Spooky season is upon us. Now that the temperature has dropped again, I feel right at home with my carved jack-o-lanterns, black cat decorations, and a warm cup of tea as I watch a Halloween classic movie in the evenings that are growing darker earlier each day. Elaborate Trick-or-Treat costumes are a frequent topic of conversation in my household, as well.

If you have a budding costume designer, cosplay fanatic, or makeup lover in your home who is also a teenager, you may want to encourage them to attend one of the Delaware County District Library’s upcoming Special Effects Makeup Workshop for Teens programs. Three upcoming makeup tutorials are taking place across the library system in October as you prepare for the best Halloween makeup, complete with fake wounds and other ghoulish looks.

Join us at the Delaware Main Library on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m.; the Liberty Branch Library on Friday, Oct. 20, at 2 p.m.; or the Orange Branch Library on Thursday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. The program is aimed at teens ages 12 and up who are interested in learning techniques for stage makeup. Half of the group will apply makeup to the other half of the group. (Which means that half of the teens will leave looking more ghoulish than when they arrived!) While we can’t guarantee what teens will apply or receive a spooky makeover, we can be sure that all teens will walk away with a new appreciation for special effects makeup artists.

Zella Johnson is our presenting artist, who specializes in illustration and practical effects right here in central Ohio. Her work leans toward horror and fantasy with a special emphasis on monsters and creatures. She graduated locally from the Columbus College of Art and Design and spends her Halloweens creating ghoulish looks for haunted attractions.

If the program fills up, please join the waitlist and a librarian will be in touch to let you know if availability opens.

If spooky makeup gives you the heebie-jeebies, you may prefer a more tranquil look at life through spirituality or meditation. Try one of these recent releases in spirituality and religion on for size instead.

• “The Body Revelation: Physical and Spiritual Practices to Metabolize Pain, Banish Shame and Connect to God With Your Whole Self” by Alisa Keeton. Check out this engaging and accessible guide to the role the body plays in spiritual experience and how trauma and chronic pain can disrupt the powerful connections between body, mind, and soul. Discover if the straightforward and well-organized advice on how to better foster this connection; and the affirming discussions of size, weight, and body image are for you.

• “How to Stay Married: The Most Insane Love Story Ever Told” by Harrison Scott Key. Key writes of a marriage threatened by infidelity, the lessons learned from trying to work through it, and what comes next. Don’t miss the engaging discussions of forgiveness as a Christian virtue and how the author still struggled to forgive his wife for her affair. Author Harrison Scott Key is a Thurber Prize-winning writer and humorist whose short-form work has appeared in “The Best American Travel Writing,” “McSweeney’s,” “Outside,” and “Salon.”

• “A Master Class on Being Human: A Black Christian and a Black Secular Humanist on Religion, Race, and Justice” by Brad R. Braxton and Anthony B. Pinn. Pinn describes a meeting of the minds, and two schools of thought that have often been at odds – Christianity and Secular Humanism – and how they can work toward a shared goal of creating a more just and inclusive world. You might like it for the conversation, which reflects the authors’ strong rapport as they discuss a variety of sacred and secular topics in an accessible, engaging way. Academics Brad R. Braxton and Anthony B. Pinn are both professors of theology and religious studies, at Chicago Theological Seminary and Rice University respectively.

• “Open Judaism: A Guide for Believers, Atheists, and Agnostics” by Rabbi Barry L. Schwartz. Schwartz discusses the concept of Judaism and arguments for an expansive, pluralist Judaism that makes room for Jews of all spiritual persuasions, no matter the status of their relationship with religious belief and practice. Schwartz structures the book in line with three themes that are traditionally used to organize Jewish thought – God, Torah, and Israel.

• “Like A River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache” by Granger Smith. Smith presents a moving and thoughtful examination of grief in the face of loss, big and small, and coming out of it stronger on the other side. Read it for the candid portrait of the author’s grief at losing his three-year-old son and how his faith helped support him through his mourning.

If you have a question that you would like to see answered in this column, mail it to Nicole Fowles, Delaware County District Library, 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, OH 43015, or call us at 740-362-3861. You can also email your questions by visiting the library’s web site at www.delawarelibrary.org or directly to Nicole at [email protected]. No matter how you contact us, we’re always glad you asked!