First and foremost, dear readers, since we’re speaking of all things ghoulish, be sure to mark your calendars for this year’s Nightmare on Main Street, which will be held on Wednesday, October 25, from 3-7pm.

The festivities begin at East End Veterans Memorial Park, 45 Walnut Street (located behind the Main Library).  Here’s the schedule:

3:00-4:00pm Registration for Peabody Recreation‘s annual costume contest will be from 3-4pm. Parade will begin at 4pm and prizes awarded in 3 different age categories; 0-3 years, 4-8 years, and 9+, as well as family/group category. Activities will include Halloween corn hole, donut on a string and cauldron toss.

Kids can “Touch a Truck” as several First Responder cehicles will be on display at the park as well.  You can also visit with the Tooth Fairy and get a healthy goody bag from Growing Smile Pediatric Dentistry and Braces.

4:00-7:00pm Trick orTreating at businesses along Main Street between Washington & Central St.  Be sure to stop by the Library, as we wait all year to see your creative costumes!  You can stay up-to-date on this wonderfully popular event via the Peabody Recreation Department’s Facebook Page.

And even if you’re not wearing a costume or face paint, you’re always welcome to drop buy the Library for a bit of a literary treat!  We’ve got plenty of bite-sized reads and single-serving shivers to add to your Halloween haul.  Here are just a few of the mini-frights on offer:

This Census Taker: “In a remote house on a hilltop, a lonely boy witnesses a profoundly traumatic event. He tries–and fails–to flee. Left alone with his increasingly deranged parent, he dreams of safety, of joining the other children in the town below, of escape. When at last a stranger knocks at his door, the boy senses that his days of isolation might be over. But by what authority does this man keep the meticulous records he carries? What is the purpose behind his questions? Is he friend? Enemy? Or something else altogether?” Pithy though this publisher’s description of China Mieville’s haunting and deeply unsettling novella may be, it really doesn’t do justice to the creepiness of this book, or the way that Mieville can make a tiny house into a threatening enemy.   This one won’t take you long to read, but will certainly take you a while to forget.

Skeleton Crew: This book is the second collection of short stories published by Stephen King, and features some of his most well-known tales, such as “The Mist”, in which the small town of Bridgton, Maine is suddenly enveloped in an unnatural mist that conceals otherworldly monsters.  There are also plenty of lesser known stories to savor, such as “The Reaper’s Image”, about a haunted antique mirror that shows the Grim Reaper to those who gaze into it.  Fans of King’s Dark Tower series should keep an eye out for the free-verse poem “Paranoid: A Chant”, which features references to “A dark man with no face”, the original description of Randall Flagg.

Collected Ghost Stories: For those looking for some classic creepy stories, it’s hard to go wrong with M.R. James.  Montague Rhodes James was a lifelong academic, and, as such, his stories tend to focus on haunted libraries, cursed books and documents, or the terrible secrets hidden in ancient churches.  But it’s his ability to make the absolutely normal seem odd, dangerous, and alien that continues to make him a stellar choice for those looking for a good (and quick) tale of terror.  In fact, there are many who credit him with crafting the modern ghost story as we know it today.  This collection features all of James’ published ghost stories, as well as his writings about the ghost story genre, which are fascinating reads in and of themselves.

Happy reading, beloved patrons, and we’ll look forward to seeing you next Wednesday!