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Halloween Resources for Fun and Research

To celebrate Halloween, NYU Libraries has assembled this guide to scary books, films and music for fun or serious study.

Welcome!

We hope to frighten you with the many Halloween related resources available to you through the NYU Libraries. Proceed if you dare . . . !

Dracula - First Edition 1897 at NYU Special Collections

Yellow Dracula book spine with red lettering.Yellow Dracula book cover with red lettering on top of red slipcase.

Photo Caption: Images of Dracula yellow book cover with red lettering.

Just one of the many treasures you will find at NYU Special Collections.  Bram Stoker's Dracula was first published on May 16, 1897 - not Halloween, unfortunately - and has not been out of print since then. It has been adapted for movies, theatrical plays, musicals, graphic novels and video games and the central character - the Count himself - has become synonymous with the myth and legend of the vampire. Bound in yellow cloth with blood-red lettering on both the front and back covers, its color would have signified to contemporary readers that this was perhaps a somewhat 'transgressive' book - yellow was associated with the more disreputable publications of the fin de siecle. The novel is interesting not only for introducing to the world one of the most iconic - if undead - characters in literature, but also because of the way it contrasts the ancient and superstitious with modernity - the story itself is epistolary, told by various characters using a variety of different media to convey their narratives, including not just handwritten letters and journal entries, but also then-modern recording technologies like the typewriter, the phonograph, shorthand and telegrams. 

Halloween Resources beyond NYU

Here are links to some interesting resources beyond NYU . . . 

Dibner Library: Alice in Wonderland-themed Haunted Classroom

Spooky lettering with Halloween and laboratory graphics  Spooky season is upon us and Dibner Library's classroom, LC433 has been transformed into Dr. Frankenstein's     Laboratory. Your mission: solve the puzzle for the chance to win a FULL-SIZED CANDY BAR (while supplies last).

  When: Halloween of course!  Thursday, October 31 from 12:00 pm - 3:30 pm

Bobst Library: Hallow-Zeen Workshop

Jack o' Lanterns with witch's hat flanking a bookshelf with bats flying in the background and spooky green letteringJoin NYU Libraries for a frightfully fun and crafty Zine making workshop.  Zines (pronounced "zeens") are small, self-made, publications that can be about anything.  All materials will be provided and suggestions for how to be inspired to make a Halloween themed zine will be shared.  No experience with zines necessary!  Light refreshments will be available.

Register here

When: Tuesday, October 29th from 2:00 - 4:00pm in Room 743