Fright Night

With Halloween almost upon us, it seems appropriate to look into all things spooky and creepy in the spirit of the holiday. The library currently has a display of books and videos ranging from the popular Twilight series to Ghostbusters and Zodiac to get you in the mood for Saturday night's little doorbell ringers. In addition, the library's Pop Culture Universe database (DACC user i.d. and password required off campus) offers lots of opportunities to investigate everything from vampires and zombies to Halloween).

Celebrating the Holiday

And the internet offers a whole world of opportunities for the intrepid investigator of Halloween-themed interests. For a general background of the History of Halloween, check out this site from the Library of Congress American Folklife Center. Still scrambling for the perfect costume idea? The Costume Page offers a wide selection of useful resource links to motivate you specifically for Halloween. It also includes a link to the National Retail Federation's list of the Top Costumes for 2009. Odd, librarian didn't make the list... and yes there is one. Or if your looking for something different to do with that pumpkin, check out ExtremePumpkins.com, which includes lots of excellent carving information as well as the single most outrageous (and outrageously fun) collection of jack-o-lanterns you're likely to run across. Tom Nardone, the site's creator, even gives out lots of free carving stencils you can try. And although it's a bit late to produce these now, here's a little project to plan for next year's Halloween, courtesy of the Bunless Librarian: The Cure for the Common Jack-O-Lantern, a pumpkin shaped like a human face.

Monsters

Interested in monsters? Then you'll love Monstropedia, a wiki-based encyclopedia of monsters, parascience and the paranormal. with more than 1800 articles, you should have plenty to browse. The site does not hold itself to the citation and documentation standards of wikipedia, but it's a lot of fun and does offer a lot of useful links and stories. A bit more well referenced, and just as potentially useful depending upon your monstrous interest (basilisks, anyone?), is Encyclopedia Mythica. This site does provide references for individual entries and seeks out people with background in the subject area to write particular entries.

Witches

After the assorted types of monsters, one thing closely associated with Halloween in the popular mind is the figure of the witch. Witches, of course, have a complex and real history, as the witchcraft trials in Salem demonstrated so vividly. The Famous Trials website provides one of the best points of reference to not only the 1692 events, but also to the long history of persecution that preceded it. Visitors can also consider their options had they been among the accused and even try their hand at Salem Witchcraft Jeopardy. Another intriguing exploration of the Trials is National Geographic's interactive experience in which visitors take on the persona of one of the accused. Modern day witches also have an active presence on the internet, as do followers of other religions. If you are interested in learning more about them, you can go to The Witches' Voice and read more about and by present day pagans and witches, some of whom take the Halloween traditions with good humor and others of whom regard it with distaste.

Hauntings

Many of you are probably familiar with various stories about Illinois' assorted haunted houses, theaters and other locations. Even if you are, you may find some that aren't familiar at the Haunted Illinois web site. You can also check out Haunted Indiana if that terrain is closer to home. And finally, a haunted house that is one of the most architecturally extraordinary creations in the United States, Winchester House in California. Here is an online tour of the various rooms' highlights.

Happy Halloween everybody!

Are You Coming Out Tonite?

October is Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History Month, and the official web site presents a video featuring 31 important icons from GLBT history, including Suze Orman, Zora Neale Hurston, and John Cage. The site also retains the archives of icons since 2006. These include figures as diverse as Florence Nightingale, Michelangelo and Rachel Carson.

One critical event in GLBT history was the publication of the Kinsey Report, more properly known as Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (and the corresponding report on the Human Female published later). The American Journal of Public Health reproduces key portions of that report online. With his data regarding the numbers of American men who had had at least one homosexual experience, Kinsey literally changed the public perception of the human sexual landscape.

Another source of interesting online information is OutHistory, a continuously developing site that includes an eclectic selection of exhibits that range from Colonial American gay experience to gay elected officials to cross-dressing lesbians around the turn of the nineteenth century. Explore the gays of Bronzeville in Chicago or what it is like to be gay and Native American in mid-twentieth century. Follow the efforts to get New York's transgender law passed.

Fear of the Unknown

While GLBT History month frequently highlights web sites and resources focusing on the history of those groups, less common is for attention to be drawn to the history of homophobia, the cultural attitudes that lead people to oppress homosexuals. Rictor Norton, a noted researcher into gay history and culture offers readers a detailed look at the early period of Western homophobia on his web site. Rictor's web site on Gay History and Literature offers interested readers a lot more to explore, everything from collections of gay love letters to explorations of particular literary traditions to lesbian pirates and 18th century cruising in London.

Sexuality Research

For people interested in sexuality research or study, an important site of information available online is the Magnus Hirschfeld Archive for Sexology. On the site users can find entire books, research reports, reviews, surveys and data sets to review. One of the most useful tools on the site is the Critical Dictionary of Sexology and Glossary of Inappropriate Terms (which refers to terms that contain either explicit or hidden value judgments).