RIP 2011

Even though the temperatures are still in the triple-digits here in Texas, it's starting to feel like fall -- and it's time for the RIP Challenge!  Last year I only managed to squeeze in a couple, but I'm really hoping to tackle some more this time around.  I've signed up for Peril the First, which means I'll be reading four books.  I have a nice stack of novels just begging to be read:

From top to bottom:

The Mystery of Mrs. Blencarrow by Margaret Oliphant

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens
Drood by Dan Simmons
The Scapegoat by Daphne du Maurier
The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

And I have this nice stack of short story volumes that would fit the challenge nicely:

Tales of Mystery and the Macabre by Elizabeth Gaskell
Arsene Lupin, Gentleman Thief by Maurice LeBlanc
The Ghost Stories of Muriel Spark
The Oxford Book of English Ghost Stories by R. A. Gilbert, editor
Murder on the Menu by Peter Haining

Plus I still have some library books I have on hold already, including The Haunted Bookshop by Christopher Morely;  The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole; and Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon!!   Any winners or losers in the bunch?  If I get half of these finished, I'll be happy.

Bloggers, what are you reading for RIP?

R.I.P. Challenge V

Lately it's been more than 90 degrees every day this, so it's hard for me to get thinking about Halloween (which I strongly believe should be chilly and creepy, just like in a Gothic novel).  However, I am inspired by all the bloggers who have signed up for the R.I.P. Challenge.  Participants are encouraged to read and post about books in the following categories:  mystery, suspense, thriller, dark fantasy, horror, supernatural, and Gothic.

I've signed up for Peril the Second, so I'm planning on reading at least two books for the challenge in September and October, maybe more.  I'm also hoping to read at least one short story collection -- I think I have four or five Gothic or ghost story collections on my to-read shelf already!  I'm definitely going to try and read books that are already owned and unread, or have been on my to-read list a long time.

Here's my list of potential titles:

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith
• My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurier
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
• The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
• The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett 
• The Time of the Ghost by Diana Wynne Jones
• The Victorian Chaise Longue by Marghanita Laski
• Affinity by Sarah Waters
• The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells
• Tales of Mystery and the Macabre by Elizabeth Gaskell
• The Virago Book of Ghost Stories
• Short stories by Edgar Allen Poe

So -- any suggestions?  Anyone else participating, and if so, what are you reading for the challenge?  I'm looking forward to it!

Stories: All New Tales Edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio

I put this book on hold from the library since included a new story by Neil Gaiman, one my favorite authors.  I was surprised and delighted to find that my favorite stories in this collection were by other authors, some of whom I'd never read before.  For example, I probably never would have read anything by horror author Joe Hill (son of Stephen King) but his story, "The Devil on the Staircase," is one that I won't forget.  After committing a crime of passion, a poor Italian laborer rushes down mysterious stone steps into what he believes is Hell, with devastating long-term results.

I expected this collection to be filled with stories of the supernatural, fantasy, and science fiction, but some of them were mystery and suspense.  I recognized quite a few of the authors, and some of them surprised me -- Jodi Picoult, who isn't really known for fantasy/supernatural; Joanne Harris, best known for Chocolat; Joyce Carol Oates; Richard Adams (of Watership Down fame).

My least favorite was probably "Catch and Release" by Lawrence Block, which gets into the mind of a serial killer.  Normally I like his stories, but this one was just a little too realistic, so much so that I can't forget it and wish I hadn't read it.  Block has a similar story in an older collection called Some Days You Get the Bear -- I read it more than ten years ago and I still can't forget it, and not in a good way.  Still makes me shudder to think about it.

But anyhow, I should focus on the best stories.  My favorite has to be by Diana Wynne Jones (I didn't even know she was in the collection until I saw it in the book, so that was a lovely surprise!); it's called "Samantha's Diary," about a woman who starts receiving gifts from a stranger -- all the gifts from The Twelve Days of Christmas.  Every day -- it begins with the partridge in the tree, then the doves, the hens, and all the rest.  It's driving her crazy and all the birds are making a horrible mess.  I thought it was hilarious.  Even if I wasn't an enormous fan of her work, I think I still would have liked this one best.

Of course the collection includes a vampire story.  After Twilight and Sookie Stackhouse, I'm a little tired of vampires, but "Juvenal Nyx" by Walter Mosely was really good, one of the best vampire stories I've ever read.  I'd never read Mosely though I've seen the movie version of Devil in a Blue Dress.  Next time I'm in the mood for a mystery I will definitely look for one of his books.

