Carl's RIP IV is here. I breathed a big sigh of relief when I saw his post here, and then I started piling books up. Up, up, and up. I ended up with over 20 books I wanted to read for this challenge! Now, I know that last year I read more than required, and I know this year I will, but even I think 20 is a huge pile. So I've been whittling away at the pile until it's more manageable.I am choosing Peril the First, which is 4 books:
Here is my list of what I'm considering for the challenge:
1.Bluenose Ghosts - Helen Creighton (to be read
throughout the challenge)
- this is the one I'm posting dailyquotes from. Sort of a blog gather around the campfire and
let's tell real-life ghost stories, as a few of you have commented on the first two excerpts I've given.
2.The October Country - Ray Bradbury (I've long
wanted to read this; The Small Assassin is one of the
classic short horror stories everyone refers to.)
3.Duma Key - Stephen King (finally! Uncle Steve,
please don't disappoint me with this one)
4.Tricks - Ed McBain (takes place over Hallowe'en!!)
5.The Thirteenth Tale - Diane Setterfield (everyone
raves about this gothic featuring a writer. Fingers crossed!!)
6.Spirits That Walk the Shadows - Nina Kiriki Hoffman
(a YA by her I hadn't heard about, a Mythopoeic finalist,
about an emotional vampire encouraging one of the
teen characters to be depressed)
7. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane
Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith (can hardly wait!)
And, a special mention:
two VERY BAD BLOGGERS,
PLEASE STAND UP:
BRIDE OF THE BOOK GOD:
Thanks to your excellent review here,
I requested from my library and picked up yesterday:
8.Tales of Terror from the Black Ship by Chris Priestley;
and Tanabata at IN THE SPRING IT IS THE DAWN:
thanks to your post here, I requested and am also holding now:
9.The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston.
This one looks creepy. True-life serial killers in Italy.
That's only 9 books! Don't worry, I have several waiting in the wings, Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill, Fool Moon by Jim Butcher, Not Flesh Nor Feathers by Cherie Priest, Haunted House Stories ed by Peter Haining, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.......This is my "B" list, by back-up list......
October Country also counts for Short Story Peril, which for once I would like to participate in on Sundays! I keep signing up for them, and then Sunday whizzes by and once again no short stories get read.
I just love the art for this year, and I really appreciate the artist, Jennifer Gordon, for allowing Carl to modify one of her prints for the banners. It is so ghostly and eerie and sad, perfect for RIP. Thank you, Carl, for hosting this again! It's not too late to sign up, and indeed, I am number 216 after I sign up tonight.
Today's Ghost Excerpt
So, with that all done, here is today's ghostly excerpt from Bluenose Ghosts: (Note, we are now on the chapter dealing with Foresight; before, we were on the chapter dealing with forerunners, which are sounds.)
The forerunner, as you have read, usually deals with sounds. Foresight, on the other hand, is visual. On the island of Cape Breton it is known as double vision or double sight and people who have the gift are said to be double-sighted. It occurs here mostly among those of Scottish descent although there are isolated instances among other groups. On my field work for the National Museum of Canada in 1956 I visited many descendants of settlers who came originally from the highlands and islands of Scotland, and was amazed to find this strange faculty possessed by so many people. Perhaps the word gift as applied here is inappropriate, for a gift is a pleasurable attribute. This is not, for the vision is usually that of a funeral. Stories, of which there are a surprisingly large number, go like this. I quote from the words of Mr Hughie Wilson of Glace Bay.
"There was a woman in Mira who could see a funeral ahead of time, even sometimes before the person had been taken sick, and she would know whose funeral it was. When it happened she would be walking along the road and would be pushed to one side by the crowd following the hearse. The experience would exhaust her because not only could she feel the passing procession but also she could tell who were the people in it."
And to make up for missing yesterday, here is a bonus story:
A story of another boat comes from Broad Cove in Inverness County. It was a good boat as far as the owners could see, and they had built it themselves. Soon after it was finished, however, people began seeing lights on it and there was no accounting for them. Since no physical explanation could be found, the lights were taken as a warning and, one of the older men said, it must never be used again or it would drown its passengers. Consequently it was hauled up on the shore and left to rot until it was of no further use.
At this time a young man named McNeil was building another boat and he looked at this derelict lying idle. He thought he might as well remove the steering irons and use them in his boat. The older people, he thought, were pretty superstitious. Why listen to all their foolish talk? So he took the equipment and he and his brother set out for Prince Edward Island. They were sailing close to shore with everything well under control when a squall came up so suddenly and so unexpectedly that it capsized their boat and they were drowned. Was this mere coincidence? We shall never know.
Happy reading, my Gentle Readers!!
