Joining RIP Challenge!

Before I started my blog in November 2009, I remember seeing all these book bloggers enthusiastically participating in something called the RIP Challenge.  The sense of community conveyed by the participants probably contributed to my decision to start a blog.

And now the challenge has come around again and I can participate!  Although some of my other challenges are in danger of not being completed by the end of the year, the RIP Challenge is too perfectly autumnal of a challenge to pass up.  (Though it certainly does not feel autumnal in the D.C. area right now.)  Also, there is the sense of jumping on the bandwagon as well.  At least eleven of the blogs to which I subscribe have posted their intentions to participate, and the participant list on Carl’s site is huge.

What is the RIP Challenge?  RIP stands for Readers Imbibing Peril and it is hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings.  In the two months leading up to Halloween, participating readers select and devour books from these categories:

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

There are different levels and types of participation which are explained in Carl’s post.  I am choosing Peril the Second which requires reading at least two books.  I may read more, however.

Here is my tentative candidate list, from which I will draw my two books:

The Crazy School by Cornelia Read – Dark tale involving a new teacher at a New England boarding school for disturbed teenagers.

Uncle Montague’s Tales of Terror by Chris Priestley – My notes say I found this recommendation from Ana, of the blog, things mean a lot

Twelve by Jasper Kent – Set in Russia, 1812.  A goodreads reviewer, Mark, says: “It reads as if it were the progeny of Tolstoy or Pasternak, with a Stokerian twist.”

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson – Jackson seems to be a favorite author for this challenge

A Dark Dividing by Sarah Rayne – The synopsis says something about twins and a decrepit haunted house.  Reviewers mention Gothic atmosphere.  Sounds like a good candidate!

The Replacement by Brenna Yovanoff – the gals at Forever Young Adult were the source of this recommendation

Skin and Bones by D.C. Corso – Missing children, autumn setting in Washington State.

Little Face by Sophie Hannah – Savidge Reads had a fantastic interview of this author on his blog recently and the synopsis of this book sounds chilling.  A new mother returns to her baby’s room, but swears her baby is gone and been replaced by another.

My perusal of my to-read list reminded me of two books that might also be fun to read prior to Halloween, though not for the RIP Challenge:

Boo by Rene Gutteridge – sounds like a light and fun book about a horror novelist who quits the genre, to the dismay of his hometown, which has used his fame to turn their town into a tourist attraction.

Bats at the Library by Brian Lies – I usually find the little bat silhouettes on Halloween decorations to be so cute.  This children’s book depicts bats reading books in a library, and it depicts famous literary works as populated by bats.  It sounds adorable.  This was a find from the blog Vulpes Libris.