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bookgazing) wrote2009-08-25 12:33 pm
bookgazing) wrote2009-08-25 12:33 pm
R I P Challenge IV
Yes readers are officially invited to imbibe peril again as Carl’s RIP challenge returns. The spooky and dark autumn challenge is back and I can’t even tell you how excited I am about it.
As I’ve grown older I’ve started to become a massive wimp about things I used to love like horror films and scary books (sadly also afraid of rollercoasters now, but at least I had fun times on the big rides when I was a teen). I used to breeze through Stephen King books in the dead of night when I was a teenager, now I can’t see a horror film in the cinema, I have to watch them on the small screen with all the lights on. Any scary books I’m reading go under a non-fiction hardback as soon as it begins to get dark. I love Carl’s yearly challenge, because it challenges me to stop being such a wuss, dig out the creepy books and gleefully scare myself silly.
Last year I only managed to finish one book, the most wonderful find, Joe Hill’s gothic rock, ghost story, road trip ‘Heart Shaped Box’. If it’s in your house I encourage you to fish it out right now and get reading because Hill has got his father’s (Stephen King) eye for human detail and a crazed, ghoulish inventiveness all of his own.
This year I’m taking up the ‘Peril the First’ option and attempting to read four dark and demonic books from 1st September until 31st October. I’ll be picking four books from a pile made up of:
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susan Clarke: I started this one last year but ran out of time, not sure if I’ll be able to fit this giant in but I oh so want to.
The Stand – Stephen King: I don’t know why I never tackled the huge chunksters King wrote when I was binging on his work. I picked this up a while ago, feeling nostalgic, although I didn’t have much idea what it was about. It’s been sitting on my shelf for about a year.
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James: I expect this classic sinister tale to be small but effective. This would also count for the ‘9 for 09 challenge’, which would be a bonus.
The Mist in the Mirror – Susan Hill: I’m reading this right now, since Carl said we could go ahead and start early. I love challenges that let you break the rules because you’re excited. So far there’s been a loud shriek, a disturbing parrot and tons of dark English atmosphere. I saw Hill’s ‘The Woman in Black’ on the stage a few years ago and I am still quite scared of the ghost from that book.
Paris Immortal – Sheri Roite: A young lawyer meets new clients who are strange, yet irresistible (read vampiric). I’m hoping for kind of an Anne Rice experience, with a bit more blood.
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins: Another one I gave up on last year. I was loving it, but again found my concentration wandered as I tried to read it during my lunch break. This book needs long stretches of reading for digesting the language.
Lonely Werewolf Girl – Martin Millar: I’ve read so many reviews of this one, everyone seems to love it. Come on, the girl’s sister is a werewolf fashion designer, that’s pretty awesome.
The Observations – Jane Harris: I may be the last person to read this mystery set in a Victorian household. Whenever I see the cover I’m reminded of Patrick McGrath’s ‘Martha Peak’, which is very atmospheric and twisted. That would make a spine tingling (yes I had to get that word in somewhere) addition to anyone’s RIP list.
Skarlet – Thomas Emerson: If I become very brave I will read this book. I started it, got freaked out after the first vampire attack and put it at the back of my wardrobe. There’s a plague spreading in London via a new clubbing drug. The drug might kill you, but you won’t stay dead for long.
Embers – Sandor Marai: Two men dine together in an old castle and trace the course of their old friendship. Amazon says the setting ‘evokes dark fairytales’.
Nothing to Fear – Matthew D’Ancona: A woman moves in with a reclusive bachelor who tells her never to open the door to a room he keeps locked. Really how is a girl supposed to resist that kind of mystery?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Seth Grahame Smith: It’s probably best to include some light zombie bashing on the list in case everything gets too frightening. At least I know life turns out alright for the heroine in this book (unless Darcy get’s bitten – agh had not thought of that until now).
Has everyone cleared out their freezers in case their choices get too scary? Will you dare to play along? Mwahahahahaha.
As I’ve grown older I’ve started to become a massive wimp about things I used to love like horror films and scary books (sadly also afraid of rollercoasters now, but at least I had fun times on the big rides when I was a teen). I used to breeze through Stephen King books in the dead of night when I was a teenager, now I can’t see a horror film in the cinema, I have to watch them on the small screen with all the lights on. Any scary books I’m reading go under a non-fiction hardback as soon as it begins to get dark. I love Carl’s yearly challenge, because it challenges me to stop being such a wuss, dig out the creepy books and gleefully scare myself silly.
Last year I only managed to finish one book, the most wonderful find, Joe Hill’s gothic rock, ghost story, road trip ‘Heart Shaped Box’. If it’s in your house I encourage you to fish it out right now and get reading because Hill has got his father’s (Stephen King) eye for human detail and a crazed, ghoulish inventiveness all of his own.
This year I’m taking up the ‘Peril the First’ option and attempting to read four dark and demonic books from 1st September until 31st October. I’ll be picking four books from a pile made up of:
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell – Susan Clarke: I started this one last year but ran out of time, not sure if I’ll be able to fit this giant in but I oh so want to.
The Stand – Stephen King: I don’t know why I never tackled the huge chunksters King wrote when I was binging on his work. I picked this up a while ago, feeling nostalgic, although I didn’t have much idea what it was about. It’s been sitting on my shelf for about a year.
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James: I expect this classic sinister tale to be small but effective. This would also count for the ‘9 for 09 challenge’, which would be a bonus.
The Mist in the Mirror – Susan Hill: I’m reading this right now, since Carl said we could go ahead and start early. I love challenges that let you break the rules because you’re excited. So far there’s been a loud shriek, a disturbing parrot and tons of dark English atmosphere. I saw Hill’s ‘The Woman in Black’ on the stage a few years ago and I am still quite scared of the ghost from that book.
Paris Immortal – Sheri Roite: A young lawyer meets new clients who are strange, yet irresistible (read vampiric). I’m hoping for kind of an Anne Rice experience, with a bit more blood.
The Woman in White – Wilkie Collins: Another one I gave up on last year. I was loving it, but again found my concentration wandered as I tried to read it during my lunch break. This book needs long stretches of reading for digesting the language.
Lonely Werewolf Girl – Martin Millar: I’ve read so many reviews of this one, everyone seems to love it. Come on, the girl’s sister is a werewolf fashion designer, that’s pretty awesome.
The Observations – Jane Harris: I may be the last person to read this mystery set in a Victorian household. Whenever I see the cover I’m reminded of Patrick McGrath’s ‘Martha Peak’, which is very atmospheric and twisted. That would make a spine tingling (yes I had to get that word in somewhere) addition to anyone’s RIP list.
Skarlet – Thomas Emerson: If I become very brave I will read this book. I started it, got freaked out after the first vampire attack and put it at the back of my wardrobe. There’s a plague spreading in London via a new clubbing drug. The drug might kill you, but you won’t stay dead for long.
Embers – Sandor Marai: Two men dine together in an old castle and trace the course of their old friendship. Amazon says the setting ‘evokes dark fairytales’.
Nothing to Fear – Matthew D’Ancona: A woman moves in with a reclusive bachelor who tells her never to open the door to a room he keeps locked. Really how is a girl supposed to resist that kind of mystery?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Seth Grahame Smith: It’s probably best to include some light zombie bashing on the list in case everything gets too frightening. At least I know life turns out alright for the heroine in this book (unless Darcy get’s bitten – agh had not thought of that until now).
Has everyone cleared out their freezers in case their choices get too scary? Will you dare to play along? Mwahahahahaha.
