Stillwater Library Corner | Arts & Entertainment

Exploring the Arts – The Golden Age of the Ghost Story

If you love a good spooky story, explore the golden age of the ghost story with former professor Steve Schroer. On Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m., we’ll look at the emergence of the ghost story as a formal genre. For example, did you know that “the Turn of the Screw” refers to a bad situation getting worse, and derives from thumbscrews, a medieval torture device? In addition to covering the classics by Henry James and Charles Dickens, Steve will introduce you to stories and authors you may never have heard of. Steve’s favorite ghost story is “How Fear Departed from the Long Gallery” by E.F. Benson.

Connect Through Books: Monday, Oct. 17, 7 p.m.

At the library, we love to talk books! Connect online with us and share what you’re reading. Registration is required to receive Zoom meeting link.

Preschool Storytime: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 10:30 a.m.

Join Baby Bear and Miss Kim for stories, songs, poems and more to encourage the development of early literacy skills. Storytime will be held inside. No registration is required.

Building with Bricks: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 4 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Come create with the library’s LEGO collection! Bring your imagination but leave your personal bricks at home. This is a drop-in event, join us anytime from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the upper-level meeting room. For kids ages 6 to 12 years old. No registration is required.

Mystery Book Club: Wednesday, Oct. 19, 6 p.m.

October marks the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. Join us in journeying back to the decades of the Cold War by reading a Cold War mystery. About this book club: We meet once a month for about an hour and everyone is welcome! Each month we select a theme and the members read a book that falls within that theme. Each member then discusses their book and gives the book a star rating out of five. No registration is required.

Care for Magical Creatures: Saturday, Oct. 22, 10:30 a.m.

Discover the incredible adaptations that help animals to survive and thrive in the wild, and how these adaptations compare to the magical abilities of creatures in our favorite stories. Learn about how Carpenter Nature Center staff care for these animals and how you can help care for animals in the wild. No registration is required.

Puzzle Tournament: Saturday, Oct. 22, 1:30 p.m.

Come be a part of our Jigsaw Puzzle Tournament. Teams of 2 to 4 people compete to finish the same 550-piece puzzle in the least amount of time. Prizes will be awarded to the first two teams to finish the puzzle.

Stillwater Public Library is open on Mondays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., on Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Visit us at stillwaterlibrary.org, call 651-275-4338, or email splinfo@ci.stillwater.mn.us for more information.

“Ghost stories are a way of talking about things we’re not otherwise allowed to discuss: a forbidden history we thought bricked up safely in the walls.”

•Colin Dickey, Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places

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