Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) XVI and Something Wicked Fall

I rarely share the scary stuff on this blog. Everyone knows I have my horror blog, Castle Macabre. However, I make an exception during this time of year. Yes, autumn is the season for scary. I know it's not technically fall yet, but what's a few weeks. You should see all the Halloween stuff I've been buying. Step away from the online shopping, lady.

So, R.I.P is back...version XVI...and my scary events are back this year with Something Wicked Fall over at Castle Macabre in September and October, and in conjunction, the FrightFall Readathon over at Seasons of Reading in October (sign-ups for the readathon will be open soon). All the details about Something Wicked Fall can be found here.

My reading plans are in the graphic below. I know I won't get to everything, but going to try. Several are for sure, as I'm reading them for read-alongs, challenges, and my book group read in October. The Blood Countess, All Things Cease to Appear, Stoker's Wilde, and Mexican Gothic. Some of them are short story anthologies so I will be picking and choosing stories from them. Gothic horror in September and horror in October.

I completely forgot about this beauty I picked up a couple of months ago. A lot of great classic horror stories in this 864 page tome. Classic Tales of Horror 

Going to try to fill in this BINGO card for R.I.P. since I watched three horror movies last night...The Fear Street trilogy on Netflix. SO good! I'll also be listening to Bone White by Ronald Malfi on audio. It's a reread...one of my favorites.

I will be posting updates on this post. Hopefully, I'll keep up with it. There will a tab linking to it in the blog menu. Title = Fall Reading

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Readers Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) XV #ripxv

Fall is upon us. Well, fall to me means September 1st, especially now that I'm living in the north (Michigan) where fall really shows up in all its splendor. 🍁🍂

Fall also means it's time for all the scary...and that means all the scary events, including R.I.P., back for another year. Version XV.

I'm also hosting my yearly FrightFall Readathon in September and October this year (due to the hiatus of my summer readathon, High Summer, in August because of my move). FrightFall also happens in conjunction with my annual fall event, now in it's third year, Something Wicked Fall at my horror site, Castle Macabre. We are doing a read-along of Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White. Click the links above to find out all the details.

So, what will I be reading you ask? I have quite a bit of reading lined up, but not sure if I'll get to everything. I'm still unpacking and arranging the new house. Moving seriously takes a chunk out of reading time. 😠

• Finishing Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff (I'm also watching the excellent series on HBO).
• In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
• A couple of classic horror novels as of yet not decided for my True Book Talk reading group in October. Possible titles...Le Fanu's Carmilla, Lowndes' The Lodger, Benson's The Necromancers
• The Witch of Ravensworth by George Brewer
• The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
• Snow by Ronald Malfi
• Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King
• The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Watching tons of horror movies, of course. We will be having two or three horror film watch-alongs during Something Wicked Fall as well.

Join us for ALL the scary!

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Scary Fall Doings! #SomethingWickedFall #RIPXIV #FrightFall

It's that time of year again! I'm so ready for fall...the weather, the scary reading, Halloween! As usual, there are tons of fun events and challenges for those of us who love the scary, and I'm hosting two of them. 🎃

Readers Imbibing Peril XIV (RIP) is here! I look forward to this every year. It coincides well with my other scary events too.

Bonfires.

Gourds.

Sweaters and seasonal socks and candles.

Welcome to the FOURTEENTH year of Readers Imbibing Peril, or RIP, as it is affectionately called. For these many years, we here at RIP headquarters have embraced the spookiness of the seasons’ change.

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.

The goals are simple.

1. Have fun reading.

2. Share that fun with others.

Sign up here.

I'm doing...

Peril the First:

Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (our very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature.
This is my for sure list of books. I'm sure there will be more.

Doctor Sleep, Stephen King

The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice

The Fall, Bethany Griffin

The Siren and the Specter, Jonathan Janz

Peril of the Short Story:

I'll be reading Poe, of course. Also, short stories by Algernon Blackwood, Nathaniel Hawthorne, M.R. James, Ralph Adams Cram, Ronald Malfi...and maybe more.

