Scaring Up Stories

This is the week when librarians “pull out all their Halloween books,” according to Donna Roff, a children’s librarian with the Ventura County Library Services Agency.

That doesn’t mean they purge them from the shelves, but rather that they put them on prominent display. The county librarians have cooked up lists with labels such as Ghosts, Ghouls and Dead Friends, for readers 11 and older, and Books to Scream About, for younger readers. The point is to get kids--and parents who read aloud to their kids--to take the books home this weekend.

Also, at libraries in Ojai and Thousand Oaks today, parents can take their 3- to 5-year-olds to hear Halloween stories read aloud. Frank Roach, a children’s librarian at Thousand Oaks’ main library, promised that he’d stay away from anything too scary when reading to preschoolers today.

“I’ve chosen all very lighthearted stuff,” he said. “The older children like the real spooky stuff.”

Roff said the county library also circulates simplified versions of that granddaddy of American ghost stories, “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” This Washington Irving classic is also widely available in its full text, and even in video form, at local libraries and stores.

The Disney video version, available sometimes under the title “The Adventures of Ichabod,” has not been watered down, by the way, so don’t be fooled by the fact that it’s narrated by Bing Crosby. There’s still that headless horseman to deal with. The video versions by Sony and Fox-CBS are more tame.

A bedtime story might also help parents wind down their sugar-stoked youngsters after trick-or-treating this weekend. For older kids, the county library’s Julie Albright recommends “Stonewalkers,” “Night in Moonbeam County,” “We Have Always Lived in the Castle,” “The Silver Kiss,” “Changeover,” “Whispers From the Dead,” “Dreadful Sorry” and “Dragon’s Bait.”

Her list for pre-adolescents: “McMummy,” “Stonewords,” “Wait Till Helen Comes,” “Haunting,” “The Dark Thirty,” “Peppermints in the Parlor” and “Christina’s Ghost.”

If that doesn’t do the trick to counter too many treats, the History Channel is airing “The History of Halloween” Friday at 10 p.m. The show is billed as being about the “ancient customs [that] form the basis for modern practices of costume parties, jack-o’-lanterns and trick or treat.”

History might make their eyelids heavy. Or it might turn them into history freaks--while you drift off.

BE THERE

Goblins, Ghouls and Witches, Halloween-themed story readings for children ages 3-5, Thousand Oaks Public Library, today at 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., 1401 E. Janss Road. Free. (805) 449-2660.

Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Ojai Library, today at 10:30 a.m., 111 E. Ojai Ave. Free. (805) 646-1639.

Read on--The reading lists Books to Scream About and Ghosts, Ghouls and Dead Friends are available at Ventura County library branches. (805) 652-7541.