Scares in the Stacks

The Raven, University Art Collection.

“Not incredibly scary” or even “not scary at all” is probably how many would describe the features that make up Special Collections’ October exhibit “Scares in Special Collections.”  Honestly, if you want to be scared or unsettled or irked, there is no shortage of archival caches at Langsdale to sift through--  you can find out about discrimination (ACLU of Maryland for one, and many, many others), challenges to reproductive freedom (Planned Parenthood of Maryland Collection), LGBTQ-bashing, injustice, and the AIDS crisis (The GLCCB collection), or deadly workplace hazards and unfair labor practices (The White Lung Association collection). But since October is one of the most lovely months on the calendar, I thought I’d keep it light. You can view the display in the hallway on the 2nd Floor of Learning Commons, but let me post a few images here for your seasonal amusement.

Halloween DVDs at Langsdale

Whether you’re looking for suspense or gore, there is something to be found in the DVD stacks at Langsdale Library. That’s right, even Langsdale is in the Halloween spirit, offering several film titles dedicated to the fright, chills, and even laughs of Halloween. What exactly are you in the mood for?

Let’s start with the originals. The best thing about these films is that they did it first and sometimes best. These classics had chills and suspense, making the viewer feel like the situations depicted could possibly happen.  Maybe you have seen them, maybe you haven’t; either way they are worth watching. Check out some of these titles at Langsdale:

·         Prom Night: In this film, the perfect night out takes a disastrous turn when childhood friends start dropping like flies after they receive mysterious and obscene phone calls. Prom Night falls in the slasher film category; but its twists and turns make it entirely unpredictable. 

·         Rosemary’sBaby:  Absolutely chilling in every way. Adapted from Ira Levin’s novel, the story follows a New York couple expecting their first child. Rosemary’s husband, a struggling actor, makes a pact with the devil to boost his career. Directed by Roman Polanski.

·         Psycho: One of the most chilling films of all time. Before Michael, Freddy, or Leatherface, there was Norman Bates (loosely based on real-life serial killer Ed Gein). Norman is the mild-mannered mama’s boy who manages the Bates Motel. Where the “psycho” part comes in is that Norman is not what he appears to be. Norman and his composure unravels when Marion Crane checks into the motel but doesn't exactly check out. Directed by suspense master Alfred Hitchcock.

Zombies: they can be terrifying. They can be fast or slow.  Most importantly, they are popular horror flick fare for many different reasons. Zombie films can range from intense to very campy. Zombies, in a sense, represent our greatest fears and sometimes parts of us; maybe that’s why we love them.

·         Warm Bodies: Not as scary or as heavy hitting as previous entries in this subgenre; however, to put it in simple terms, it’s a cute film. Warm Bodies takes the idea of Romeo and Juliet and fuses it with a zombie apocalypse. It’s not scary, but it is a comical and  not-so-typical love story.

·         Zombieland is the witty tale of four strangers who find one another during a zombie apocalypse. Zombieland offers some social commentary about solitude and just how great life would be in a cultural wasteland. It mixes humor and horror and makes for a fun movie night.

·         28 Days Later is an intense look at what life would be like a in a real zombie apocalypse (Not very fun.)

·         Nightof the Living Dead: Directed by the “Godfather” of zombie films, George Romero creates simple yet terrifying classic tale of the undead. Seven people try to survive the night in trapped in a farmhouse.

So maybe zombies or the oldies aren't your thing… and that's okay! Langdale has other cool titles to check out: 

Retro:

·         The Rocky Horror Picture Show

·         Dracula

·         Invasion of the Body Snatchers

·         The Hills Have Eyes

·         Jaws

·         Suspiria

Modern:

·         The Blair Witch Project

·         Sweeney Todd : the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

·         Sleepy Hollow

·         Insidious

To find these titles, search our catalog or ask a librarian for help.

Horror at Langsdale

It’s that time of year again. Time to get your spook on! Here’s a sampling of some of the titles that Langsdale owns to help you celebrate fright night.

Did you check out our staff member Adele’s October display on the 1st floor? Come in and take a look before it comes down. If you can’t take a peek, get some suggestions for our circulation staff or search for you own choices.

Langsdale’s Craziest Foreign Film Shockers

Langsdale has many top tier horror movies on hand that are ideal for setting the mood this Halloween—I’m looking at you, Rosemary’s Baby, Evil Dead II and Alien—but sometimes you need to be hit with something that amps up the intensity a notch. Luckily, the library has a selection of mercilessly frightening titles for even the most jaded of horror fans.