Peril on the Screen:

I'm a horror movie lover ALL the time so it's not like this will be any different, but of course, kicking things off with IT next week. We're also going to have some movie watch-alongs during Something Wicked Fall (see below). Probably The Shining to go along with our Doctor Sleep read-along, and possibly Midsommar (a rewatch for me...I absolutely loved it). 

and possibly even...

Peril of the Review:
Submit a short review of any book you read and you may see it here on the blog! 

I'm not terribly great at posting reviews of late, but I will try. 

Something Wicked Fall is an event I created last year at Castle Macabre (my horror blog)...an all encompassing event featuring a read-along, horror movie watch-alongs, Gothic and horror reads, and the penultimate FrightFall Readathon in October.

Get all the details at Castle Macabre here. I hope you will join us!

FrightFall Readathon runs all of October. Sign ups coming very soon at Seasons of Reading. Stay tuned!

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Readers Imbibing Peril 13 #RIPXIII & #SomethingWickedFall 48 Hour Kick-Off #Readathon

From the new dedicated blog...

Welcome to the THIRTEENTH year of Readers Imbibing Peril, or RIP, as it is affectionately called. For the last 13 years, we here at RIP headquarters have embraced the spookiness of the seasons’ change.

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
Basically, read scary. Yay!

The levels of participation (participate in one, all, or various) are:

Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit.

I'm doing this level. My list:

The Narrows, Ronald Malfi

A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay

The Secret History, Donna Tartt
The Bank of the River, Michael Richan
The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice
Bird Box, Josh Malerman
Shirley: A Novel, Susan Scarf Merrell

Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury

This is more than four, but I'm working on a challenge so...

Peril the Second: Read two books of any length that you believe fit.

Peril the Third: We all want you to participate. This Peril involves reading one book that fits.

Peril of the Short Story: Self explanatory...read short stories.

I'll be reading Gothic short stories in September during my Something Wicked This Fall Comes event at my sister blog, Castle Macabre. 

I'll be picking choosing stories from the following:

Edgar Allan Poe (of course)

M.R. James

Shirley Jackson

Algernon Blackwood

H.P. Lovecraft

There's a great list of Gothic fiction on Goodreads here.

Peril on the Screen: Again, self explanatory...watch scary TV shows/movies.

Horror movies and shows are my favorite so this is a no-brainer!

Movies/Shows I will be seeing/watching for sure...

Halloween

The Nun

The Haunting of Hill House (new series)

Peril of the Review: Submit a short review of any book you read (they may even post it on the blog).

I'll try!

I've participated in this challenge since 2009, so 10 of the 13 years. I'm stoked, and it goes along nicely with my scary Fall event at Castle Macabre and the FrightFall Readathon in October at Seasons of Reading.

Coming to Castle Macabre tomorrow...Something Wicked This Fall Comes! We are kicking off with a 48 Hour Readathon hosted at Seasons of Reading. Find out all the details for the Fall event here. Sign up for the 48 Hour Readathon here. 

I'll be reading scary books from my RIP list above. Will probably start with The Narrows, but not sure. 

Hope you will join us!

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R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril X! #RIPX

I look forward to this every year! I kept checking over at Carl's (Stainless Steel Droppings) site because he usually posts before the end of August and I wasn't seeing it. I was so worried that it wasn't happening this year. Carl, in honor of R.I.P.'s 10th illustrious year, decided to ask the lovely ladies at The Estella Society to host, and they accepted! So, it's on!!!

This challenge fits in nicely with my reading plans this Fall, as I'm hosting FrightFall Read-a-Thon in October (its 5th year!), Gothic September at Castle Macabre with Edgar Allan Poe short story read-a-longs, a read-a-long of Anne Rice's The Wolf Gift at my Anne Rice challenge blog, a read-a-long of Salem's Lot at my Stephen King challenge blog in October AND Season of the Witch at Castle Macabre in October with a read-a-long of a witch themed book (title to be determined and read-a-long will be in conjunction with TuesBookTalk). I'm insane, I know! Can you tell I love Fall/Scary reading? No way!

Here are some general guidelines and (non) rules, as outlined by Carl, and now, TES:

***********
Without further ado, pick your poison, won’t you? September 1st is here, and we’re ready to begin!

Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.

