For every kid in America, Halloween boils down to two things: spookiness and overindulgence. If you got super scared—and you got a ton of candy—you did Halloween right.
Many of us grow out of that mindset. Thankfully, a few of us never will. Assistant Professor of Digital Media Juan José Castaño-Márquez and Visiting Assistant Professor of Art History Matthew Jarvis still love a good thrill—and an overstuffed candy bag.
Their tastes for terror and for too much of a good thing combine marvelously in their horror genre speaker series, “Spooky Evenings.” Their online video series aligns a murders’ row of dozens of horror writers, scholars, directors and films to create 38 consecutive nights of lectures, readings and showings.
The series, now in its second year, kicks off on October 1 with a talk by Richard Chizmar, author of New York Times bestseller Chasing the Boogeyman. It runs each evening through Halloween and into the first week of November.
"It’s amazing, the beautiful monster they’ve worked to create together."
In between, students and horror fans of all stripes will gather virtually to hear from New York Times bestsellers, Edgar Award winners and scholars from schools including Columbia, the University of Melbourne, UCLA, Gonzaga and the European Graduate School of Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste.
“It’s amazing, the beautiful monster they’ve worked to create together,” said Provost Graciela Caneiro-Livingston. “It’s a wonderful service, connecting our students with so many internationally renowned scholars and artists.” And the program’s online delivery means alumni and horror fans from all over the world can hear from leaders in the field.
“It’s a great period for being a fan of horror,” said Prof. Kendall Phillips, of Syracuse University. Phillips spoke last year on trends in horror cinema after the Occupy Wall Street Movement. “And it’s a great period to have an incredibly intelligent platform like (“Spooky Evenings”) and the amazing Mat Jarvis to lead it. So thank you for being part of the third golden age of horror.”
The series pairs with a fall exhibition of horror posters at Elder Gallery. Find the speaker schedule and links at spookyevenings.com.