Scary Stuff
Grim Reaper on dark background
What have you been reading? Walking Dead, Dystopic Novels, Dystopic Movies, and this is kind of a creepy list. However, these are some of the hottest genres right now and it has nothing to do with Halloween. I am one of these people. I love scary books. So much so, that I find I really gravitate towards psychological thrillers. But why?
Lou Morgan, wrote a great article in The Guardian about this very topic. He has his own ideas but one thing that jumped out at me was,
“We’re a peculiar lot, when you think about it: we work so hard to make our world, our environment safer… and then we actively seek out things that will make us afraid. Horror movies, urban legends, ghost stories. We hunt down the darkness and we revel in it. Why? Because, this way, we can control it.” (Morgan)
Ironically, it is the scare we get that keeps us engaged. We might have to put the book down for a minute but we come back to it. You don’t have to look far. Look at the success of Stephen King, or Lisa Lutz. They’ve made their fortunes writing things that will scare us and I for one am glad.
I will say that I do not care for gratuitous gruesomeness like the Walking Dead, but the thought of a Zombie apocalypse like detailed in World War Z is really fun. They also might touch a bit too close to home after COVID. Ultimately, these books and others like them help our imaginations grow and broaden our perspectives. In my opinion, I love the idea that read lots and often.
Come see us in the library and ask for something that. might challenge your thinking, give you a scare, or just keep you interested. We love talking books here.
Yours in Books
The Main Library
Bell’s Recommendation
This is a dystopic novel that is just a little too close to reality. In the very near future, people who have the wealth can hire an ‘agency’ to set up a surrogate mother for a couple. These surrogates go to what initially seems like a lovely place with exercise, food, sleep, and all of the needs a mother might have completely attended to and planned for. However, the immediate commentary begins around who these ‘surrogates’ tend to be, what the rich want, and the weird ‘proprietary-ness’ of this whole system could be used in some very none socially accepted ways. It links in a bit of human trafficking, mental abuse, and just scary ideas about how one’s life could be managed. As I said this one is just a bit too real for me, but great writing and a real page-turner.
Ms. Kehe’s Recommendation
King and the Dragon FliesKing is a 12 year old African American boy living in Louisana near the bayou’s who has just lost his eldest brother and is still reeling from the grief when his best friend Sandy goes missing. Sandy confessed to King that he was gay before disappearing, and King is unsure whether or not he is also gay. Young man struggles with being brave, being a man, and how to deal with homophobia in this moving story. Will he ever find the strength to be himself? Calendar’s descriptions of Louisana are vivid and contribute significantly to the atmosphere of the story.
