Name: Less the Horror Than the Grace Book Talk at Pack Memorial Library
Start: 2026-10-20T17:30:00.000-04:00
End: 2026-10-20T18:30:00.000-04:00
Location: Buncombe County Public Libraries

Less the Horror Than the Grace Book Talk at Pack Memorial Library

Why do scary stories pull us in, and why do so many of them run through religion? Less the Horror Than the Grace is a new folk horror novel that retells the Medusa myth. A young seminary graduate investigates a snake-handling church in the Tennessee mountains in the summer of 1920, while women's suffrage comes to a final vote in Nashville.

Sharon Linnea, the author's widow and representative, leads a talk on the book and on Appalachian religion and folklore. It runs 5:30 to 6:30 PM in the Pack Memorial Library auditorium, and it's free for teens and adults.

Just in time for spooky season. Come early and grab a seat.

Buncombe County Public Libraries runs 12 free public libraries across Asheville and Buncombe County, with Pack Memorial Library on Haywood Street downtown as the main branch. The other 11 branches sit in neighborhoods from West Asheville and Oakley to Black Mountain, Weaverville, Leicester, Fairview, Swannanoa and Candler. Each one hosts free family programs through the week, like baby play time, bilingual story times, LEGO Club, STEAM projects, art after school and family movie nights. Most branches open at 9 AM Tuesday through Saturday, while Pack Memorial is open Monday through Friday.

Asheville parents plan whole weeks around the library calendar, and kids who come for LEGO Club tend to leave with a stack of books.

Buncombe County Public Libraries

Looking for things to do with kids in Asheville? Find wildlife, hands-on museums, farm days, arcades, bowling and outdoor theater. In East Asheville, the WNC Nature Center has black bears, red wolves, river otters and red pandas on Gashes Creek Road. Near downtown, the Asheville Tourists play minor league baseball at HomeTrust Park, long known as McCormick Field. Downtown, the Asheville Art Museum on Pack Square has a makerspace where kids and grown-ups make art together, and Asheville Community Theatre on Walnut Street stages youth productions. In West Asheville, Sky Lanes has been bowling on Patton Avenue since 1963, with bumpers and an arcade, and Asheville Retrocade on Haywood Road is packed with vintage arcade games and pinball. South of town, Claying Around on Hendersonville Road is a paint-your-own pottery studio, and Sweeten Creek Brewing has a big creekside lawn with cornhole and barbecue. Out in Fairview, Hickory Nut Gap Farms runs hay rides and pony rides on fall weekends. Each summer, Montford Park Players stage free outdoor Shakespeare in Montford. Asheville Parks & Recreation runs more than 50 parks with playgrounds, swimming, trails and community centers.

Less the Horror Than the Grace Book Talk at Pack Memorial Library

The Scoop