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Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover Public Library employee Lauren Petit stands at the entrance to a castle maze as the evil Maleficent at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Allyson Melendez of Hoover, Alabama, spreads her arms to show her butterfly wings at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Brynlee meets up with Ursula the Witch of the Sea at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Allyson, Aidan, Melanie and Evelyn Melendez walk the yellow brick road at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Kyndrix Rumley, left and Pax Nunn of Bessemer, Alabama, pose for a photo at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover Public Library employees Aubrie Drechsel (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Anna Beth Reece (Glenda the Good Witch) were available to pose for photos with children at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Hoover Public Library employees Aubrie Drechsel (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Anna Beth Reece (Glenda the Good Witch) pose for aphoto with children at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Children play with "light sabers" at a dance party with the "Red" villian from the Descendants movie series at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Children play with "light sabers" at a dance party with the "Red" villian from the Descendants movie series at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Keshvi and Dhea Sheth of Hoover, Alabama, show off their airbrush tattoos at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Phoebe Fang and her daughter, Ivy Chen, attend the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Elliott, Stone and Shephard Nations check out the Mr. Potato Head activity station at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Kids do light saber practice at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Conrad Purter of Helena, Alabama, does pretend light saber practice at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Kenedi Jones of Hoover, Alabama, poses for a photo with her son, Taj Seals Jr. at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Isabelle and Olivia Sankey pose for a photo with a Jurassic Park dinasour at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
A sign warns what will happen to unattended children at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Matthew Renda fo Space Air Airbrushing gives an airbrush Winnie the Pooh tattoo to Alan Lopez of Bessemer, Alabama, at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Taj Seals Jr. of Hoover, Alabama, poses for a photo at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
In a rare moment of solidarity, an ewok (Emma Davis) poses for a photo with Darth Vader at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Kids work at a craft station at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Jeremy Davis, the youth department coordinator at the Hoover Public Library, welecomed kids to the library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025, dressed as Doctor Eggman, an evil character from Sega's "Sonic the Hedgehog" franchise.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Riku Hagita of Hoover, Alabama, takes aim at the all-terrain armored transports from the Star Wars movies at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Haruma Hagita takes aim at an all-terrain armored transport vehicle at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
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Photo by Jon Anderson
Josie Davis gives Darth Vader a high-five at the Hoover Public Library's "Good to be Bad" Halloween kids' bash on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025.
Villains took over the Hoover Public Library on Friday night for the library’s annual kids’ Halloween bash — this year called “Good to be Bad.”
About 850 people came through the doors for the special after-hours event, held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Kids roamed around the library for a multitude of activities, games and craft stations and had a chance to get their picture taken with a variety of villians, from Star Wars’ Darth Vader to Disney’s Maleficent and the Wicked Witch of the West from “Wicked.”
There was a “Wicked”-themed area in the Library Plaza, Star Wars area on the Library Theatre level and Disney-themed area throughout the rest of the library.
Jeremy Davis, director of the children’s department, said he was very pleased with this year’s turnout, which was about a 40% increase from last year.
