Walking through the stacks, it’s almost too easy to believe ghosts are real. Some books sit on the shelves as if nobody has laid a finger on them in decades, spines smooth and straight, while others look like with just a lingering touch, the cover might fall off. The occasional clamor of someone walking or pushing a cart on the floor above is about as loud as thunder, but without the warning rain provides.
One of my favorite memories in the John Hay was in the summer, when it started pouring, and we could see the rain hitting the frosted glass ceiling. The hum of the storm provided a pleasant background while we went through the Ciaraldi comic book collection.
In addition to thousands of Marvel and DC comics, I found myself wading through some interesting stories, and perhaps the most memorable was a genuinely disturbing tale of a serial killer with a toaster for a head. The runner up, however, is certainly worth mentioning as well: “Socialism Trek: The Search for Health Care!”
In the basement, these comic books are waiting to be opened again in the summer, and I’m sure there are many more gems to discover. Maybe I’ll return to them when my hands are no longer covered with century-old dust from oversized medical history books.