Posted 4:42 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28, 2024
All Hallows Read
Halloween, celebrated on October 31st, has roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer. During this celebration people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts.
In the 8th Century Pope Gregory III created All Saints Day on November 1st and the day before came to be known as All Hallows Eve (the Night before Saints). It was then condensed down to Halloween around 1773 and was bought into mainstream use in 1786 by Scottish Poet Robert Burns.
When the holiday migrated from Europe to the United States the celebrations were adopted and adjusted to fit the new land. From dressing up in costumes to confuse spirits and pranking of your neighbors, to transforming the Scottish tradition of guising into trick or treating.
Witches, ghouls, ghosts, goblins and students: we have all your horror needs here to celebrate the ghostly holiday. Search for spine chilling reads in the dark and somber Second Floor Stacks or enter the eerily quiet Area Research Center to explore firsthand accounts of the seedy history of La Crosse. Just don’t go down into the basement for it is too disturbing for even the bravest souls.
Keep yourself up at night reading these books:
Carrie by Stephen King
What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher
Never Whistle at Night: an Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology / Edited by Shane Hawk & Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
Give yourselves a fright with these films:
Step into Halloween History with Digital Collections Photos:
