Fearful Books Versus Fear Of Censorship -- Frightfully Long Hearing Takes Up Debate Over Scary School Books

KIRKLAND - Want to hear something really scary?

For seven hours last night, a Lake Washington School District committee listened to parents and librarians debate whether to pull the "Scary Stories" trilogy from the Kirkland and Redmond elementary school library shelves.

And then didn't decide anything.

The nine-member committee postponed the decision until next Wednesday to have time to review the testimony.

The committee had decided last month to keep the books by author Alvin Schwartz on the shelves. But the parents opposing the books said they didn't get a fair hearing the first time and were granted another one.

Sandy Vanderburg, the John Muir Elementary School parent who first brought the books to the attention of the district, said the stories are too gruesome, some mention cannibalism in a cavalier manner and others - such as one about a grave robber - do not hold the characters accountable for their actions.

"I was upset by the graphic illustration and the violent stories," Vanderburg said. "It puts ideas in kids heads. I don't understand why we would be promoting these types of actions to our kids."

Each of the three books contains a couple dozen ghost stories and other scary tales ranging from one to three pages apiece, which Schwartz compiled from folklore, letters and word of mouth. The stories range from mirthful to the morbid and macabre.

Glen Beard, a parent, argued against pulling the books: "Once you start removing books from the shelves, where do you draw the line? Hansel and Gretel is really about cannibalism. Censorship goes against the precept of the Constitution, and efforts to do that must be vigorously opposed."

"Immediately the red flag of censorship goes up," said Matt Bernard, a parent at John Muir. "That's not what we are here for. These are parents challenging books in the school library. School is not the place where we want this material."

Many parents found some of the stories at best silly and in some cases distasteful, but said the subject matter appealed to children, and satisfied their craving to find out and talk about matters of death.

"Our children live in a scary world," said parent Heather Hunt. "Every child knows children can be attacked, raped, and mutilated by strangers. Nothing in these books is as scary as what children live with every day. I don't want you limiting my children's ability to cope with the dreadful things in life."

John Muir librarian Liz Meisner said the books are popular among youngsters in school districts throughout the state.

"Parents have the right and, indeed, perhaps the responsibility to convey their values to their children," Meisner said. "However, a parent does not have the right to censor what thousands of other children read."

As the adults debated, Lindsey Trout, 14, sat in the back reading "More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark." She finished the book, slumped in her chair, wiggled and whined she wanted to go home. Then she had her chance to testify - and after seven hours she was a bit testy.

"I do not feel you have the right to take away these books," said Trout, a ninth-grader at Kamiakin Junior High School, who has been reading the books since fifth grade. "If you want to take away the books why don't you take away all the shows on TV? Kids who get scared of them won't check them out."