Or anything sufficiently moody that shares a kinship with the above.

That is what embodies the stories, written and visual, that we celebrate with the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event.

As time has wound on, we’ve discovered that simple rules are best:

1. Have fun reading (and watching).
2. Share that fun with others.

R.I.P. X officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. 

***********

I normally do my sign up posts for reading "challenges" at my challenge blog, but I've decided to do shorter term challenge sign-ups on this blog and then add a short post over there just as a record of all challenges I've participated in.

There are various levels of participation. Here are the levels I'm planning on doing...

Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) ofR.I.P. literature.

The Wolf Gift, Anne Rice

Salem's Lot, Stephen King

Night Chill, Jeff Gunhus

Tortures of the Damned, Hunter Shea

*Witch themed book to be determined*

Peril of the Short Story:We are big fans of short stories and the desire for them is perhaps no greater than in Autumn. You can read short stories any time during the challenge. (since I just happen to be hosting read-a-longs of three Poe stories at Castle Macabre this month!)

Edgar Allan Poe short stories:

Ligeia 

The Cask of Amontillado 

The Fall of the House of Usher

Peril On the Screen

I love horror films and shows year round, but OH the horror movies I will be seeing this Fall! I'll be starting things off with The Visit (M. Night Shyamalan, one of my favorite filmmakers!) releasing September 11th. And next will be Eli Roth's The Green Inferno on September 25th. I know there are tons more coming out, plus all my scary shows will be starting back (The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, to name a couple). Right now, Fear the Walking Dead is running and it is GOOD!

Are you doing R.I.P. X? Feel free to join me for my plethora of events linked up in the paragraph above. As I always say...the more, the merrier!

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Bout of Books Update and Oh, Yeah...I Forgot My 6 Year Blogoversary

WINNER OF MY BLOGOVERSARY GIVEAWAY - RACHELLE!

Bout of Books update and mini-challenge below this post

Yes, that's right. My blogoversary was on August 5th. I've been at this for 6 years. Wow! The time has flown by. My very first blog post was 32 Questions Asked and Answered and my first book review the next day was The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy by Maya Slater (how appropriate to share this during Austen in August!). Since I started this blog, I've had 2,753,986 visits and posted 1486 posts! My Cat Thursday feature is in its 5th year. Most of those posts have over 100 views daily and a couple of them had 700+ and 800+ views! There was even one from 2011 with 39,284 views since it posted. Holy cow...I mean, cat!!! And, of course, I must mention my wonderful followers/readers who have stayed loyal, even through my recent bout of a blogging stagnation. I appreciate you all more than you will ever know.

And speaking of blogoversaries...my sister blog, the horror blog Castle Macabre had its 4 year blog anniversary on August 15th. Yup, missed that one too!

In honor of both blogoversaries, I'm hosting a giveaway! This will be a dual giveaway between both blogs. Here's how it will work. If you comment here on this post and on this post at Castle Macabre (either telling me you'll be joining in for Gothic September and/or the read-a-longs, or just to tell me how much you love Poe), you will get two entries into the giveaway.

What's the prize? You will have the chance to win a $10 digital Amazon gift card OR $10 worth of books from the Bargain Bin at Better World Books (these are gently used books and let me tell you...I love the site. You can get 3 books for $10 from the bargain bin! I order from them all the time and purchases benefit literary causes around the world. Check them out!).

To enter, as I mentioned above, comment on this post AND on this post at Castle Macabre and then fill out the form below with the name you used to comment. You only have to fill out the form once so if you fill it out here, don't fill it out again at Castle Macabre. This giveaway will end on September 10, 2015 at 11:59pm CST. Open internationally.

Bout of Books Update and Mini-Challenge

My progress through Wednesday (I technically started on Tuesday).

The Snow Child - 50 pages
In The Woods - 50 pages

Sad...but I'm not giving up yet!

Kimberly Faye Reads hosted the Four Seasons in Book Covers Challenge. 

Here's my contribution...

Follow via email!

My Upcoming Events and a Revamped Reading Challenge

I'm hosting another write-a-thon! Sit Down and Write 4 starts on Monday. I'm hosting at my writing blog, Stories Inside. This write-a-thon is not only for people who are writing novels or short stories, but also for people who need to catch up on blog writing, etc. For all the details and to sign up, visit this POST at Stories Inside.

