RIP VI - Horror, ghosts, spookiness, my favourite time of year

It's here!  It's here, it's here, it's here!  RIP VI, the annual horror/ghost story/suspense reading challenge hosted by Carl over at Stainless Steel Droppings.  I am, you can tell, so very excited.  Not only that, but it's the angel from 'Blink', only one of my favourite Dr Who episodes, EVER!!!!  *happy sigh from Ottawa*

I do have to apologize, I meant to do at least two posts while waiting for RIP to start, but life got in the way.  It's been one of those years, I think, where I am barely hanging on.  I think about posting quite often!  I've started many in my head, on my way home from work.  Posts on books I've read, books I should have reviewed but didn't get around to, books I got out from the library, super reads.......one day they will get done. Right now, I'm reading, my way of keeping sane in a year that making me look at who I really am, and where I want to go from here. 

Before I post my list for RIP, I have to add this very short funny story:  I went to Montreal last weekend, a quick family get-away.  Because of my knee, which is still not healed all the way, I can only do short trips right now.  So off we went on the train for a weekend holiday.  Around the corner from our hotel, was a Chapters.  Convenient, you say? Yes.  Planned?  No, I did not know until after we booked it! At this Chapters, I discovered the Ellen Datlow ghost story anthology I have been looking for for almost a year: The Dark.

  A sign?  Yes, I think so.  I snatched it up and held it close to my chest.  It was the only book I bought last weekend, a rare event in my book-buying life.  So I am treating myself to a RIP book-buying binge quick trip at some of my favourite Ottawas bookstores this Friday.  A girl needs some good ghost stories/mysteries to cheer her up, right?

I have picked more mysteries this year, partly because they are all sitting on my shelves, partly because one of my reading goals is to get to 50 mysteries read this year. 

SUSAN'S RIP VI LIST  ***partial only, despite the long list
The World of Charles Addams - collection of Charles Addams illustrations
macabre drawings, creator of the Addams family, black humour that is witty
Kraken - China Mieville - Giant squid!  Just on that alone, I had to read this book. 
The Dark: New Ghost Stories - Ellen Datlow - see prev post.
Blackwater - Kerstin Ekman - a Scandinavian mystery that I keep hearing about, dark and terrifying, that took me several years to find.  I found it during my first visit to Book Bazaar, a second-hand bookstore here in Ottawa, last week. 
Birdman - Mo Hayder - another mystery I have been almost too scared to read.  Grisly is one word I keep coming across.  I will try it, anyway, though graphic descriptions are not what I find scary (and tend to bother me since I am a visual person).  The series is supposed to be very good.
Grendel - John Gardner - I've wanted to read this for a very long time.  From the point of view of the monster in Beowulf. 
The Surgeon - Tess Gerritsen - another creepy mystery thriller.  The first in the Rizzoli and Isles series.
Uncle Montague's Tales of Terror - Chris Priestley  - so many of you bloggers have enjoyed this one!  Specifically Chris at Stuff as Dreams are Made of.  The House With the Clock in Its Walls - John Bellair - I read Face in the Frost last year, and really enjoyed it.  This book is for children, and looks deliciously spooky.      
Chill of Fear - Kay Hooper - Just sitting on my shelf.  Spooky Crimes unit special, FBI plus heroine with psi powers. 
A Fine and Private Place - Peter S. Beagle - I have never read this classic ghost story by him. 
Tricks - Ed McBain - I know, this has been on my list for several years.  Now is the time! Set during Hallowe'en, it's perfect for RIP.....
Winter House - Carol O'Connell - a Mallory mystery, this one is called a family gothic.
Mallory is one of the most fascinating main characters in modern fiction.  I can hardly wait to read this one.  I'm two behind in the series, so this will start to catch me up.
Dark Harvest - Norman Partridge - Can't resist a book with a pumpkin on the cover!  Plus, Chris again recommended this one. 
The Keeper - Sarah Langan - her debut horror novel, by all accounts very scary.  The titular figure is also named Susan, so how could I resist?
A Dark Matter - Peter Straub - a horror story par excellence, about a ritual gone badly wrong many years ago and the hero's quest to find out what happened that night.
The Little Stranger - Sarah Waters - a classic ghost story, one I've been meaning to read, and I think it's time has come.  I'm the last person in the world to NOT have read this yet.
Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovitch - he discovers he can talk to ghosts, and he is on the police force.  Recommended by Bride of the Book God. (Yes, the book has a different title over here than in England).
Manitou Blood - Graham Masterton - I wrote in my last post that I didn't know he had a vampire novel out.  I read his The Manitou years ago, and it was so frightening.  It was about the aboriginal spirits called Manitous, and if you can find it, it's worth it.  I'm hoping Manitou Blood will be as frightening.
this one a paranormal mystery complete with an 'entity' who means no good for our heroine.
Angel Cafe - Jill Morrow - another book lurking on my shelves,
Falling Angel - William Hjortsberg - a mystery that features voodoo, black magic, and murder.  Highly recommended when it first came out in 1979. About time I read it, right?
Every Dead Thing - John Connolly.  The first book in his Charlie Parker series, he sees ghosts.  Supposed to be gory too, certainly the description of the first bodies was. I tried to read it a few years ago, and stopped after a few pages.  I'm hoping this time it will go better, as the series does look really interesting.  Intense and terrifying is what I've heard about this book.  Have you read it?
Poltergeist - Kat Richardson - 2nd book in the Harper Blaine, PI, paranormal mysteries. She can see ghosts and spirits and the undead, all that hover between this world and the next.  I enjoyed the first one, Greywalker, very much. 

Have you read any of these?  What are you looking forward to reading this year?
I am going to be doing RIP the first, of course.  I'm also going to do RIP Screen, since I love ghost  and horror movies.  I am not sure yet what I will be watching for this challenge. 

RIP IV - Ghost and horror stories challenge is here!!

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 daily
quotes 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!!