House of Horrors: HSSL Edition

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It’s that time of year again! The ghosts are boo-ing, the zombies are asking for “bRaiiNS” and midterms seem much scarier now that they are back in person. But we’ve got your back through all of this. Featured in this post are some of the Top Horror Titles from our collections, and our favourite streaming content! Scroll through it all if you dare *spooky noises**ghost emoji*

Some Scary Reading Stuff

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Perhaps one of the most frightening books ever written and it’s in our collection! Based on a classic but effective premise (house small on the outside but dizzyingly huge and spooky on the inside), this book will make you feel like you’re in an escape room adventure- and it’s a not supremely pleasant one. But that’s what this season’s about, eh?

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Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin

Yes, the movie was great, it was amazing, and it was chilling. But. The. Book. Is. Always. Better! If you’ve loved this plot of a terrified mother facing paranoia as a film, we should tell you the book is better- or worse? You get it. Even though its main twist is known to many, we assure you, the book will still keep you awake at night.

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The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

If you haven’t read Jackson, can you even call yourself a horror fanatic? (And King too, but you’ll see him in a sec!). You’ve read and streamed plenty of Haunted House titles, but we assure you, no one does it like Jackson. She perfects the Haunted House trope, we’re not just talking jump scares, we’re talking unreliable narrator that will make you want to reach for the lights, but also hide under the covers. Read it if you dare!

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Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Do you know what’s even more horrifying than supernatural beings defying natural laws and rendering everything possible? The answer is insufficiently socialised human beings stuck in a race for survival, or as Golding portrays it; a group of children stranded on an island without supplies or adult supervision. This is no Home Alone, this is pure savagery.

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Pet Sematary by Stephen King

The King of horror is here (get it? hehe), and he’s got a long list of titles competing for this spot. But unlike his other works that are rich with humanity in characterisation and deal with narrators that make us question the world around us,  Pet Sematary manages to be his most terrifying novel by dint of its simple, devastating concept: a magical cemetery where buried things come back to a sort-of life—but aren’t quite what they once were. See how King turns one of the most precious things in the world (our pets) into a living, breathing nightmare. 

But these are just some of our top picks. Here’s a list of more titles old and new, pop and classics to satisfy your horror needs this trick-or-treat season.

  1. Dracula by Bram Stoker 
  2. We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver
  3. Night Film by Marisha Pessl
  4. Ring by Koji Suzuki 
  5. Blindness by José Saramago
  6. The Shining by Stephen King
  7. The Only Good Indians by Stepehn Graham Jones
  8. Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
  9. Boo by Shinie Antony et al (Short story collection) 
  10. The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

Some Spooky Streaming Stuff

To get into the spirit, we have picked out some horror/Halloween movies that are free for all McGill students through available streaming services. Cosy up, take some time for yourself this Halloween (or better yet, have a horror movie marathon with your closest buds), and SCREAM with these picks.

To refresh how to use these services click here to read our McGill Films 101 blog post.

Find the favourites in the bibliography here (with much more being added than what is featured): https://mcgill.on.worldcat.org:443/list/18173632

Criterion on Demand

A single click on your VPN and you have access to so many wonderful horror films.

Our favourites on Criterion:

  • Scoob (Tony Cervone)
  • Midsommar (Ari Aster)
  • Ready or Not (Matt Bettinelli-Olpin & Tyler Gillett)
  • The Conjuring (James Wan)

Kanopy

The Monsters Among Us Series is a look into the history of creatures in pop culture and how they came to be!

Some highlighted movies are down below and to check out the rest of the Kanopy horror section, click here: https://mcgill.kanopy.com/category/29299

  • Dial M for Murder (Alfred Hitchcocks)
  • The Love Witch (Anna Biller)
  • A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Kino Lorber)

These are just a few picks to get you in the spirit if you’re looking for spooky Halloween movies using McGill Library Resources. Tag @mcgilllib on Instagram with the #spookystreaming to be featured on this blog post. We’d love to see what the HSSL community is watching this week.

If you have any questions email us at hssl.library@mcgill.ca!

This post has been co-authored by Vanja Lugonjic

Open Access to Climate Justice

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By Kimberly White and Ana Rogers 

Climate change does not affect everyone equally. The term “climate justice” was coined to acknowledge that the effects of climate change “will not be borne equally or fairly, between rich and poor, women and men, and older and younger generations” (UN, 2019). Access to information is a key part of connecting communities across disciplines and understanding the vast and imminent impacts of climate change. Sharing information openly and freely provides an opportunity to address the inequitable impacts of climate change and shape the global response.  

This year’s International Open Access Week (October 24-30, 2022) will focus on Climate Justice to raise awareness around how Open Access can support climate justice. “Open Access” refers to the “free, immediate, online access to the results of scholarly research, and the right to use and re-use those results as you need” (Open Access Week, 2022). 