Over at Castle Macabre, I'm hosting two events this Fall. Gothic September, featuring a read-a-long of Robert Parry's Gothic historical novel, The Arrow Chest (about the book). In October, I'm once again hosting Season of the Witch. For all the details on both events, visit this POST at Castle Macabre.

On the reading challenge front, come check out my revamped fantasy challenge, The Fantasy Project: 101 Books in 10 Years. You can get the details and sign up at the dedicated blog. We also have a Goodreads group!

And don't forget about the FrightFall Read-a-Thon! It's just a little over a month away! Sign ups coming soon at Seasons of Reading.  

I hope you will think about joining me for one, or all, of these events/challenges!

TTBA Weekly News and Mailbox Monday

This feature was inspired by It's Monday! What are you reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey and by The Sunday Salon.

Yes, I am in the midst of the frenzy that is NaNoWriMo and I'm behind (WAY behind) so you're probably wondering why I'm doing this post.  I'm a creature of habit...what can I say!

EVENTS/NEWS

You can still sign up for the Bag of Bones read-a-long I'm hosting over at Castle Macabre.  You can check out the details and sign-up HERE.

The Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge has been announced! You can find out the details and sign up over at The Christmas Spirit HERE.



Read 2 Review has officially opened their doors and they have some exciting features and events planned, including a twitter contest and a Grand Opening Competition.  Head over and join in the fun HERE!

NEW FEATURE

I have a new weekly feature, which I'm cross hosting between here and Castle Macabre.  It's Wednesdays on the Trail(er)...where I post a new or favorite book trailer on Wednesdays.  At Castle Macabre, these will be horror/speculative fiction trailers for books and movies.  I started last week so be watching for this week's trailers.  Hope you enjoy it!

WHAT I'M READING
Last week:
--finished A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (no review yet)
--yesterday, read and reviewed The Art of War by Angela Panayotopulos (REVIEW)
Currently reading:
--Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (still trying to catch up...should I give up?)
--What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen (TuesBookTalk)
--Under the Dome by Stephen King
--The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe (for review)
Next Week:
--Bag of Bones by Stephen King (for my read-a-long at Castle Macabre)
--Women of the Cousins' War by Philippa Gregory, etc. (Crazy Book Tours-Review on Monday)
--The Luminist by David Rocklin (review and author interview on Wednesday and Thursday)

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is currently on tour. This month, Marcia is hosting it herself on the Mailbox Monday dedicated blog HERE.(want to read a book description? Clicking the book covers will take you to the book's page on Amazon).


WON:
Weight of Stone: Book Two of The Vineart War by Laura Anne Gilman...from Crystal at My Reading Room
The Favored Queen by Carolly Erickson...from BookTrib
The McCloud Home for Wayward Girls by Wendy Delsol...from Princess Bookie/Contest Craze

FOR REVIEW:
Jane Was Here by Sarah Kernochan...Crazy Book Tours-tour stop on Castle Macabre (December)
Lifting the Wheel of Karma by Paul H. Magid...tour with Tribute Books (January)

FROM DOUBLEDAY BOOK CLUB (INTRO PKG):
Mary Boleyn: The Mistress of Kings by Alison Weir  <3
Lost December by Richard Paul Evans
A Clash of Kings (Book 2-ASOIAF) by George R.R. Martin
The Farm Chicks Christmas by Serena Thompson
Christmas in Williamsburg: 300 Years of Family Traditions by Karen Kostyal
Martha Stewart's Handmade Holiday Crafts
2011 Christmas with Southern Living

PURCHASED FROM GOODWILL:
The Tower at Stony Wood by Patricia A. McKillip
The Widows of Eastwick by John Updike
The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde
The Gathering by Anne Enright
The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
The Remedy by Michelle Lovric
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
Magi by Daniel L. Gilbert
The Doctor's Wife by Elizabeth Brundage
Midwinter by Matthew Sturges

Frightful Fall Read-a-Thon and Castle Macabre Blog Launch Event

It's that time of year again.  Time for the Fall colors and smells and later, the scary fun of Halloween.  Now if the outdoor temperatures would just cooperate and give us some Fall weather, I would be thrilled!

