Spooky Reading Night
10/21/2005 20:59 Filed in: Personal
Above: Roberta Simpson Brown tells spooky stories around the campfire while a nervous crowd sits transfixed.
The Shelbyville Sentinel-News published a recent story on the "Spooky Story Night" that Kathy coordinated at Simpsonville Elementary. The story is reproduced below. The event itself was held October 14, 2005.
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Kentucky author regales with scary tales
By Stephen Burnett/Sentinel-News Staff Writer
Darkening skies, blazing campfire, buzzing of insects in the forest, full moon -- all provided an appropriate backdrop in Wyatt's Woods, behind Simpsonville Elementary School, for the school's "Spooky Reading Night" Friday.
"This is one of our biggest events of the year," said librarian Kathy Mansfield. "Probably the biggest."
Kentucky author and retired teacher Roberta Simpson Brown told four stories to a crowd of children and parents, starting with the less-scary stories, Brown said, and increasing the horror index with each one.
"It was fun, exciting," 11-year-old Traci Nash said. "I heard some stories I'd never heard before."
"I was a little scared, but not really," said 10-year-old Morgan Isenberg, who attended with her mom, Michelle.
"It was a fun scare, kind of like a roller coaster," Michelle said.
To 10-year-old Cameron Morris, Brown's most frightening stories were the best. He said his favorite was "Lockers," about a ghost and a murderer in a school locker who terrorizes a girl so badly that she is never able to speak again.
"It was the most real," he said.
Although the stories are scary and sometimes even "gross," Mansfield said, Brown's young audience mostly understood the difference between reality and imagination.
"She's very good at reminding them that they're make-believe stories," Mansfield said.
About 300 other children and parents attended the event, while Brown, standing in the center, recounted her four stories from memory. With a microphone and karaoke box, Brown would monotone, change her vocal pitch, pause dramatically, or drop her tone to a guttural growl for the especially scary parts.
"She constantly carries throat lozenges with her," Mansfield said.
Brown had come to Simpsonville in March, when she told stories and encouraged writing and creativity, Mansfield said.
"We saw a lot of kids being very creative in their writing with tales of their own," Mansfield said. "To them, she is a rock star."
On Friday evening, Brown and her husband, Lonnie, sold out of her books offered to children, including Queen of the Cold-Blooded Tales, and Scared in School.
A few of the campfire stories were too much for some children, though.
George and Elizabeth Najjar of Shelbyville were among some of those who had to leave early. Their daughters, 4-year-old Courtney and 6-year-old Natalie, started out having fun, but later didn't do very well with Brown's other stories.
"They made it through the first story, but then the second one -- they were just squeamish in their chairs and they wanted to go," Elizabeth Najjar said.
The family walked down the trail in the woods without a flashlight, leaves crunching.
At home, Najjar said, shrubbery scraping against her daughters' bedroom walls stimulated their fright even more, although the girls have since recovered.
"To get through the night, we had to sleep together," Najjar said with a laugh.