“That’s why I had to ask” | Library research scene + archives in ‘Candyman’ (2021)

It’s that time again, the spooky season during the month of October! This is the time when I focus on analyzing reel librarian portrayals in horror movies, thrillers, etc. To start us off this month, let’s analyze the library scene in a modern horror movie, the 2021 take on Candyman, directed and co-written by Nia DaCosta, and produced and co-written by Jordan Peele, two major Black voices in modern cinema. DaCosta directs the upcoming MCU film, The Marvels, which is scheduled to premiere next month, and Peele won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Get Out (2017).

Candyman (2021) serves as a sequel, or rather a continuation, of the story, plot, and characters of Candyman (1992), the classic horror film starring Tony Todd in the title role. The character of Candyman is a fascinating mix of a couple different urban legends — Bloody Mary (who is summoned after you say her name in front of a mirror), and The Hook (a hook-handed man out for murder) — filtered through a uniquely Black American cultural and historical lens. I would argue that the original Candyman movie is so iconic that it turned the Candyman character into its own urban legend! In this 2021 movie, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, a Black American actor, stars as Anthony McCoy, a talented artist who finds himself drawn to Cabrini-Green, a real-life Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) public housing project. Anthony’s journey takes him down a deadly path, and DaCosta’s vision also serves up a searing take on the effects of generational trauma of systemic racism and the gentrification of Black neighborhoods. Teyonah Paris co-stars as his girlfriend, Brianna Cartwright, and Vanessa Williams as his birth mother.

Below is a trailer to set the stage for us. The short, but crucial, library scene — when Anthony visits a university library for research — is also briefly shown in this trailer, starting at 1:33 mins:

Academic library scene

Thirty-eight minutes into the 90-minute film, Anthony visits a local college or university library (referred to as “academic libraries” in the biz) in order to do research on the Cabrini-Green neighborhood and a horrific event that occurred there — the same event that featured in the first film. Such a clever way to integrate the first film’s plot into its sequel!

Here’s how a Book Riot article describes the plot set-up for the library scene:

Intrigued by an urban legend about a woman who kidnapped a baby and went on a killing rampage in the ’70s, Anthony, a visual artist, goes to a housing project in Chicago to find inspiration for his art. In a laundromat in the area, a man tells him the story of Candyman, the spirit of a man who was killed by police after being falsely accused of putting razor blades into candy. Where does Anthony go to learn more about Lyle and the Candyman? The library of course!

Addison Rizer, “Libraries Save Lives: 8 Horror Movies and TV Shows where Research Happens at the Library,” Book Riot, 25 July 2022

LOVE IT: “The library of course!” ❤

The first glimpse of the library reveals long rows of bound periodicals — call number alert! — and we see a reference desk located at the very end.

The reel librarian, listed in the credits as simply “Librarian,” is played by Cassie Kramer, a White actress with shoulder-length blonde hair. She is dressed in professionally casual clothing: a camel-colored long cardigan sweater, a purplish top (and matching lipstick!), dark jeans, a long gold pendant, and delicate gold earrings. The reel librarian begins the scene by sporting black frames. The reference desk, which looks to be located in front of staff offices, is cluttered with stacks of books (with call numbers!), a stamper and stamp pad, a desktop computer, and a candy dish. Behind the desk are two library rolling carts.

This library setting feels VERY authentic to me!

We first see the reel librarian as she takes files out of an archival box.

Here’s a quick closeup of the label on that box, which reads:

University Archives
Helen Lyle
Semiotics Master’s program
Graduate Thesis Research
Box 1 of 1
Sociology Department
College of Arts and Sciences

The librarian pulls out a thick folder of files and a tape recorder and places them on the desk.

Here’s their exchange:

Librarian: So, I don’t know what this is [the archival box], or how you knew it existed. But this is everything we have under “Helen Lyle.”

Anthony [smiles]: I didn’t. That’s why I had to ask.

Librarian [takes off her glasses]: Um… well, here it is. [Tucks her hair behind her ear.]

Anthony: Thank you. Appreciate it.

Librarian: Of course, yeah. I found it filed under “True Crimes.”  [Something falls off the table, and she reaches down.] Workstudy undergrads are the worst. 

[Anthony chuckles and slips away.]

Librarian [looks back up]: So, are you a student? [But Anthony is already gone!]

Several things of note here:

• That archival box, with its thick sides, metal side clasps, and folding lid, looks to be the real deal.

• The box label? Not so much. It has a lot of useful descriptive info to provide the viewer plot-related information, and it’s nice to see “University Archives” highlighted! But in my opinion, it’s not a particularly realistic box label for discovery or shelving purposes because there is no call number or accession number, which some Archives use. (Accession numbers indicate the number of the item in the order it was received or added to the collection. Call numbers usually indicate subject, author, and/or publication information.) Where it it shelved in the Archives? Under the “Lyle” name, or Semiotics, or Graduate Thesis collection, or by the department or college? It’s very unclear. No wonder it apparently got misshelved under “True Crimes”!

• This is an interesting example of featuring a library that clearly includes an archives collection. This is common in a bigger library, and particularly in an academic library. (For example, my college library also has an archives collection.) But this librarian clearly isn’t very familiar with the University Archives collection within the library… which probably also feels on point for my archivist colleagues! I can practically feeeeeeel Sam Cross @ Pop Archives shaking her head and side-eyeing this reel librarian!

• Did you clock how dazed the reel librarian was by Anthony’s smile and charm? (I mean, WHO WOULDN’T BE?!) She recovered enough to attempt some light flirting, indicated by first taking off her glasses (LOL), doing a hair flip, and then tucking her hair behind her ears.

