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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”

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Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” by Miles Hyman
Format: Graphic novel
Who’s it for: adults

Shirley Jackson’s short story “The Lottery” continues to thrill and disturb readers even after it was first published. “The Lottery” introduces upsetting questions about conformity, customs and traditions, and the ritualized violence that may besiege even the most rural, passive community.

This graphic adaptation by Jackson’s grandson, Miles Hyman, allows readers to experience “The Lottery” in a new format. In a small American community, the current residents are alive with eagerness and anxiety when they wake on the morning of the twenty-seventh of June. Everything has been organized for the town’s yearly ritual—a lottery in which all families must partake, and nobody desires to win.

 

Find Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” in the catalog! 

A Head Full of Ghosts

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A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
Format:  Book
Who it’s For: Teens and adults

The lives of the Barretts, an ordinary family, are torn apart when their fourteen-year-old Marjorie shows signs of acute schizophrenia. To her parents’ misery, the doctors cannot stop Marjorie’s descent into madness. Their stable home soon devolves into a house of horrors. The family grudgingly turns to a Catholic priest for assistance. Father Wanderly recommends an exorcism; he believes the helpless Marjorie is the target of demonic possession. He also contacts a production company that is keen to document the Barretts’ troubles. With financial troubles approaching, the family agrees to be filmed, and thus become stars of The Possession, a successful reality television show.  

Fifteen years later, Marjorie’s younger sister, Merry, agrees to be interviewed. As she reminiscences about the events that occurred when she was just eight years old, secrets and painful memories emerge that contradict what they portrayed on the reality show. This book keeps you guessing throughout, making you question what really happened. 

Find A Head Full of Ghosts in the Catalog!

 

Old Bones

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Old Bones by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
Format:  book
Who it’s For:  Adults

The handsome Historian, Clive Benton, contacts Nora Kelly, a successful archaeologist, to lead an excursion unlike any other. Clive begins his story containing the Donner Party. Benton explains he has found a diary that contains information on the “Lost Camp” and its location.

Fascinated by the Donner Party, Nora agrees and they travel into the Sierra Nevada in pursuit of the camp. They learn that the excavation of the lost camp, is just the beginning, and the fact behind those pioneers is not only far more complex than they could have believed, but it puts them both at risk from a very real threat in which the hunt for the lost party and its legendary treasure are simply means to a disturbing end.

Find Old Bones in the catalog!

The House of the Scorpion

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The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Format:  Book
Who it’s For:  Teens and Adults

Matteo Alacrán wasn’t born; he was harvested.  His DNA came from El Patrón, lord of a state called Opium—poppy fields lay between the United States and land that what was once named Mexico.  Matt’s cells were divided inside a petri dish, and he was then placed in the womb of a cow, where he continued to develop from embryo to fetus to baby.  He is a boy at the present, but most see him as a monster—except for El Patrón.  El Patrón loves Matt as he loves himself because Matt is himself.

As Matt fights to understand his existence, he is threatened by a menacing cast of characters, including El Patrón’s tyrannical family, and he is surrounded by a dangerous army of bodyguards.  Escape Matt’s only chance for survival.  But escape from the Alacrán Estate is no promise of independence because Matt is marked by his difference in ways he does not recognize.

Find The House of the Scorpion in the catalog!

Ararat

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Ararat by Christopher Golden
Format:  Book
Who it’s For:  Adults

After a huge avalanche forces Adam Holzer and Meryam Karga, a couple climbing Mount Ararat, to hunt for shelter in one of the mountain’s caves, they stumble upon what they believe to be Noah’s Ark. Thrilled by their finding, the couple visions of turning their luck into a best-selling biography. Inside the ark is a great coffin that rapidly becomes the primary interest of the crew. Speculating who might be inside, with theories stretching from Noah himself to other biblical figures–the crew, after a passing disagreement, makes the choice to break open the coffin. But instead of discovering Noah, a horrible, evil-looking, horned cadaver rests inside.

What could go wrong?

Quite a lot. Particularly when an invading strangeness runs its nails down everybody’s back; when the crew turns abnormally malicious, needy, or fearful. When the crew awakens screaming, mysteriously overwhelmed by long-buried childhood terrors. When people disappear.

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The Ruins

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The Ruins by Scott Smith
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Two young couples decide to take a trip to Mexico.  The group enjoyed the beach, hotel, and making friends with fellow tourists when the brother of one of the couples goes missing.   The group ultimately decides to go searching for the missing brother.  Trekking through the Mexican jungle, the group stumbles upon a village which is only the beginning of the creeping horror; they endure throughout the story.  What started as an exciting day-trip gradually spirals into a terrifying nightmare when they find the remains of an ancient ruins site… and the disturbing presence that lurks there.

Find The Ruins in the catalog