Filled Halloween thrills, chills, sponsored by Aurora Public Library District

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Halloween is almost here! To gear up, the Aurora Public Library District (APLD) will present a slew of scary, and some not so scary, programs throughout October!

To start the Halloween season, our Paranormal Discussion Group for adults will rise from the grave Wednesday, Oct. 13 at 6 p.m. at the Santori Library in Room 125. Registration is required. Meetings involve activities such as book talks, movie nights, discussions, and more items on topics such as ghosts, clairvoyance, telepathy and gemstones. The group has met for several years and is dearly loved by its core members. After their lengthy hiatus, “the members of the Paranormal Discussion Group are ready to reconvene to discuss more than what is immediately in front of our eyes,” said Krista Danis, APLD Events and Program coordinator.

If Zoom programs are more your thing, you can tune into our presentation, Dead People of Illinois. We’ll virtually explore Illinois cemeteries Thursday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m. to unearth captivating lives and deaths. Registration is required.

For crafty kids and teens, we have Tuesday Tech: Spooky Shadow Puppets in the Santori Library Makerspace at 5 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26. During the workshop, we’ll demonstrate how to use our vinyl and laser cutters to craft creepy puppets, perfect for Halloween! Registration is required.

Teens will delight in being chilled by our Creepypasta Storytime. What exactly is a creepypasta, you might ask? Flannery Crump, Eola Road Branch Teen Librarian, explained: “Creepypastas are a fun evolutionary form of the urban legend/ghost story. Whereas you might have told spooky stories around a campfire in years past, now they’re spread through the internet.”

Our Creepypasta Storytime will be posted on our Facebook page (facebook.com/APLibraryIL) and YouTube channel (youtube.com/c/AuroraPublicLibraryIL) at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, but will be available afterward for viewing at any time. Crump recommends watching in the dark for best results!

What would Halloween be without a good horror flick? Teens can get their scary movie fix during our Trio of Teen Terror movie series. We’ll show The Haunting (1999) at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27 in the Santori Library Teen Program Room, The Grudge (2004) at 3 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29 in the Eola Road Branch Large Meeting Room (registration is required), and Stay Alive (2006) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 30 in the West Branch Meeting Room. All three films will be streamed on Discord. For our Discord link, please send an E-mail to our teen librarians at Teens@AuroraPublicLibrary.org.

Why are scary movies like the ones in our Trio appealing to so many? For West Branch Teen Librarian, Cesar Ortega, it’s “because [horror films] have a bit of every genre within them. They are like mysteries but with higher stakes: Some have action, comedy, romance and can even talk about social justice issues in very interesting ways, as well. You get that rush from being scared, but after some time you get used to it, so finding new and interesting horror movies is what gives you that rush again.”

One day prior to Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 30, we’ll give candy to trick-or-treaters at the Santori Library from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. We’re ready to be dazzled by your awesome costumes!

From everyone at APLD, have a happy Halloween.

To register for an event, please visit our events page: aurorapubliclibrary.org/events.

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