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Cautionary Tales Book Club

University Park Branch

Cautionary Tales book club explores science fiction, horror, and thrillers with a slant towards cautionary tales. The club will delve into the frightening nature of horror stories, the cautionary aspects of many science fiction stories, and the page turning events within thriller novels.

10/18/2025: Dracula by Bram Stoker

He is a creature of darkness. His face deathly pale, his eyes ablaze with the fires of hell. He has been dead for centuries, yet he may never die. He waits in his crumbling castle in the mountains of Transylvania, as his prey draws closer and closer to destruction....

Here begins one of the most celebrated horror stories in history, the tale of an undead monster who craves the blood of his victims and relishes his dominance over mankind. With its delicious mix of action, suspense, and looming dread, Bram Stoker’s Dracula has terrified and inspired readers for more than a hundred years. 

Available on Hoopla (ebook & eAudiobook), Libby (ebook & eAudiobook), and in print.

11/15/2025: The Crucible by Arthur Miller

A group of teenage girls meets in the woods at midnight for a secret love-conjuring ceremony. When the ceremony is witnessed by the town minister, the girls are accused of witchcraft. Soon the entire village is consumed by hysteria, and innocent victims are put on trial, leading to a devastating climax. 

Available on Hoopla (ebook), Libby (ebook & eAudiobook), and in print.

12/20/2025: Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the continent for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide; the third expedition in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer. In Annihilation, the first volume of Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, we join the twelfth expedition.
The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.
They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—they discover a massive topographic anomaly and life forms that surpass understanding—but it's the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

Available on Libby (ebook & eAudiobook), and in print.

Register to save your seat. Registration must be completed two hours prior to the start time. A library card and PIN are required for registration. If you do not have a card, click HERE to obtain one.

Pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act, accommodations for persons with disabilities are available upon request. Please allow 1–2 business days to process. Last-minute requests will be accepted, but may not be possible to fulfill. Please ask for Learning Services at 255-2665 or email JPLPrograms@coj.net.

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