Things that go bump in the night

Today is the day all those little ghouls and goblins, Batmen,

Cinderellas, and SpongeBobs crowd the streets, expecting sweets at

every doorway.

You can scare yourself silly by visiting the library and checking

out a spine-tingling book or a don’t-sit-alone-in-the-dark movie. We

polled the library staff for their scary favorites and would like to

recommend the following.

We had many votes, of course, for both the book and the movie

version of Stephen King’s “The Shining.” Several librarians listed

anything written by British horror author Ramsey Campbell as the

scariest of the scary. Author Peter Straub has frightened plenty of

people with “Ghost Story,” and “Lost Boy, Lost Girl.” Traditionalists

still vote for Bram Stoker’s “Dracula,” or Mary Wollstonecraft

Shelley’s “Frankenstein,” and anything by Edgar Allan Poe.

Some waxed nostalgic and remembered “The Exorcist” -- again the

book and the movie -- as keeping them awake for weeks when they were

teenagers. And several people recalled different episodes of the

film, “The Wizard of Oz,” for out-and-out nightmares when they were

children. Remember the vicious apple trees? The flying monkeys? Other

films that scared them when they were young include “The Watcher in

the Woods,” “Something Wicked This Way Comes” and “The Lady in

White.”

After Janet Leigh’s recent death, several people were reminded of

being terrified to take a shower after seeing Alfred Hitchcock’s

classic, “Psycho,” though “Carrie” will do just as well in a pinch.

Other films that got a nod were “Near Dark,” “Duel,” “The Innocents,”

“What Lies Beneath” and “Nosferatu.”

But in our poll, we definitely had two winners. Michael Payne,

clerk at the Balboa Branch said hands-down it was the movie, “The

Haunting,” based on Shirley Jackson’s story because, “just like in

real life -- you never see the ghosts!”

Mary Ellen Bowman, the head librarian of the Mariners Branch,

clearly had the best idea of all. She advised watching “Psycho” while

drinking strawberry “Blood-Red” margaritas (or, presumably tomato

juice).

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

https://www.newportbeach

library.org. For more information on the Central Library or any of

the branch locations, please contact the Newport Beach Public Library

at (949) 717-3800, option 2.