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Story Archives of 'Halloween'True Meaning of HalloweenBy Andrew Walsh on Friday, October 31, 2008.Happy Halloween, from The Onion: On The Trail of GhostsBy Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 30, 2008.What was once scoffed at on Scooby Doo and late night television ads, psychic and paranormal dramas are big draws on reality TV these days. A&E takes a scientific angle, following researchers from Columbia and Penn state on "Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal," and "Paranormal State." Hokey portrayals of mediums and spirit seekers have given way to high-tech phantom squads on the Sci-Fi Channel’s hit, "Ghost Hunters." With all this playing out in America’s living rooms, it’s not so shocking that a perfectly rational library director would call for a psychic investigation of the Meredith Public Library. Staff there reported a series of strange phenomena - equipment moved around recently, shelved books mysteriously found facing the other direction moments later... Well, as the song goes, who you gonna call? Ghost Quest, a three-woman crew from New Hampshire that claims technology, psychic powers, and a deep knowledge of dark forces to understand the supernatural. Their new book Ghost Quest in New Hampshire follows their exploits. Two team members are with us today. Becka Boyd is lead investigator and psychic medium, and Katie Boyd is lead investigator and demonologist. listen:
  Haunted Hikes in New HampshireBy Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 30, 2008.Anyone who’s ever sat around a campfire in the woods telling ghost stories understands just how eerie a dark forest can be. Suddenly the possibility of spirits lurking behind trees and skulking through the shadows seems real. If you’re camping in New Hampshire, there’s even more reason to be frightened. The state’s forests and mountain peaks have a long, dark history, and many stories to tell. Marianne O’Connor gathers some of the spookier - or just plain out-of-the-ordinary ones - in a new book, Haunted Hikes of New Hampshire. It’s part hiker’s guide and part local history lesson. There are stories that are perfect for reading around a campfire. Some are more well-known, but many aren’t so familiar. Marianne is a teacher in Nashua and also writes for The Hippo, and joins Word of Mouth with more on the cursed Mount Chocorua, ghost sightings on Mount Washington, and UFO abductions. listen:
Family-Friendly Horror FilmsBy Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 30, 2008. If you’re in the mood for a little Halloween fright at the movies this weekend, you could check out Saw Five, the latest in the series of films known for its gruesome scenes of horror and human agony. Films like Saw have inspired a new breed of horror flick, and a new phrase in our vernacular: “torture porn”. They depict some of the most horrible images and situations that you could possibly imagine, if you’d even want to. Now, not to sound like an old fuddy-duddy, but they sure don’t make them like they used to, do they? There was a time when horror flicks tried to scare the bejesus out of youngsters. Now they’re aimed an older audience, and one with a very strong stomach. Joining us is a man who loves horror films – especially those of the cult variety. Bryan White’s blog is called Cinema Suicide, and he’s put together a top-ten list of family-friendly horror flicks, partly inspired by his newborn daughter. Here they are: Godzilla vs. Monster Zero, 1965, dir. Ishiro Honda The Raven, 1963, dir. Roger Corman The House On Haunted Hill, 1959, dir. William Castle The Monster Squad, 1987, dir. Fred Dekker Poltergeist, 1982, dir. Tobe Hooper Something Wicked This Way Comes, 1983, dir. Jack Clayton Gremlins, 1984, dir. Joe Dante Quatermass and The Pit, 1967, dir. Roy Ward Baker Horror of Dracula, 1958, dir. Terence Fisher The Gate, 1987, dir. Tibor Takacs Watch the trailer for Quatermass and The Pit: listen:
Zombie SquadBy Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 30, 2008. How many of you know what you would do if you were forced from your home in a hurry, with only what you could carry? Where would you go? What would you need to survive? What if the threat that pushed you out was a massive uprising of the undead? Global Voices: Geishas Blogging, Hong Kong Horror, Guantanamo GameBy Virginia Prescott on Wednesday, October 15, 2008.The global economic crisis has dominated the news cycle lately. Obviously, it’s a complicated story of utmost importance, and media organizations are spending much of their time and resources trying to sort it all out for us. But life does go on, and there are other stories to tell.
Over in Hong Kong, bloggers are buzzing about a banned advertisement for a Halloween event. It's a truly horrifying ad, and it sends shivers up your spine. One more story that’s making its way around the blogosphere involves a video game where players question detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Deborah Dilley joins us on Word of Mouth to help us get a better understanding of these stories. She’s a writer and editor for Global Voices Online, a website that keeps track of what people are talking about on blogs all over the world.
 (Photo by kalandrakas) listen:
The Good ThiefBy Virginia Prescott on Thursday, October 2, 2008.The pitch-black nights and scuttling leaves of autumn make for prime reading weather. Over the gloomy weekend, I tucked into The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti and was transported to a grim 19th-century orphanage in a dark New England town.
It’s a briskly-paced novel with suprising turns and a cast of scoundrels, grifters, murderers, outcasts and victims straight out of a Charles Dickens novel. Hannah Tinti’s writing has been compared to Dickens, and to Robert Louis Stevenson. It’s high praise for a first-time novelist. Hannah Tinti grew up in Salem, Massachusetts. Her story collection, Animal Crackers, has sold in sixteen countries and was a runner up for the PEN/Hemingway award. She is co-founder and editor-in-chief of One Story magazine. Click here to read the first chapter of The Good Thief And if The Good Thief doesn’t get you in the mood for the macabre, the Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter Alu just might. She creates ambient soundscapes for her captivating fantasy stories about casket salesmen and circus cosmos. Producer John Diliberto brings us this profile, as part of the series Echo Location: Soundings For New Music. listen:
Vampires!By Liz Bulkley on Wednesday, October 31, 2007.Vampires are everywhere, but you don’t need to creep around in dark shadows and coffin-filled basements to find them. They live on our cereal boxes, in our lexicon and – of course – in our popular entertainment. Tonight on the Front Porch, we look at the history and lore of the fashionable undead and how they’ve infiltrated our mainstream culture. Our guest is Eric Nuzum, author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula and Director of Programming and Acquisitions for National Public Radio. listen:
The Creepiest NightBy Liz Bulkley on Tuesday, October 31, 2006.It's the creepiest day and night of the year. We're going to hear some Edgar Allen Poe this evening to help usher in Halloween. Fans of frightening literature consider the Baltimore-based writer to be the most effectively scary story teller of all time. We'll hear some examples of his work that support that. listen:
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The whispered stories and rustling branches give you the chills, and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. 
We start in Japan, where one of the most ancient professions, the geisha, 
There we find twelve-year-old Ren being passed up for adoption. He’s too young for field work, too old to be adorable, and missing a hand. Ren’s story unfolds when a spirited grifter posing as his brother whisks him away, knowing that Ren’s pitiful deformity will open more wallets than a gun.