It’s scary season again during the month of October! This is a time when I focus on analyzing reel librarian portrayals in horror movies, thrillers, etc. To start us off in (scary) style, I thought it would be fun to explore and learn from some additional real-life librarians sharing their perspectives about horror movies. I’m far from the only librarian interested in movies!
‘An Exploration of the Librarian in Horror’ film festival chat
This video presentation, embedded below, was part of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival and was shared in July 2022.
The presenter is Dr. Katrin Seyler, who “morphed from a trained historian into a librarian during the 2010s and has always enjoyed digging through archives for dusty and bizarre things. Her fondness for horror was born out of an illicit viewing of Hellraiser sometime in the early 90s.”
In this talk, Dr. Seyler shares insights about reel librarians in horror movies, including Ghostbusters (1984), It (1990), Se7en (1995), Chainsaw Sally (2004), Tale of a Vampire (1992), and more!
‘Behind the Couch’ blog
James Gracey, a library assistant and writer, is the writer and voice watching horror movies from “Behind the Couch.” I love the site’s tag line: “Safe fear in a domestic setting.” James shares regular posts and reviews of all types of horror movies, all year round. James is also a published author, and I particularly find the Interviews page interesting, as James includes interviews with several artists, writers, and publishers specializing in all things horror, including Dario Argento, famed director of horror classics, such as Suspiria (1997). Check it out!
Explore the Behind the Couch website & blog
‘Haunted Librarian’ blog
The Haunted Librarian blog has reviews of all things haunted, including movies, TV shows, and books. The librarian behind the site is named Brandi, who shares that “I’m obsessed with many different things including but not limited to Halloween, spooky stuff, the occult, music, and the 80s” and that “I am an actual librarian” and “My brain is an actual library.”
I particularly loved the Haunted Librarian’s recent post about the story collection, Thirteen: 13 Tales of Horror by 13 Masters of Horror, which includes short stories by some great YA horror authors, including Christopher Pike, R. L. Stine, Caroline B. Cooney, and more. I have this SAME story collection in my personal library, too (!), and some of those stories in this collection, like Ellen Emerson White’s “The Boy Next Door,” still haunt me to this day.
Explore the Haunted Librarian blog
‘The Movie Librarians’ podcast
The Movie Librarians, a podcast that was active in 2020-2021, was hosted by Deepti Limaye and Martin Chandler, two librarians and educators in Canada who reviewed movies and chatted about movie recommendations.
Their final episode in 2021 focused on the horror movie, Us (2019), directed by Jordan Peele and starring Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke.
Listen to “Us (2019)” podcast by The Movie Librarians
‘The Librarian Is In’ podcast
The long-running The Librarian Is In podcast is “the New York Public Library’s podcast about books, culture, and what to read next.”
In the “Terror! Horror! Revulsion!” podcast (Episode 62, aired on Oct. 26, 2017), “adult services librarian Isaiah Pittman horrifies Gwen and Frank with scary book and film recommendations!”
Adult services librarian Isaiah Pittman returned in 2018 for Episode 114, “Between Terror and Humor,” in which he talks more scary books and movies.
‘Fright Club’ podcast
And last — but hopefully, not least — I wanted to share again the 2 times I was lucky enough to be a guest on the Fright Club podcast, hosted by the talented and wickedly funny George and Hope of Maddwolf.com.
Last February, we chatted and laughed about memorable library scenes in horror movies:
And a few months later, in Aug. 2021, I returned to chat about memorable librarians in horror movies:
Hope you enjoyed this round-up of different librarian voices and perspectives on horror movies! I am sure this round-up is only scratching the surface… please share more fun librarian podcasts or blogs about horror movies in the comments. 🙂
Stay tuned for a special analysis post next time to wrap up this scary season!
REEL LIBRARIANS 
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