Overall, this was a really interesting mix of stories, authors, and styles.  They seem really disparate, but the collection really works because of the quality of the writing.  It really sucked me in and I was compelled to finish all of them, so that's saying something.

Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories

Lately, I have been completely obsessed by short stories.  I can't explain it (and I hope it doesn't mean that my attention span is getting even shorter in this day and age of instant information).  Basically it started shortly before The Classics Circuit tour of Edith Wharton.  I couldn't decide which of her books to read and whilst perusing my library's catalog, I found that their collection included a delightful CD version of four of Wharton's short stories from Selected Shorts, the excellent NPR radio program.  By far, my favorite was Christina Pickles' brilliant reading of Xingu.  (You wouldn't think it, but Wharton's ironic streak is sometimes hilarious.  She completely knocks the stuffing out of society matrons in this story.) Roman Fever is pretty wonderful too.

But I digress. Because of my obsession with Wharton, I discovered Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories, as it includes a one of her short stories -- yes, Edith Wharton, the queen of New York society novels, also wrote ghost stories.  Good ones.  Some of them are included in her collections, but they're also available in a single volume, which is worth looking for.

 Roald Dahl is himself one of my favorite short story writers.  If you have only read his delightful children's books, please go directly to your bookstore or library, or start googling the shorts and READ THEM NOW, because they're brilliant.  He has a marvelously wicked sense of humor, and most of his stories end with jaw-dropping plot twists.  He personally selected this collection, after an ill-fated attempt in the 1960s to create a weekly television anthology of ghost stories (rather like the Twilight Zone).  Dahl researched and read hundreds of ghost stories in preparation, and apparently, most of them were lousy.  He found 24 that were worth filming for the series, and fourteen of those are included in this anthology.

The stories range in time period over 100 years, from The Ghost of a Hand, a classic by the gothic writer J. Sherdian Le Fanu, to the 1950s and 1960s.  All of the stories except one seem to be British -- a Danish story called Elias and the Draug, which is my least favorite of the collection.  Dahl himself admits in the introduction that it's much scarier in the original Danish, but since I'm limited to English I'll have to take his word for it.  My favorite was Harry by Rosemary Timperley, in which a woman begins to fear that her adopted daughter's imaginary playmate isn't so imaginary.  It still makes me shiver a little when I think about it.  Edith Wharton's Afterward is also good, though it starts off a little slowly (typical of Wharton) but the payoff is excellent.  And the final story, The Upper Berth, would make me think twice about crossing the Atlantic by ship if I actually had the means to do so.  The collection also includes tales by British writers E. F. Benson, who wrote the Mapp & Lucia series (still on my to-read list) and L. P. Hartley.

Roald Dahl didn't write any of the stories in the anthology.  Though his work is sometimes macabre, his short works aren't actually ghost stories.  Howeve, he did write the introduction, which is great -- he writes about the nature of ghost stories, female writers versus male (lots of great ghost stories by women, surprisingly), and about the writing of children's fiction.  It's worth reading or even buying the book just for the introduction.

And now that I'm all into the short stories, I've decided to sign up for a challenge -- one that I may actually be able to achieve! Yes! It's The Short Story Challenge.  I'm going to try and read at least five short story collections this year -- I don't think I'll count Dahl's collection, since I read it before I signed up (that smacks of cheating) -- but there are lots of other authors I haven't read with great short works.  On my to-read bookshelf I've already got collections by Chekhov, Hemingway, Garcia Marquez (which is turning brown since I've owned it so long) and Haruki Murakami.  Here are some of my favorite short stories, in no particular order.  I've added links when available if you can't wait and want to read them immediately.

• The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
• Roman Fever by Edith Wharton
• Xingu by Edith Wharton
• Chivalry by Neil Gaiman
• Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman (recommended by Nymeth at Things Mean A Lot).
• The Interlopers by Saki
• The Occasional Garden by Saki
• The Way Up to Heaven by Roald Dahl
• Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl
• The Man Who Loved Dickens by Evelyn Waugh
• The Faery Handbag by Kelly Link (from Magic for Beginners).  Another recommendation from Nymeth (read her review here).
  

 I'm always looking for suggestions -- any favorites in the blogosphere? Please let me know in the comments section.