Greetings from the Great Bend Public Library! Well, it’s official summer is over at the Great Bend Public Library. Don’t worry though, fall events aren’t far away and we still have awesome events like our Adults’ Night Out Movie to look forward to. At 7 p.m. on Aug. 2, we will be showing a newer movie based on the Roald Dahl book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” “Armed with nothing but a hatful of dreams, young chocolatier Willy Wonka manages to change the world, one delectable bite at a time.” I hear it’s a very fun prequel story about Willy Wonka’s origins. If you’re interested in checking out the movie make sure to be at the north library doors no later than 7:15 p.m. when we close doors for the night.
That is all we have for library events this week, but since I’ve got an article to fill, how about a book recommendation? It’s no secret that I love a spooky good time but with the most spooktacular time of the year months away, it might feel hard to get in the spooky spirit. But I am here to tell you that horror doesn’t have to just lurk in the shadows; sometimes it can be found right in the middle of the day in the bright unblinking sunlight. May I present to you bright horror or daylight horror. These terms are used to describe a genre that subverts our usual expectations of what is spooky and surprises its audience when they are least expecting it. One of my recent favorites in this genre is “In the Tall Grass,” a novella collaboration between Stephen King and his son Joe Hill.
“In the Tall Grass” begins with a sister and brother who pull off to the side of the road in the middle of rural Kansas. They begin hearing a young boy crying for help from within a field of tall grass. Trying to do the right, thing they enter the tall grass looking for the boy but within minutes they are disoriented, in deeper than seems possible, and they’ve lost one another. What follows is a terrifying and twisted journey all taking place in a field of tall grass. Why can’t they find the young boy? Why do voices sound like they are right next to them and then impossibly far seconds later? Why does it seem like no matter how far they walk in one direction they never seem to get anywhere? And what is the strange giant rock that seems to be in the center of all this?
One of the fun things about this book is the vast majority of it takes place during the day. The terror comes from not what’s lurking in the dark but what is lurking just beyond sight in the tall grass and the danger of never finding your way out even in the middle of the day. I know a lot of people use this time of year to squeeze in that last summer vacation or road trip before summer ends and the school year officially begins. So I will leave you with a piece of advice: Next time you are on a road trip driving down long sketches of nothing but tall fields of grass and corn maybe don’t stop next to the innocuous-looking field, keep driving. And no matter what you hear don’t go into the tall grass.
If you would like to check out this book visit us or check our library catalog at greatbendpl.info.
Hannah Grippin is outreach manager at the Great Bend Public Library. To see what else they’re up to at the library, visit the Facebook page and website, greatbendpl.info. You can also message the staff on Facebook, send email to gbcirc@gmail.com, or call 620-792-2409 for any questions about programming or services.
