RIP VIII and Halloween Read-a-Thon Wrap-ups

This years RIP VIII was as fun as always.  Here's my initial sign-up post. Unlike the year before, I did not put the books I was planning to read in the post beforehand, as I was playing it by ear and mood. The same with movies. As always I didn't do as well as I wanted, but I think I did decently enough considering.

I took part in Peril the First, Peril of the Short Story, and Peril of the Screen. RIP can cover anything related to the Halloween season, whether it's Horror, Gothic, Dark Fantasy, or Supernatural.

I also participated in the third annual Spooktacular Read-a-thon. The sign up post is here.


RIP VIII 
 Peril the First

The challenge is to read at least four books.




It was fun to finally read Alien by Alan Dean Foster. I'd had it on the bookshelf for years from a friend of mine and just now read it. I also have the sequel. It was good and got me in the mood to watch the movie again, which is always a good thing. It's not as good as the movie, of course, and is actually a book written after the movie off the screenplay, and those  usually aren't as good as the film version. Worth reading for collectors and those obsessed with the series. Review coming soon.

Graham Masterton always  had a knack for writing creepy scenes. Night Plague is another that sat on my shelf for years unread, and the back blurb is a turn off. I should have kept the faith, though, as it turned out to be a great horror book that blended unique fantasy line with unsettling imagery. Review coming soon.

Evil by Richard O'Brien
ended up being another big surprise. It's blurb was misleading completely except perhaps the first paragraph; shame on the publishers! The story turned out much more complex, almost a mini murder mystery. The ending held some weakness but the book was riveting otherwise. Read full review here.

Finally, The Invisible Man, my first classic of the year (shame on me.) I dig HG Wells writing style and want to seek more from him ~ impressed. I think more could have been done with the story in some regards, so it's not a perfect book, but it's still a classic I'm happy to have read. Review here.

RIP VIII 
 Peril of the Short Story

I read short stories from Clive Barker's Books of Blood Volume One (Re-read from over 8  years ago) and My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding (Urban Fantasy anthology)

Full Review of Books of Blood, Volume 1 here.

RIP VIII 
 Peril on the Screen

Here are the horror movies I watched in October.


Alien was inspired from finally reading the Alien book. The movie never gets old. How could it with that story?

I watched Creature from the Black Lagoon and Night of the Living Dead with my mother a week before going to a horror movie convention where the cast for NOTLD were gathered for a reunion, and Ricou Browning (Creature when in the water) and Julie Adams were there. We had a pleasure meeting the last two and getting their autographs on my poster artwork I got a few years back. Pictures coming soon of all that. They liked Creature but not NOTLD so much...I remember that movie being better but it was more obnoxious this time around with the girl, the CRICKET, and the horrendous, overdone music.

For some reason I was in the mood to re-watch Bram Stoker's Dracula. I watched it over ten years ago and remember little other than I didn't like it. Thought I'd give it another chance. Still didn't really like it. Oh well.

The Fall TV Shows have returned as well - haven't caught the first episode of Grimm yet. Really enjoying Supernatural this season, excellent start. The Vampire Diaries is feeling lackluster compared to other seasons, hope it improves. The Walking Dead hasn't impressed me as much as usual (hated the pig scene!), but I'm sure it will get better as it's an excellent show. Sleepy Hollow impressed me with it's first few episodes but it feels like it's struggling to find it's footing now.

Spooktacular Read-a-thon

In Addition to the above, I read these Paranormal Books for the Read-a-Thon


Review for Deliah's Shadow here  - a paranormal mystery/romance

Review of The Trelayne Inheritance here - a paranormal Gothic/romance

Reviews for Dark Symphony and Lucious Craving soon (both Paranormal Romance)

How did your Halloween reading go?