Once Upon a Blog... there was a girl who finally started to write one. I have been meaning to blog about books (my raisin d' etre) for so long but have never got around to doing so until I came across the challenge set by Carl (Stainless Steel Droppings) and it inspired to to get reading and get writing. I would link to the challenge but not sure how to so any comments telling me how would be much appreciated!

The R.I.P. (Readers Imbibing Peril) challenge is in its third year and runs from September 1st until October 31st. I have opted for the Peril the first challenge: Read Four books of any length, from any subgenre of scary stories that you choose. The sub-genres are:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

Carl has asked us to create a pool of potential books which we will choose our scary reads from; I find this to be a good idea as I am prone to becoming distracted and changing my mind about what to read next and already my four choices have been subject to change!

My pool of scary reads:

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman (this isn't released in the UK until the last day of the challenge so it may very well be a last minute challenge read or an additional one as cannot be excluded; besides, it will make for a lovely Hallowe'en night).
The Historian, Elizabeth Kostova
The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings, Edgar Allan Poe
The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
Gothic Tales, Elizabeth Gaskell, (primarily for the novella, Lois the Witch)
The Host, Stephenie Meyer
The Victorian Chaise-longue, Marghanita Lanski)
The Thirteenth Tale, Diane Setterfield
Out, Nastuo Kirino
The Little Black Book of Stories, A.S. Byatt

I look forward to this challenge; especially as we come into the throes of Autumn and I am sitting in a new flat, in a new city, in a new life curled up with good books. I shall start my first book of the challenge, The Thirteenth Tale, later this week - wish me luck and happy reading!