My favorite film of 2011 bar none (sorry, The Artist) was the high octane Korean shocker I Saw the Devil. I’ve never seen a revenge thriller so relentlessly horrifying—just when you think it can’t get any crazier, it astonishes the viewer with another bombshell development. I Saw the Devil is centered on the diabolical machinations of school bus driver and predatory serial killer Kyung-chul (Choi Min-sik ), who picks precisely the wrong victim when he abducts, (graphically) tortures, and murders the fiancée of secret service agent Soo-hyun (Lee Byung-hun). The devastated yet coolly resourceful Soo-hyun is hell-bent on revenge, and breaks protocol (which is frankly the least of his indiscretions) by using his secret agent smarts to hound Kyung-Chul as Kyung-Chul goes on a sickening rampage of rape and murder. Much cathartic mayhem ensues—the fact that Soo-hyun catches Kyung-Chul, beats the ever living snot out of him, and frees him just so the super-spiteful secret agent can have yet another excuse to administer a professional-grade ass whooping later on is completely absurd. Come to think of it, it also may not be the best law enforcement tactic. Still, watching this vile, remorseless psychopath get his ass handed to him repeatedly makes for an enthralling 141 minutes. You can also plumb a little deeper if you want to ponder the nature of evil or the futility of vigilantism and revenge, but even if you take I Saw the Devil on the most superficial level, the film definitely delivers.

A flick that ratchets up its scares in measures that equal its gross-out factor is Lucio Fulci’s 1978 sickie Zombie 2. If you’re not familiar with Fulci’s oeuvre, suffice to say he’s sort of a bargain-basement Dario Argento (who is probably the most renowned director of Italian giallo pictures; Argento’s visually arresting, highly stylized and ghastly films—such as 1977’s Suspiria—are classics of the horror genre.) Lucio’s Fulci’s late 1970s and early ‘80s imports usually featured stomach-turning gore and the terrible things you would least like to encounter in real life (sudden cobra appearances, ambulatory dead guys with maggots crawling all over their faces, and creepy children with blonde pageboy haircuts who speak in poorly dubbed English.) Zombie ( a.k.a. Zombi 2, thusly named because it was marketed worldwide as a pseudo-sequel to George Romero’s Dawn of the Dead) is extreme even by modern zombie film standards. The plot is simple: a woman and a reporter travel to a faraway island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of her scientist father. It seems the scientist was investigating an epidemic that—surprise!—turned all the island’s inhabitants into undead cannibals. The carnage in this movie is mind-bogglingly excessive, and the set pieces—like one in which a nude diver finds herself a third wheel during a nasty throw down between a deep-sea zombie and a great white shark—makes modern zombie epics like The Walking Dead (available at Langsdale in its original graphic novel form) seem about as intense as Mary Poppins.

Did you hear? the library is going digital

Happy Halloween!

Spooky books and DVDs are brain food this October

You may have heard rumors that Langsdale is haunted, and given the sinister offerings the library has in store this October, this may well be the case. Consider the display on the first floor in front of the Circulation desk, where a rotting zombie corpse decomposes beneath glass, his bony fingers clutching frightening and thematically appropriate gems from our DVD collection (available for checkout once you’ve pried Return of the Living Dead or Zombieland from his cold, dead hands.)

We also have some great new books that are in sync with the season: Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror by Jason Zinoman (PN 1995.9 .H6Z56 2011) chronicles the 1970s golden age of cinema and the significance of exploitation and horror films in shaping the era (the book dishes the dirt on such vaunted auteurs as John Carpenter, Brian DePalma, Wes Craven and Roman Polanski.)

Psychologist and Professor Jeffrey A Kottler’s book Lust for Blood (HM 1116 .K68 2011) explores the strange human fascination with violence, virtual and otherwise, in a variety of forms such as horror movies, news stories, chicken fights, video games, boxing, graphic novels, and the like. The Zombie Autopsies: Secret Notebooks from the Apocalypse (PS 3619.C435 Z66 2011) by Steven C. Schlozman, M.D. (really!) will make you queasy with its graphic illustrations of dissected reanimated corpses. Zombie Autopsies mimics the style of a clinical diary, but within its meticulous illustrations and faux-scientific observations beats the heart of a graphic novel that both science nerds and die-hard pulp enthusiasts can love.

Best disguise wins a prize

Langsdale Library is celebrating Halloween by hosting a masquerade contest in October to coincide with our promotional READ posters. You and your disguise will grace a READ poster to be displayed in the library. It's a great way to celebrate the season, to wow the UB community with your creativity, and to show off your love of books. Also, prizes will be awarded for best costume! To enter:

1. Select a book from Langsdale's collection. Search our databases (http://langsdale.ubalt.edu/catalog/index.htm) or ask a reference librarian to help you locate the book you want.

2. Create a costume that relates to the book somehow. Creativity and humor are encouraged!

3. Either photograph yourself in full costume holding up or enjoying your chosen book, or come into the library in costume to have your photo taken by Langsdale Circulation Specialist Erin Toepfner. E-mail her (etoepfner@ubalt.edu) or call her (410.837.4208) to make an appointment.

4. Wait for the winner(s) to be announced at the end of October. Even if you don't win, you'll still be on a READ poster wearing your incredible disguise.