'Tis the Season for... Some Scary Good Fun!

Halloween, despite some bad press over the years, is still a super fun holiday for millions of people around the world. Quite honestly, there is simply something magical to be found in putting on a costume and pretending to be someone or something else for a few hours... or even a whole day!

However, Halloween is about more than just costumes and candy.  The holiday conjures up thoughts of ghosts and witches and vampires and other mysterious things that go bump in the night. All Hallow's Eve is the one time out of the year when many people actively seek to be scared! We visit haunted houses and amusement parks.  We go on haunted trail walks and hayrides. We might even stay up late watching a scary movie or reading a scary novel.

The library is here to help you find your scary experience.  We don't have any ghosts - although we do blame unexplained happenings on a imaginary entity called Bruster - but, we have plenty of books and movies that might frighten you or send you screaming with laughter.

The Books:

The Dead Travel Fast by Deanna Raybourn
Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (Sookie Stackhouse series, bk #1)
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Ghost Riders by Sharyn McCrumb
Ghost Story by Peter Straub
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown by Charles M. Schultz
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
Night Circus by  Erin Morgenstern
Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman
The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff
The Ridge by Michael Koryta
Salem's Lot by Stephen King
Storm Front by Jim Butcher (Harry Dresden files, bk #1) 
This Dark Endeavor : the apprenticeship of Victor Frankenstein by Kenneth Oppel
Twilight by Stephenie Meyers
Witches of Eastwick by John Updike


The Movies:

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the movie & TV series)
Dracula
Frankenstein
Halloween
Hocus Pocus
It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Disney)
Monsters, Inc.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
Nightmare on Elm Street
Rocky Horror Picture Show
Scream
Silence of the Lambs
Sleepy Hollow (Johnny Depp version)
The Sorcerer's Apprentice
Twilight
Van Helsing
Young Frankenstein

Remember that upon this most happiest of All Hallow's Eves, when the veil between our world and the other is thinnest, and the undead are feared to walk the earth... the hobgoblin at your door... is more than likely the little child (teenager or adult) next door in search of candy!

Still, you might want to keep the lights on... you know... just in case!

Happy Halloween!

Fort Ligonier Days - October 14, 15 & 16!

British troops defend Fort Ligonier

Fort Ligonier Days is just around the corner - October 14, 15 and 16!  The Ligonier Valley Library will close at 5:00 pm on Thursday, October 13 and re-open at 10:00 am on Monday, October 17.

Enjoy food, crafters, entertainment, a parade, re-enactors, a street dance, fireworks, more food and more crafters... basically a whole lot of fun for all ages!

A highlight of Fort Ligonier Days is the various re-enactments and demos at the fort. British and French troops will invade and defend and mingle with visitors on Saturday and Sunday, lending a true feel for what life in 1758 was like. For more information, visit Fort Ligonier's website. Don't forget about the parade Saturday morning at 11 am and then stick around for the street dance and fireworks that night.

Official programs are available at the Chamber of Commerce and the Ligonier Valley Library. The programs are free and full of information. You can also visit the Chamber's Fort Ligonier Days page for more information.

The Ligonier Valley Library will be closed over the Fort Ligonier Days weekend. 

However, you can still use the online catalog to place reserves or renew your items (you'll need your library card and password/PIN). You can also use OverDrive to check out eBooks and audiobooks.

Have a fun Fort Ligonier Days weekend!!!

New Biographies

Most of us have someone in our lives that we admire. A family member or a friend. We also have a list of people who we admire but have possibly never met, such as a star athlete, a movie celebrity, an historical figure. When I was studying communication media in college, I admired such people as Edward R. Murrow who for good or bad helped establish a medium that rules the news world today.

It's always fascinating to read about such people... to learn about how events in their lives molded them into the person they became and gave them the courage to achieve their goals. It's also fascinating to read about the people who took decidedly bad turns, such as gangsters and murderers... or to read about the people who dedicate their lives to tracking them down and keeping us safe, sometimes at the risk of their own sanity.

Biographies provide us with a chance to glimpse into the life of another person. They can bring us insight, understanding, humor, inspiration, even awareness. Reading about the courage of another can help us fight our own battles. Biographies can add to our admiration of someone or add to our fear.

Here are some new biographies recently added to the Ligonier Valley Library collection:

Hitman : the untold story of Johnny Martorano : Whitey Bulger's enforcer and the most feared gangster in the underworld
Carr, Howie.

Tales from a free-range childhood
Davis, Donald, 1944-

Paris without end : the true story of Hemingway's first wife
Diliberto, Gioia, 1950-

Beaten, seared, and sauced : on becoming a chef at the Culinary Institute of America
Dixon, Jonathan.

Cocktail hour under the tree of forgetfulness
Fuller, Alexandra, 1969-

Andrew Johnson
Gordon-Reed, Annette.

My year with Eleanor : a memoir
Hancock, Noelle.

Yossarian slept here : when Joseph Heller was dad, the Apthorp was home, and life was a Catch-22
Heller, Erica.

The senator from central casting : the rise, fall, and resurrection of Thomas J. Dodd
Koskoff, David E., 1939-

An accidental sportswriter : a memoir
Lipsyte, Robert.

What it is like to go to war 
Marlantes, Karl.

New Biographies added to the collection can be found on the New Books section of the library near the adult fiction section. If you can't find what you're looking for, we encourage you to ask a library staff member and we'll help you out!

Happy Reading!