Haunted reading room spooks teens

  • Published
  • By Sarah McCaffrey
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  The glow of electric candles lit the darkened room. The glowing eyes of a skull glared out at passersby. Bats lined the ceiling. A platter of eyeballs and other body parts sat waiting for those daring enough to try a piece.

This was the scene at the base library here when its staff transformed the young adult literature section into a haunted reading room. The glowing eyes of the skull and the papers were decorative, and the body parts were chocolate candies. The haunted reading room was created to celebrate the American Library Association’s annual teen read week Oct. 17 to 23. This year’s theme was “It’s alive! @ your library,” said Vicky Stever, library director.

The event, which encouraged students from ages 12 to 17 to come to the library, featured episodes of "The Twilight Zone," an audio recording of an Edgar Allen Poe work and opportunities for teens to share scary stories.

This was the first year this library participated in the event, said Dorothee Bennett, library assistant. The library staff decided to get involved and create the haunted reading room as part of a larger effort to draw teen readers back to the library, she said.

“Every library has to work extra hard to get teens interested, whether it’s a perception of ‘Oh, that’s something I did when I was a little kid,’ or ‘It’s something I have to do at school, so I’m not going to do it in my free time,’ and there’s a lot competing for their attention,” Ms. Stever said.

Although the room was a way to entertain teen readers, it was also an opportunity for them to learn in a nontraditional setting.

Ms. Stever said watching episodes of old horror shows like “The Twilight Zone” gave teens an opportunity to compare what our society used to consider scary and what is considered scary today.

“That’s a good discussion point,” Ms. Stever said. “Even if when you laugh at some of the stuff that’s kind of campy and old, it helps you recognize the art form of drama and horror.”

The room was another outlet for teens and their families to celebrate Halloween in an environment that was “scary, but safe,” Ms. Stever said.

“For teenagers, they’re really bombarded on all sides with different levels of adult material, and their families are having kind of a hard time coping with what you should be allowed to see and what’s appropriate,” Ms. Stever said. “So ‘The Twilight Zone,’ Alfred Hitchcock -- some of those old classic horror folks -- they’re good for anybody at anytime.”