Saturday’s Steampunk-themed event at Central Library features author Gordon McAlpine

City of Dallas sent this bulletin at 10/21/2014 03:09 PM CDT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                             FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Oct. 21, 2014                                                    Jonathan Carr – Dallas Public Library
                                                                      (214) 670-1671

Dallas Public Library celebrates Halloween with Edgar Allan Poe;

Saturday’s Steampunk-themed event features author Gordon McAlpine

Dallas – Families are invited to a Halloween spooktacular at the Dallas Public Library with a steampunk twist! The Edgar Allan Poe Victorian Halloween is an all-day event with activities at the Children’s Center at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 25. The event is free and open to all ages.

In cooperation with the Steampunk Illumination Society and the Friends of the Dallas Public Library, the event will include traditional Halloween party activities and costume contests with an Edgar Allan Poe or Victorian twist, such as the Frankenstein brain toss, a haunted Poe dungeon, a mad scientist lab and a raven puppet craft.

Special guest Gordon McAlpine, author of the children’s book series The Misadventures of Edgar and Allan Poe will talk about his books and the persons who inspired them. Panel discussions about Poe, Victorian literature and Steampunk themes will also be held.

Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction often set in an alternative reality of Victorian times that features real or imagined steam-powered machinery. Well-known examples include the Wild Wild West television show and movie, Jules Verne’s novels, and recent movies such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows.

Other activities will include silent movie screenings (cinematic technology was developed in the Victorian era), public readings of Poe’s works and a gypsy fortune teller.

The Dallas Public Library operates the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library, 28 branch locations, a children’s library at NorthPark Center, and two bookmobiles. A library card is free for any Dallas resident. For information on the many free programs and services available at the Dallas Public Library visit www.dallaslibrary.org.