s meeting room. Just drop in—advance registration is not required.

 

Toddler Tuesday

The Noe Valley Library sponsors Toddler Tales—stories, rhymes, movement, and music—on Tuesdays, Oct. 5, 12, and 26, from 10:15 to 10:45 a.m., and from 11 to 11:30 a.m. The program is aimed at children 18 months to three years old, but all ages are welcome. On the third Tuesday of the month—Tuesday, Oct. 19, at 10:15 and 11 a.m.—the library hosts Family Films, short films based on picture books. Please park baby strollers by the elevator.

 

Retirement Seminar

Attend a free public seminar explaining how to “Maximize Your Social Security Retirement Benefits” on Tuesday, Oct. 5, 6 to 7:30 p.m., in the community room on the ground floor of the Noe Valley-Sally Brunn Library, 451 Jersey Street. Reserve your spot by calling Jocelyn at 415-955-3717 or emailing Jocelyn_reitzelsullivan@ml.com. 

 

All events take place at the Noe Valley-Sally Brunn Library, 451 Jersey Street between Castro and Diamond streets. Call 355-5707 for information.

 

BRANCH HOURS

Noe Valley/Sally Brunn Branch Library

451 Jersey St., 355-5707

Sun      Mon     Tues     Wed    Thurs   Fri        Sat      

1-5       10-9     1-9       10-6     1-6       10-6    

Eureka Valley–Harvey Milk Branch Library

1 José Sarria Ct. (3555 16th St.), 355-5616

Sun      Mon     Tues     Wed    Thurs   Fri        Sat      

12-6     10-9     12-9     10-6     1-6       1-6      

Glen Park Branch Library

2825 Diamond St., 355-2858

Sun      Mon     Tues     Wed    Thurs   Fri        Sat      

10-6     10-6     12-8     1-7       1-6       1-6      

Mission Branch Library

300 Bartlett St., 355-2800

Sun      Mon     Tues     Wed    Thurs   Fri        Sat

1-5       1-9       10-9     10-9     10-6     1-6       10-6