Fans of haunts and scares can experience the thrills of Halloween at William & Mary’s Swem Library during an unforgettable night with unique artifacts.

The Special Collections Research Center will be hosting a Halloween open house on Oct. 30 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in partnership this year with Colonial Williamsburg’s Rockefeller Library, packing the reading room with the eeriest and most bizarre items in the archives.

Additionally, trick-or-treating will take place on all four floors of the library for students, families and children to explore all Swem has to offer. The event is free and open to the public, and costumes are welcome. 

Special Collections will have more than 35 items on display, with some items dating back as far as the 18th century. Some of the artifacts included are:

• A 19th-century amputation saw
• Death mask
• A first edition of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein”
• Spirit photography
• A Ouija board
• Spooky pop-up books
• Mummy cloth

Most items throughout the collection are acquired through donation, with a small number of items purchased through small, private funds available to the library. Alumni are active in donating items, such as alumnus Kelvin Ramsey ‘79, who donated stereoview photos that will be on display.  

The event initially began as a small gathering with faculty and staff at Special Collections in 2022, but the following year, others were eager to take part.

“Part of my role is making sure that people feel welcome and that we reach as many audiences as we can and make our collections accessible,” said Meghan Bryant, head of public services and instruction at Special Collections. “As part of that, I thought, ‘Who doesn’t love Halloween?’ We have so many things (in our collection) that are strange and unexpected, so why not highlight them?”

Colonial Williamsburg’s Rockefeller Library will be bringing its own artifacts to the event, including a 1692 letter from William Phips, governor of Massachusetts Bay during the Salem Witch Trials, to English Diplomat William Blathwayt detailing his work setting up a commission to try people for witchcraft. The letter was donated by the library’s namesake, John D. Rockefeller Jr., in 1946. Other items include Halloween party photographs from Albert Durant, the first Black licensed photographer in Williamsburg, Revolutionary War-era burial grounds photos and more.

The Rockefeller Library has collaborated with Swem Library’s Special Collections previously, with Special Collections attending last year’s Rockefeller fall open house. 

“We’re constantly trying to make sure that people know that we’re here and available as a resource,” said Emily Petermann, a reference and outreach librarian at Colonial Williamsburg. “We want the public to come check out all the cool stuff. … I love the collection; it’s so fun to find something new in it every day.”

The Rockefeller Library’s collection will be in the adjoining reading room in Special Collections.

Attendance for the event continues to grow, and Bryant hopes that this year can top more than 400 visitors. Outside of celebrating Halloween, she hopes that students will take this event as a larger opportunity to explore special collections as a whole.

“I think we have something that would interest anyone,” Bryant said. “Everybody has their own interests, so no matter what, I would be willing to say we have something unique that relates to that interest. … We’re preserving all these (artifacts) for posterity, but more than just preserving them, we’re making them accessible.” 

More Halloween events happening across campus include:

• Trick or Treat on the Row (Oct. 28, 5:30-7 p.m.): Hosted by Fraternity & Sorority Life, the event will take place at FSL Community Building. Local friends & family are welcome to partake in trick or treating, games, music and fun.
• William & Mary Symphony Orchestra Halloween Concert (Oct. 25, 7:30 p.m.): The WMSO will perform American Premieres and World Premiere Recordings of symphonic works by Paul Ladmirault, a forgotten French composer. The music hasn’t been played for more than a century. Tickets can be purchased online.
• 20th Annual Pumpkin Carving Event (Oct. 24, 3-5 p.m.) Hosted on the Campus Center patio, International Students, Scholars & Programs will host the 20th annual pumpkin carving event for W&M’s international community. Prizes will be given to the most traditional, creative, international and inspirational pumpkins carved. Family and children are welcome.