Halloween is nearly here. And leading up to the holiday, many of us do all sorts of things to put ourselves in a spooky mood—take haunted hayrides, watch horror movies, carve pumpkins. Sometimes we dust off that shelf of Stephen King, Shirley Jackson, and Anne Rice books, and sink our teeth into a terrifying story that keeps us up at night.

In Episode 76 of Call Number with American Libraries, we examine what it is about the horror genre that fascinates us, sometimes repulses us, and yet keeps us coming back for more.

First, American Libraries Associate Editor and Call Number host Diana Panuncial talks with Goosebumps and Fear Street author R. L. Stine. In this interview from ALA’s 2022 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., the two discuss what it’s like writing horror for kids and how Stine fuses spooky and silly concepts in his books.

Next, members of the Call Number podcast team and a couple of listeners answer the question: What horror or nonhorror movie scared you as a child, and does it still scare you?

Finally, ALA Editions Senior Editor Jamie Santoro chats with Becky Spratford, a readers’ advisory specialist based in Chicago. Spratford runs RA for All, a blog that connects librarians with book recommendations for patrons. She and Santoro discuss how to tailor horror media recommendations to different audiences and identify trends emerging in the horror genre today.

[Episode here]

For fun facts about the holiday, check out the By the Numbers section in the September/October issue of American Libraries. Next episode, we’re exploring the marvels of medical libraries.

Is there a story or topic you’d like us to cover? Let us know at [email protected]. You can also follow us on Twitter and SoundCloud and leave a review on iTunes. We welcome feedback and hope to hear from you soon. Thanks for listening.

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