Ghosties and ghoulies and demons and devils get their chance in this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge ... when we talk about the nature of evil, and explore the perennial appeal of the dark side. We'll have a report on the Vatican's renewed interest in exorcism. Children's book author David Almond reads from his eerie fantasy novels. And, what makes some music — scary?

John Allen heads the Vatican bureau of the National Catholic Reporter. He tells Steve Paulson that the Catholic Church has issued a new ritual of exorcism and reads a sample. He says belief in demonic possession is on the increase. Also, Angela Bourke, author of "The Burning of Bridget Cleary," tells Steve Paulson about the incident that forms the basis of her non-fiction book. A hundred years ago, a young woman was burned alive because her husband and neighbors believed she's been "taken" by fairies.

Composer Michael Schelle writes music for the concert hall, and is the author of "The Score: Interviews with Film Composers." He explains to Jim Fleming how scary music works and plays some examples of scary chord structure and progressions. And we hear some creepy movie music! Also, our own Doug Gordon provides his unique take on what may be the next Broadway sensation — a musical version of "Psycho."

Writer David Almond talks with Steve Paulson about two of his books for children - "Skellig" and "Kit's Wilderness" - and reads excerpts from both of them. He explains why he puts such dark content into his children's books and says it's easier to write some things for children because their minds are more open and free.

Distribution dates:

• week of 10/29/2000 - hour 1