“Horror fiction has traditionally dealt in taboo … It makes monsters of household pets and begs our affection for psychos. It shows us that the control we believe we have is purely illusory, and that every moment we teeter on chaos and oblivion.” – Clive Barker
The darker it gets during the autumn months, the more it seems like an eerily perfect time to delve into some horror fiction from the shelves of the Cordova Public Library.
Here’s a few favorites from your brave librarians.
Doctor Sleep
By Stephen King
Still haunted by his experiences at the Overlook Hotel, where he spent one year as a child, Dan Torrence has settled in New Hampshire to try to escape those and other ghosts of his past. When he meets Abra Stone, a 12-year-old girl who shares Dan’s gift of “shining,” and discovers that a tribe of traveling paranormals called True Knot want to steal her power by slowly torturing her to death, he becomes determined to save the child.
The Singing Bones
By Shaun Tan with a foreword by Neil Gaiman
Wicked stepmothers, traitorous brothers, cunning foxes, lonely princesses: There is no mistaking the world of the Brothers Grimm and the beloved fairy tales that have captured generations of readers. Now internationally acclaimed artist Shaun Tan shows us the beautiful, terrifying, amusing and downright peculiar heart of these tales as never before seen.
With a foreword by Neil Gaiman and an introduction by renowned fairy-tale expert Jack Zipes, this stunning gallery of sculptural works will thrill and delight art lovers and fairy-tale aficionados alike.
Something Wicked This Way Comes
(Authorized Adaptation) by Ray Bradbury
Graphically Illustrated by Ron Wimberly
Cooger and Darks Pandemonium Shadow Show howls into Green Town, Illinois, at three in the morning a week before Halloween. Under its carnival tents is a mirror maze that steals wishes; a carousel that promises eternal life, in exchange for your soul; the Dust Witch, who unerringly foresees your death; and Mr. Dark, the Illustrated Man, who has lived for centuries off the misery of others.
Only two boys, Will Halloway and Jim Nightshade, recognize the dark magic at work and have a plan to stop this ancient evil that is, if it doesn’t kill them first. Something Wicked This Way Comes is Ray Bradburys incomparable work of dark fantasy, and the gifted illustrator Ron Wimberly has stunningly captured its sinister magic in gorgeously realized black-and-white art. Complete with an original introduction by Bradbury.
Stop by the Cordova Public Library and pick up one of the many horror fiction books lining our shelves — if you dare.
The Cordova Public Library is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Closed Mondays.