In conjunction with International Open Access Week, McGill Library has curated a physical and virtual display at the Redpath Complex for the entire month of October, featuring books, films, and music that grapple with the inequities surrounding the climate crisis.  

In the spirit of Open Access, our virtual collection includes only Openly accessible materials and links to books which are held in print and can be accessed onsite by users outside the McGill community. Here are some of the highlights from our collection: 
 
 

Book cover for Silent Spring by Rachel Carson - The classic that launched the environmental movement. Introduction by Linda Lear, Afterward by Edward O. Wilson. The cover is a soft green with a red veiny leaf. Inside the leaf is the cutout image of a bird in flight. The title and author are overlayed in large white text.

Silent Spring by Rachel Carson

No list of environmental publications would be complete without this groundbreaking 1962 book by Rachel Carson which details the harms caused by pesticide use and the negative impacts on communities exposed to these chemicals. 

Book cover for Voices of Drought by Michael B. Silvers. The politics of music and environment in Northeastern Brazil. Image includes a bare tree in the foreground and a grey sky with transparent music score in the background.

Voices of Drought by Michael B. Silvers

Voices of Drought takes a unique ethnomusicological approach to Climate Justice by demonstrating how ecological crisis affects musical culture by way of and proportionate to social difference and stratification.

Book cover for Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teaching of Plants. "A hymn of love to the world" as quoted by Elizabeth Gilbert. The image is of a single braided grass laying horizontally across the a plain beige background.

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

In this book, Indigenous author and botanist Robin Wall Kimmer explores how indigenous wisdom about human interactions with nature, harmonizes with modern scientific knowledge of ecology and sustainable living. 

Cover image for Climate Justice Y'All. The word's and large and sitting on a field of grass with flowers, plants, clouds, etc, emerging from the letters.

Climate Justice Y’All

This ongoing podcast centers on Climate Justice movements in the Southern United States, focusing on Climate Justice leaders and stories from communities in the South where climate change is already having significant impacts. 

Find these and our other selections through the Open Climate Justice Virtual Exhibit or in person in the McLennan Library lobby. 

Digital Scholarship Hub: Workshop Lineup

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As with every pre-midterm season at McGill, the campus is buzzing with life! Students are enjoying the last bouts of September sun, lining up for free plants, and queuing at McGill Farmers’ Market.

In the midst of all the havoc, McGill Library’s Digital Scholarship Hub (DSH) is back again with its Fall workshop lineup!


We’ve got numerous amazing workshops lined up from September through October. To help you through the rather extensive list, below we highlight some of our personal favourites;

Bias, Ethics, & Artificial Intelligence – September 29, 11am

Are you someone who closely follows the roller coaster ride that is the tech industry? With its continuously growing market and Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovations, it is the point of discussion from every household to every seminar room.

What side of the debate are you on? How ethical do you find the everyday innovations in the industry? Focused on understanding the impact of AI on society as we know it, this workshop aims to dip a toe into these tumultuous waters in order to find ethical solutions to AI development.

Join presenters Amanda Wheatley and Sanday Hervieux as they explore the core issues surrounding AI ethics and how we can overcome these issues to broaden our understanding of technology. 

How to Write a Data Management Plan – October 3, 12pm

This workshop will provide attendees with practical tips and examples on how to write a data management plan for funders, journals, or other oversight organizations. We will demo an online interactive tool, Portage DMP Assistant, which has built-in templates particular to the Canadian research context. Attendees will also have a chance to discuss discipline-specific issues related to planning for the management of data actively during the research process and for long-term archival purposes.

Making Your Work Open Access (psst: it doesn’t have to cost money) – October 25, 12pm

Are you a student-run journal considering the latest trends in scholarly publications? Or perhaps a graduate student looking at the implications of making your thesis public? Well worry no more, you’re not the only one!

This online presentation brings together a group of people looking to make their work open to access. While the discussion will be focused on the role of grant-holders and the support they can find on-campus for making their work open access, the presentation is open to everyone!

Ready to Publish? Selecting a Journal – November 3, 12pm

Finished your research and looking to publish? This 45-minute workshop will outline how to locate and assess relevant journals in your discipline. This workshop will also discuss the basics of the peer review process, journal selection considerations, and frequently asked questions about publishing. This workshop will serve as an introduction to the topic for new researchers and those just starting to publish.

At the end of this workshop participants will be able to:

  • Describe tools and strategies to identify appropriate journals in their discipline
  • Describe the peer review process
  • Describe main considerations when choosing a journal

Also, stay tuned for our Workshop Spotlights over the next few weeks!

Check out DSH’s calendar for their upcoming workshops and office hours schedule. And for further queries, email us at hssl.library@mcgill.ca.