I usually start thinking about Carl's annual RIP (Readers Imbibing Peril) reading event sometime about June! Aside from the promise of cooler weather (summer has returned to the Midwest with a vengeance this week, however, but I know it will pass eventually), and the coming of Fall--my favorite season, I love ghost stories and novels of suspense and mystery. I've had a mental list of reading possibilities going now for a while and when I put pen to paper and started jotting them down realized I had a rather long list of books to choose from. I've winnowed it down a little, but still have far more books than I will have time to read. Still I hope to make a little dent in the list. It's good to have lots of choices, and as RIP goes from September 1 to October 31 maybe I will manage more than I think.
I'm opting for Peril the First, which is to read four books over the course of the next two months, as well as Peril of the Short Story. I've also got several story collections lined up to dip into.
My pool of reading possibilities includes:
The Man in the Picture: A Ghost Story by Susan Hill -- " . . . a haunting tale of love, loss, and the very basest fear of our beings." The story involves a painting , which to stare at is very dangerous--and the unseen demons it hides.
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald -- This is a Puffin classic (juvenile literature). "Princess Irene has discovered a secret winding stairway in the castle. It leads to a bewildering labyrinth of unknown passages with closed doors - and a further stairway. What lies at the top? Meanwhile, the miner's son Curdie overhears a fiendish plot by the goblins that live below the mountain. But with the help of Irene's magic ring, can they top the goblins' terrifying plans in time?"
Joyland by Stephen King -- "A riveting story about love and loss, about growing up and growing old--and about those who don't get to do either because death comes for them before their time."
An Inquiry into Love and Death by Simone St. James -- "In 1920s England, a young woman searches for the truth behind her uncle's mysterious death in a town haunted by a restless ghost . . ." Last year I read her first novel, The Haunting of Maddy Clare.
Hangsaman by Shirley Jackson -- "Chilling and suspenseful, Hangsaman is loosely based on the real-life disappearance of a Bennington College sophomore in 1946."
The Truth About Unicorns by Bonnie Jones Reynolds -- "The author ties events, families, and witchcraft together so deftly that her book is fascinating. I could hardly put it down until I knew how it all came out." --Cincinnati Enquirer. This is a Felony & Mayhem book and their "whose likely to like this?" notes--fans of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery".
The Haunted Looking Glass by Edward Gorey --This is Gorey's selection of his favorite "tales of ghosts, ghouls, ans grisly goings-on." There are stories by Charles Dickens, E. Nesbit, Bram Stoker, Wilkie Collins and L.P. Hartley to name a few. This is a library book--when I looked it up in the catalog I only noted the title and that it had a selection of classic stories. I didn't realize until I pulled it from the shelf that it is an NYRB Classic and that Gorey illustrated it. I am trying to decide whether this will be one of the story collections I randomly dip into or whether I should just start at the beginning and read my way through! I might even have to order a copy since it is such an attractive book!
The Greatcoat by Helen Dunmore -- Set in the East Riding of Yorkshire in 1952 this is a ghost story concerning an RAF pilot. I think it has been a popular book and has made the rounds in the last year or two.
The Haunted Hotel & Other Stories by Wilkie Collins -- The title story is actually a novella and the other eight shorter stories of "disturbing scenarios, which include ghosts, corpses on the move, family curses and perhaps the most unusual of all, the Devil's spectacles.'' By the way, the novella is set in Venice!
I'll save my stack of story collections for Sunday.
I'm very excited by my list of books (and story collections) and can't wait to start reading. As a matter of fact I think I won't wait until September 1 but will dive in right now. It's just a matter of deciding where to start!
Are you going to 'imbibe a little peril', too? If so, what do you plan on reading?