I have announced my Fall read-a-thon, Frightful Fall Read-a-Thon, October 3-9.  I am hosting it over at my new horror blog since the read-a-thon has a spooky theme this time.  Please visit HERE for all the details and to sign up.  As always, I'm looking for mini-challenge/giveaway hosts and/or prize donations.  I hope you will join me for a week of reading and scary fun!

I have a blog launch event going on over at Castle Macabre as well.  It's a month long event of author guest spots and giveaways, book and movie reviews, and I'm hosting a giveaway as well.  It's all horror- themed! For complete details on the event and the giveaway, visit the event kick-off post HERE.

Carl at Stainless Steel Droppings is once again hosting his yearly Fall, scary-themed reading challenge.  Yay! R.I.P. VI is in full swing and you can find out the details and sign up HERE.  Of course, I'm all signed up!

Happy Fall...well, in a few weeks anyway!

TTBA Weekly News and Mailbox Monday

This feature was inspired by It's Monday! What are you reading? hosted by Sheila at Book Journey and The Sunday Salon.

I'm officially back from vacation.  I had a fun, fun class reunion.  It was great seeing people from school again.  And I had a great visit with my Sis and her family.  It's a shame that we usually only get to see each other once a year.  I do miss them so much when I don't get to see them. =O(  It is good to be home though.  Just wish I could have came back without this summer cold or whatever it is.  I've felt like crap for days! The upside...I've lost eight more pounds since my last appointment with the diet doctor so the weight loss is going well.  Yay!

I apologize for my lack of visiting blogs.  I took my computer with me, but had very little time to actually visit blogs and now I'm home and Google Reader is a monster.  I hate to say that I was so overwhelmed that I marked everything older than a day as read.  I'm starting a work-at-home gig this week and I'm just not going to have time to read through everything.  I will still visit last week's Cat Thursday posts.  Please forgive me for being behind.  I will try to catch up with everyone.

I did work on that project I mentioned in my blogoversary post.  It's a new blog! I came up with the name and searched backgrounds and then finished up (somewhat) yesterday and today.  So I am now officially announcing the launch of my new horror blog! I hope you will stop by and check it out.  Keep in mind that it's still under construction, but if you love horror then you should definitely follow.  I'm planning some good stuff in the future.  To go take a look at Castle Macabre, go HERE.

Speaking of my blogoversary, I'm having a huge giveaway that runs until the end of the month.  If you haven't already, go HERE to enter.  It sure has been a wonderful two years of blogging!

Mailbox Monday was created by Marcia and is currently on tour.  This month's host is Staci at Life in the Thumb .  (want to read a book description?  Clicking the book covers will take you to the book's page on Amazon)



WON:
Wildthorn by Jane Eagland...from Kristin at My Bookish Ways
Ordeal by Innocence by Agatha Christie...from Jen at Devourer of Books (for read-a-long discussion on August 22)
Lagan Love by Peter Murphy...from Star at The Bibliophilic Book Blog
One Day by David Nicholls (prize pack included signed movie tie-in edition, a clear make-up bag, and two purple and pink moleskine journals)....from Alyce at At Home with Books
If Sons, Then Heirs by Lorene Cary...from Tea at Book Page 
Christmas Keepsakes by Mary Balogh, Julia Justiss, and Nicola Cornick...from Martha at Reviews by Martha's Bookshelf

FOR REVIEW:
The Companion of Lady Holmeshire by Debra Brown (signed)...from the author
The Reindeer Keeper: Believe Again by Barbara Briggs Ward (signed)...from the author

GIFT:
Territory by Emma Bull...from my Sis  =O)

BOMC2 (purchased):
Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution by Holly Tucker

MCKAY USED BOOKS:

On Writing Horror: A Handbook by The Horror Writers Association edited by Mort Castle
A Christmas "Write It Down!" journal (not pictured)
Messiah by Andrei Codrescu (free bin)
A Little House Collection: The First Five Novels by Laura Ingalls Wilder (free bin)