October Isn't Just Pumpkins

Rogers traces Halloween as it emerged from the Celtic festival of Samhain, picked up elements of the Christian Hallowtide (All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day), arrived in North America as an Irish and Scottish festival, and evolved into an unofficial but large-scale holiday by the early 20th century. He examines the 1970s and '80s phenomena of Halloween sadism (razor blades in apples) and inner-city violence (arson in Detroit), as well as the immense influence of the horror film genre on the reinvention of Halloween as a terror-fest. Throughout his vivid account, Rogers shows how Halloween remains, at its core, a night of inversion, when social norms are turned upside down and a temporary freedom of expression reigns supreme.

Projected Fears' examines ten key horror films in an attempt to answer the question of why they remain such a powerful force in American culture.

Skulls to the Living, Bread to the Dead poses a serious challenge to the widespread stereotype of the morbid Mexican, unafraid of death, and obsessed with dying. In fact, the Day of the Dead, as shown here, is a powerful affirmation of life and creativity. Beautifully illustrated, this book is essential for anyone interested in Mexican culture, art, and folklore.

Located on the shelf on the main floor. At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, is the Finch House. For years it has remained empty, overgrown, abandoned. Soon the door will be opened for the first time in decades. But something is waiting, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests ... When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween in one of the world's most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won't be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt will become a fight for survival.

Since 1968's Night of the Living Dead, zombie culture has steadily limped and clawed its way into the center of popular culture. Today, zombies and vampires have taken over TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games, and movies. Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy drags the theories of famous philosophers like Socrates and Descartes into the territory of the undead, exploring questions like: Why do vampires and vegetarians share a similar worldview? Why is understanding zombies the key to health care reform? And what does "healthy in mind and body" mean for vampires and zombies? Answers to these questions and more await readers brave enough to make this fun, philosophical foray into the undead.

The Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a festival of culture and youth, a feast of the senses and celebration of life in death. Originating in Mexico and the Latin American countries, it began as a way of remembering departed relatives, as a means of embracing rather than fearing death. The rituals, the sugar skulls, the costumes and the festivities have grown into a massive counter culture across the Western world. Art, movies, cartoons and literature have been consumed by the brilliant power of the Day of the Dead, tendered here in this lively book.

The book represents an attempt to move from one conception of the "Chinese spirit" to a picture of many spirits, including a Laozi who acquires magical powers and eventually ascends to heaven in broad daylight; the white-robed Guanyin, one of the most beloved Buddhist deities in China; and the burning-mouth hungry ghost.