Help me haunt my library!

October 15, 2008 8:35 AM

Help me haunt my library in time for Halloween!

I'm a youth librarian at a small library, and this is my first big program since I started here in September. I am putting together a "haunted library" program for all ages, and want it to be impressively spooky.

I've done library Halloween parties before, but this library has no dedicated meeting room. So I thought I'd spread the spookiness throughout the small building with the main activities centered in the kids' room. There are also 3 small alcove rooms off the main room that could be used for something. The program is after hours, so I can just turn off the lights in any area that has nothing going on for the event.

So...I'd like some ideas to make the place atmospherically creepy without being too gruesome or gory. I'm going more for an Edward Gorey vibe than either a cartoony one or a horrific one. I have some gauzy black fabric to drape, a bunch of battery operated votives, 3 laptops that could be used for music or sound effects or creepy visuals and not much else in terms of supplies or budget. I am planning on doing some story telling and singing some eerie songs...suggestions are welcome. There will also be party food, which I think I've got under control. Oh, and I'll be dressing up as an undead librarian.

Any more creeptacular ideas for decorations, activities or entertainment???

posted by Biblio to Media & Arts (8 answers total)

Let me be the first to mention the Ghostbusters library scene, though I don't know if you still have card catalogs and the like. And I think sliming books is generally out.

But on the "horrors of the library," you could have a small (fake) pyre of banned books. Or maybe just tie some paper boxes to the ceiling, and decorate them to look like banned books, but they'll be able to float around more than books on string. Then there are plenty of literary horrors to bring to life - real life Edward Gorey books would be quite amusing, for those who know his works and style. If nothing else, get a lot of slender-limbed hipsters painted white, since Gorey seems a fan of the gaunt figures =)

It sounds like you have quite an exciting challenge!
posted by filthy light thief at 8:49 AM on October 15, 2008

If you can afford it, a small fog machine would add the perfect final touch.
posted by Faint of Butt at 8:55 AM on October 15, 2008

Best answer: If you have battery-operated votives or other good, safe lighting, something like this instant cemetary display would be amazing, done with literary characters and tombstones and the like. Very Goreyesque scenes could be done with this, with cool letters and line drawings. Just very simple pen sketches of notable authors done in an Edwin Gorey vibe, drawn on foamcore or cardstock and stood up with an easel-like piece of cardstock in the back. You can make small tablescape ones, or larger more life-size displays for the alcoves, for cheap. You can trace drawings right from books or from your computer screen, too. I do it all the time. Just blow up the image you want to copy so that it fits in your monitor, and put a piece of printer paper over it, and trace. Then glue that paper to the foamcore.
posted by iconomy at 8:59 AM on October 15, 2008

You could do a Best of Dead Authors or Books from the Grave by making tombstones of suggested authors and their titles. You could list gruesome deaths described in literature Poe and Edward Gory.
posted by Gor-ella at 12:09 PM on October 15, 2008

I do a big Halloween party every year, and one of the decor things that is most successful is also the simplest ... I drape every available piece of furniture (including art on the walls) in white sheets, then spread some cobwebs around. The idea is to mimic that "cloths over all the furniture in an abandoned house" look, and with low and/or candle lighting its surprisingly effective for creating atmosphere. Or, if you have blacklight, it can be all glowy and spooky.
posted by anastasiav at 1:16 PM on October 15, 2008

I'd see what you could do to disrupt the lighting patterns in the library. Flashing or rotating lights in the other parts of the library, at the entrance, or showing through windows would be great. If you don't have access to a party store, you might ask the police, fire or roads department in your town if they have some emergency lights they could spare.
posted by Lagbolt at 4:26 AM on October 16, 2008

This little dragon illusion is mildly creepy. His head seems to follow you. There is a video on the site that you can watch that shows you what it's like. It's really pretty eerie. It might be fun to print a bunch out and let them assemble their own.
There is another version of the same illusion here but I haven't actually tried this one.
There are a bunch of other things at the Ravensblight toys page that you may be able to use too. There are even some book covers and the best part, most, if not all, of it is free.
posted by BoscosMom at 5:00 PM on October 22, 2008

Cheap, quick and easy ideas.
http://www.geocities.com/~uncialle/tipspagea.html
posted by BoscosMom at 9:05 AM on October 24, 2008