September is nearly here – time for Carl’s R.I.P. Challenge – this is the 8th year welcoming September with a time of coming together to share our favourite mysteries, detective stories, horror stories, dark fantasies, and everything in between.
These are the categories:
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above. I’m attempting
Peril the First:
which is to read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. R.I.P. VIII officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. But you can start today!!!
I haven’t decided definitely which books I’ll be reading. I’m thinking of these at the moment and will probably start with The Death Maze:
- The Death Maze aka The Serpent’s Tale by Ariana Franklin – I’ve had this for years so it would be good to read it. I read the first book – The Mistress of the Art of Death ages ago and loved it.
- Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger – not sure about this one, a ghost story.
- The Brimstone Wedding by Barbara Vine – described as ‘a masterful mystery about love and madness’.
- Waiting for Mr Right and Other Sinister Stories by Andrew Taylor – three sinister and slightly surreal short stories.
- The Shining by Stephen King – a scary book!
- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen – I read this so many years ago that it will be like reading it for the first time. It was one of the set books at school and I don’t think I appreciated it then.
BooksPlease 
Although I don’t do challenges formally, I always try to read something suitably dark around late October – maybe some Stephen King.
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I keep thinking I won’t do any more challenges – and then another one turns up that I fancy!
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I’ve got Northanger Abbey on my list too! Very brave of you to read The Shining. The movie still gives me nightmares and I’ve heard the book is scarier!
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I saw the movie years ago – very scary – maybe the book will be too scary! I expect Northanger Abbey will be different, but really I don’t know what to expect. I’ll look out for your review.
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This is a great challenge, I just don’t think I can manage it this year, I’ll be watching to see what everyone reads.
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I used to love Stephen King, though I haven’t read any of his books for years. The Shining is a great book and definitely a very scary one! I hope you enjoy The Death Maze. I read Mistress of the Art of Death ages ago too but never continued with the rest of the series.
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Some good choices there. I too have not read Northanger Abbey since I was a teen. I did love the BBC adaptation of it from several years ago though, or was it actually ITV… Look forward to seeing what you read.
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I read Northanger Abbey not too long ago (might have been for this challenge last year!) and it became my new favorite Austen. I hope you enjoy!
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Margaret – I give you so much credit for taking on this challenge. And it sounds as though you have some terrific books there too. I’ll be interested to see what you think, especially of Her Fearful Symmetry. if you decide to read that one.
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I enjoyed The Serpent’s Tale, it was quite good, though not the very best like The Mistress of the Art of Death was, (for me, anyway). I love Northanger Abbey, I’ve read it several times and seen the ITV production too – there are two versions, and I enjoyed them both! I’m looking to pick one up to see again, it’s so delightful. I hope you enjoy it, Margaret! I’m also planning on reading The Shining too – one of my favourite horror books, this will be a reread for me – because the sequel, Doctor Sleep, is out in September!! I get so scared every time I read The Shining, and the film is also quite frightening. I really hope you enjoy your books, and the challenge, Margaret. It is one of my favourites, too! I’ll be posting tomorrow.
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I love Ariana Franklin. I was so sad when she died. 😦
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I want to read The Brimstone Wedding as well! I’ve been meaning to try Barbara Vine for some time (and this challenge would be a great reason to). I hope you enjoy all of these….happy reading!!
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I’m so glad you are joining in for RIP VIII! I’ll be really curious of what you think of Her Fearful Symmetry if you choose to read it. I loved The Time Traveler’s Wife. There are things I liked and things I didn’t about Symmetry, but it was compelling right up to the end.
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