Each autumn Carl runs an event called ‘R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril, or R.I.P. for short, a participatory event wherein we the people spend however little, or much, time we want over the months of September and October imbibing all things ghastly and ghostly.’
This year Carl has removed the word challenge from the title of this event because, as he says, it ‘is primarily about the great pleasure that can be found in embracing this type of fiction/non-fiction during this season of the year.’ I was unsure whether to join in this year as my enthusiasm for challenges has dropped, but I do enjoy reading the type of books he lists:
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.
So, I’ve decided to to take part. Of the various levels of participation I’m aiming to do Peril the First.
Which is to… ‘Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be King or Conan Doyle, Penny or Poe, Chandler or Collins, Lovecraft or Leroux’¦or anyone in between.’
And my choice of books includes:
- Dark Matter: a Ghost Story by Michelle Paver
- Dark Matter: the Private Life of Sir Isaac Newton: a Novel by Philip Kerr
- The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
- The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
- The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne
- The Four Last Things by Andrew Taylor
- The Judgement of Strangers by Andrew Taylor
- The Death Instinct by Jed Rubenfeld
- Great Ghost Stories (I’ve read a few of these in an earlier R.I.P. event)
- City of the Beasts by Isabel Allende
- The Sixth Lamentation by William Brodrick
- The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier
They’re all books I own (some on Kindle). But I shan’t restrict myself to these books and I may not read any of them, because I like to read as my fancy takes me. I certainly shan’t read all of them and it could be that I read any other books that come my way in the next two months.
BooksPlease 