I think promoting classic horror at my local library would be fun; integrated advisory would be a snap! It would be possible to do this close to Halloween and make it a seasonal event as well.
We could host a movie night with films already in the public domain; there are several starring Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Orson Welles on The Internet Archive alone, let alone the more obscure films which might be just as enjoyable. Popcorn and retro candy from the period (Smarties, Necco wafers, Dots etc.) could be serves as refreshments along with rootbeer floats; it could be done fairly cheaply but we could expand it depending on our budget (if we really want to spend money, we could show some of the Universal Classic Monsters films, or do a costume contest with prizes!). If there’s an audience for it, we could talk about the local history of cinema in our town (my town has a *new* drive-in movie theater just this year, but lots of folks remember the old historic movie theater downtown).
Kids could make paper-plate masks of monsters with whatever art supplies we have on hand, or puppets from brown paper bags, while a librarian read a Goosebumps book out loud at storytime. Again, this can be done on a very flexible budget.
Passive programming could be a table with newer books based on classic characters (“I shall RISE AGAIN!”), or of biographies of the actors/directors/etc. (“Behind the Masks”—make sure to include Vincent Price’s cookbook!), or maybe a selection based on the history of those films (“Making Monsters”).
In case you end up using this display/movie idea I wanted to add another great art film pairing of Shadow of the Vampire (2000) and Nosferatu (1922). Shadow is a movie about Nosferatu imagining the main character really was a vampire since Max Schreck never went out of character during the filming of the 1922 classic. I highly recommend them as companion pieces and they might be ones not everyone has seen before.
ReplyDeleteThank you!! I love 'Nosferatu' but I haven't heard of 'Shadow the Vampire'! Much appreciated.
DeleteI agree that October is the perfect month for focusing on horror genre, with books being highlighted for librarian patrons, but also supporting films and movies. I liked the idea that crafts would be included, that is a good activity to ensure the involvement of younger patrons. Also, the titles you chose for film, perfect for this plan.
ReplyDeletecompletely forgot to include old time radio; there's a ton of radio shows that fall into the horror genre back then--The Inner Sanctum, The Creaking Door, The Hermit's Cave, etc.--of which many are remastered and now on Hoopla. Not sure about the copyright issues there, but it would make for some low-budget programming with a giant carafe of Ovaltine and a Halloween-mask station.
DeleteI love that you went all ages with this prompt and included lots of different passive ideas! I also never knew that Vincent Price had a cookbook, how neat! Full points!
ReplyDeletePeople have done some amazing work with Vincent Price's legacy--I just looked it up and found out there wasn't just the one book I knew about but several more! And, as a bonus, I found a couple that are cooking their way through his last cookbook, Julie-&-Julia-style:)
Deletehttps://yearofcookingpricewise.wordpress.com/