Friday night, I went to the library's Festival of Ghost Stories. It was a collaboration event, so the library had teamed with Bloomington City Parks and the Storytellers Guild. The night included creepy tales about ghost-summoning, one great babysitter story (why is babysitting so scary??) and a really crazy story about a childhood cuddle toy that wouldn't go away. It was fun sitting out on the grass drinking cider, and even though the stories weren't terrifying, it was still a lot of fun to watch great programming at work.
One of the things I really like about this program is that it's been a long-established tradition in the community. People expect it to happen. They expect K from AV to get up with his guitar and sing murder ballads. They come ready to accept the silly stories and the occasional creep-fests about rotting corpses. I like the idea of certain programs that make themselves more essential to the community, and I think this is something that at least some families plan around for their Halloween entertainment.
