Monday 25 August 2008

R.I.P. III challenge

It's that time of year again! September is almost upon us and it's time for Carl's latest Halloween challenge - R.I.P. III. I've been looking forward to and thinking about it for ages and had my pool of books stacked up on the shelf a week ago. Nothing like being 'a bit previous' as Grandma would have said...

Anyway, the challenge has three 'Perils' to choose from and I've chosen 'Peril the First' which is to 'Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose' between the 1st. September and the 31st. October.



To that end I've chosen a pool of 12 books - probably a typical case of 'overkill' but there you go, making up my mind was never my strong point. These are they:

Tales of Terror from Blackwood's Magazine - ed. by Robert Morrison and Chris Baldick
Return of the Deep Ones and other Mythos Tales - Brian Lumley
The Ghost Stories of M.R. James - selected by Michael Cox
Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier
Bitten - Kelley Armstrong
The Vampire Tapestry - Suzy McKee Charnas
The Vanished - Celia Rees
Twilight - Stephenie Meyer
The Moor - Laurie R. King
Tunnels - Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams
The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield
On the Edge of Darkness - Barbara Erskine

A pretty mixed bag really. Several books of short stories which I may just dip in and out of; three or four vampire yarns (not sure about The Vanished); a couple of gothic type stories and a couple that are just a bit 'sundry'.

Three are rereads - the Lumley, the Du Maurier and the M.R. James. The Du Maurier will be a cross-over with another challenge; I had it on my RIP list for last year and didn't get around to it, so will definitely try to get to that one this year. I'd love to read them all, I really would, but realistically - it ain't gonna happen. I know for a start that October is going to be a busy month for me. The challenge says four and that will be my aim and if I manage more then it's all to the good.

Really looking forward to participating in this challenge and thanks, Carl, for hosting it once again.

14 comments:

Carl V. Anderson said...

Ooo, such a great pool of books. And kudos to you for using books for multiple challenges, I do that all the time. Get more bang for your reading buck! Thanks for joining in!

Ana S. said...

What a great list! I'm hoping to read The Thirteenth Tale as well, and also Jamaica Inn. I mooched a copy just the other day and I can't wait for it to arrive. It'll be my introduction to Daphne to Maurier. Perhaps I'll read Rebecca too if time allows.

DesLily said...

Well, I know you know I've read the 13th Tale and The Moor ! lol I am pretty sure you will like both of those!!! oh, and I read The Edge of Darkness (that one didn't do anything for me)

I had Tunnels on my wish list for a time and then deleted it, but not sure why so I will be interested in your thoughts on that one!

chrisa511 said...

Great list Cath! I keep forgetting books that I want on my list! Like Jamaica Inn...I just mooched a copy myself (like Nymeth)! I'm surprised they had that many available on Bookmooch. Looking forward to it.

Anonymous said...

I read The Thirteenth Tale two years ago and really liked it.

Cath said...

Thanks, Carl. I just realised that there are two books that can be crossed over, not one, so that's even better.

Nymeth: look forward to seeing your review of The Thirteenth Tale. Looks like that's going to be a popular one for this challenge. Two other Daphne Du Maurier books I can recommend are Frenchman's Creek and The House on the Strand. Both wonderful. And people seem to love Rebecca but I can't remember if I read it as a teen.

Hi Pat. I'm not sure that your The Edge of Darkness is the same as my On the Edge of Darkness. Was yours by Barbara Erskine? Tunnels looks good but some of the Amazon reviews weren't very good so we'll see.

I love Jamaica Inn, Chris. At least I did when I first read it er... 40 or so years ago. Hmm. Hope I still like it...

Hi Stephanie. I'm really looking forward to The Thirteenth Tale as I think I'm going to love it. Hope I'll have time to read all the books I want to.

Robin said...

Great list, Cath! I've got to add Jamaica Inn to my list, too! I loved both Rebecca and The House on the Strand, so I don't know why I haven't read this one yet.

Anonymous said...

These books sound great, Cath! :] Hope you manage to get through most of them during this challenge. Happy reading!

Cath said...

Hi Robin! Jamaica Inn is quite a dark story but beautifully written and well worth reading. *My* confession is that I've never read Rebecca! My favourite Du Maurier though is Frenchman's Creek, one the most wonderful romances ever written, imo.

Hi Orchidus. Yes, I'm hoping to read as many as I can but doubt I'll manage all of them. It'll be fun trying though.

Anonymous said...

Ohh I like your list. Some great books I have been meaning to read. I hope you enjoy Twilight.

Anonymous said...

What a fantastic list!! I read The Thirteenth Tale and liked it a lot. I read the entire Twilight series and can't say enough about them. They were unbelievable!

Cath said...

Hi Rhinoa. I'm really looking forward to reading Twilight. People seem to be divided between 'love it' or 'hate it' so it'll be interesting to see which category I fall into. I'm expecting to like it...

Hi Kristina, thanks for stopping by. I've been saving Twilight to read for this challenge. I don't have the rest of the series yet but suspect I'm going to want them very quickly after reading Twilight.

Anonymous said...

Hey Cath! Sorry I haven't commented for ages - I've been such a useless blogger lately.

Anyway, great RIP list! Jamaica Inn is an absolute gem isn't it? Love that book so much.

I really need to try Stephanie Meyer's books. I keep hearing such positive comments about them.

The Thirteenth Tale is another fab choice. I am itching to revisit that one. Hop you get to read that one for the challenge, would love to read your review of it.

Cath said...

No worries, Quixotical... Real Life has a way of interfering with Blog life sometimes and it can't be helped.

I read Jamaica Inn when I was in my teens. I know I loved it but 40 years later I can't remember a lot about it. *So* looking forward to revisiting it. At some stage I need to read Rebecca too because I honestly can't remember whether I already have or not...

Yes, that's the reason I'm trying Twilight to be honest - I keep hearing so much about the series. Mind, I have seen several really negative comments so it'll be interesting to find out for myself.

Definitely going to be reading The Thirteenth Tale!