• Anthony seemed bemused and totally aware of his effect on her — I’m sure he’s used to the attention! And he quickly takes advantage of that, by slipping away when she was momentarily distracted.

• Thus, Anthony ended up stealing away those archives, right? He slipped out before his name could be recorded as checking out those materials. And as evident by the librarian’s parting question (“So, are you a student?”), she hadn’t gotten any identifiable information about him beforehand.

• Finally, did you ALSO notice how quickly that reel librarian threw the workstudy students under the bus with her “Workstudy undergrads are the worst” line?! As a former library workstudy student myself, NOT COOL, ma’am, not cool.

This is our parting shot of this reel librarian, who seems disappointed that Anthony has disappeared.

Their brief exchange ends after about a minute, and it’s the last we see of the reel librarian. But it’s NOT the last we see of the library. We next hear Helen Lyle in voiceover, as Anthony listens to her recordings while walking through the library. It still looks like he’s in the bound periodicals section.

Anthony approaches the elevator, and we see he’s on Level 3 of the libary. A sign reading “Drinks with Secure Lids Allowed” is visible on the wall. These are such hallmarks of library signage that I suspect this is a real library location!

Anthony steps into the elevator all alone, and the elevator interior is lined with mirrors. Cue the Candyman… nowhere is safe, not even the library! About 20 seconds later, when the elevator doors open again, Anthony is on the floor, and 5 college students look down at him. One student is holding a book, while another student carries a backpack. The perspective then switches to the outside of the library, and we see Anthony dust himself up and walk out of the elevator, file folder in hand.

The entire library scene lasts a total of 3 minutes.

Click on any image in the gallery below to view in a larger size.

Reel librarian role + importance of library scene

The reel librarian primarily served as Information Provider, as she provided archival materials to the main character, and she revealed that those materials had been difficult to find in the library (having apparently been misshelved by “workstudy undergrads” — no, I’m not letting that go!). This helps provide credibility of why no one had located these materials in the time in-between the events of the first film and this second film.

Although this reel librarian attempts to flirt — awkwardly — with Anthony, I don’t think her behavior elevates her to the role of Naughty Librarian. Although Anthony did sneak off with the archival files, the librarian did not actively bend the rules for him (unlike the flirtatious and unethical librarian in the 1943 classic horror film, The Seventh Victim, which is the first horror film I’ve come across to feature a reel librarian!).

Although short in length, these scenes in the library — both the reference desk interaction and the scene in the elevator — combine for a memorably scary time in the library. Candyman lands in the Class III category, films in which the librarian and/or archivist plays a secondary role, including a minor character in a memorable or significant scene.

When watching a movie that includes a scene set in a library, I always ask, “Why the library? What purpose or significance does the library setting bring to this scene?” After analyzing this library scene in Candyman, I would say there are 3 important factors for why this scene takes place in a library:

• First, it establishes the credibility of the research materials that Anthony was seeking. Before this point, Anthony had heard others share stories about the Cabrini-Green event secondhand, but with Helen Lyle’s own voice recording, he can hear about it himself from a primary source. Plus, these archival materials were part of a graduate-level research project!

• Helen Lyle’s research was misshelved, ostensibly by undergraduate workstudy students, in the “True Crimes” section — even though there’s no indication of that subject matter on its box label. This actually provides a clue to how the urban myth has built up around Candyman and Lyle’s associated research! The undergraduate students are likely aware of the urban myth, thus associating Lyle’s research with the “true crime” event — but the librarian is out of the loop and ignorant of the connection.

• The fact that the Candyman can reach Anthony in a safe place like the library ups the fear factor. If the library is not safe, then NO PLACE is!

Library locale

The IMDb.com Filming & Production page for Candyman lists only “DeKalb, Illinois” as the location for the Library scene, but no more specific details. But luckily, this article in Northern Star, the student newspaper for Northern Illinois University (NIU), highlights that this scene was filmed in NIU’s “very own library, the Founder’s Memorial Library.”

Joe King, associate director of Institutional Communications [at NIU], said he was contacted in late February of 2020 by a filming location scout.

“It was a location scout who had been to campus before and had just had checked out some of our buildings and she thought that we’d be a good fit,” King said. “They were looking for a state university library.” 

Qtd. in “NIU Library Featured in ‘Candyman’ Reboot” by Kyron Lewis, Northern Star, 18 Nov. 2021

According to the NIU Libraries’ website, there are 3 main libraries on campus, plus 2 outreach centers, and the Founder’s Memorial Library is the main library. And NIU is, indeed, located in DeKalb, Illinois.

Continuing the conversation

Have you ever been to NIU campus or university library? Have you ever whispered “Candyman” aloud when looking into a mirror? Would you also get dazzled by Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s smile? (I score 2 out of 3 on this list.) Please leave a comment and share your thoughts about this library scene in Candyman!

Sources used

• Candyman. Dir. Nia DaCosta. Perf. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Teyonah Parris, Colman Domingo, Vanessa Williams. Universal & MGM, 2021.
• “Candyman (2021): Filming & production.” Internet Movie Database. Accessed 10 Oct. 2023.
• Lewis, Kyron. “NIU Library Featured in ‘Candyman’ Reboot.” Northern Star, 18 Nov. 2021.
• Rizer, Addison. “Libraries Save Lives: 8 Horror Movies and TV Shows where Research Happens at the Library.” Book Riot, 25 July 2022.
• Stubbersfield, Joe. “Candyman: The Urban Legends Behind the Movie and Why We Find Them Irresistible.” The Conversation, 1 Sept. 2021. CC BY ND license.