Blessed Samhain...Happy Halloween!

Hope your day...and night...are safe and fun! 

I'd like to thank everyone for joining me for this year's Something Wicked Fall. If you're sad it's over, like me, don't worry. A new edition of the I Read Horror Year-Round reading challenge will start on January 1st, 2026. The sign-up, with categories and a new BINGO card, will be posted before the end of the year. Stay tuned! Also, the Spring into Horror Readathon is in April so plenty of horrific fun to go around. 

The Yuletide Spirit Reading Challenge and Readathon starts Thanksgiving week (U.S.) over at The Mystical Lantern and Seasons of Reading. There are plenty of Christmas ghost stories (and Christmas horror) that would be perfect for the challenge if you like things scary.

Until then, stop by this corner of the horror-verse anytime. I'm sure I will have some horror book and movie reviews to post every now and then.

Stay creepy!

Something Wicked Fall - My spooky season TBR

I've been meaning to share this since Something Wicked Fall began, but...September was a crazily speedy month! Anyway, in light of our FrightFall 24-Hour Opposite readathon tonight at 8:00 pm, here is my ridiculously ambitious spooky season TBR. Will I read all of them? Probably not, though I have finished a couple, so there is that. 

The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard 
The Sorrows, Jonathan Janz (currently listening)
Hell House, Richard Matheson (currently reading)
The Reckoning, Jeff Long (currently reading)
Merrick, Anne Rice
Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris

The Keep, F. Paul Wilson
The Wendigo, Algernon Blackwood
The Long Walk, Stephen King (reread)
The Running Man, Stephen King (reread)
Slewfoot, Brom
Children of Demeter, EV Knight
The Beast of Brenton Woods, Jackson R. Thomas
The Doll, Daphne Du Maurier
Hummingbird, T.C. Parker
The Toll, Cherie Priest
The Jersey Devil, Hunter Shea
Jack, Howley & Willcocks
The Root Witch, Debra Castaneda
Frankenstein: Prodigal Son, Dean Koontz

I'll be finishing The Reckoning starting off the FrightFall 24-Hour event and will pick up The Keep next.

You can still join us for the FrightFall Readathon which lasts through the end of October and/or join us for tonight's 24-Hour readathon. Sign up for FrightFall here. Full details on the 24-Hour event here.

I was hoping to share more scary in September, but...see my comment about September above. I'm planning a review of the film, Weapons. Also, tomorrow is the start of Banned Books Week 2025. I'll be doing a series of posts on my sister site, True Book Addict. However, since learning that Stephen King is the most banned author in schools (2024/2025 school year), I will probably include a feature here as well. Stay tuned!

What kind of scary have you been getting up to?

This post is a part of...

2025 Something Wicked Fall featuring a Hell House read-along + stories, movies, and more!

September 1st is officially fall AND spooky season here at Castle Macabre. Commence with all things scary! This is our 8th year and, as always, I'm excited to share the fun and the horror. 🎃

👺 Social Media - If you're on Facebook, we have a Seasons of Reading group and page, where we interact during readathons so I'll be sharing info there, and also on the Seasons of Reading Instagram, and in the Seasons of Reading Goodreads group. Castle Macabre also has a Facebook page and we're on Instagram here. Also, if you like Discord, join us on the Seasons of Reading Discord. There is a Something Wicked Fall channel if anyone is up for some live interaction. Here's the invite link: https://discord.com/invite/e6uAmXtGqA

👿 Richard Matheson's Hell House read-along. We will be reading the book for the entire two months.

Discussions will be held on this blog. The dates for discussions and the reading schedule are below.

My edition is the Quality Paperback Book Club, through St. Martin's Press (trade paperback) edition, published in 2006. This is an omnibus edition containing I Am Legend, several short stories, and Hell House. Hell House in this edition begins on page 9 and ends on page 301. (I will probably read the short stories too. If I do, I will share in a separate post.)

Read-Along Schedule

• Start reading the first section on September 1
  Chapters - December 18, 1970 - December 22, 1970, pp 9 - 117
  (Discussion post - September 21)
• Second section, September 22
  Chapter December 23, 1970, pp 119 - 213
  (Discussion post - October 12)
  
• Third Section, October 13
  Chapter December 24, 1970, pp 215 - 301 (end)
  (Discussion post - October 30)

💀 For the two months of Something Wicked Fall we focus on everything horror...Gothic (Best Gothic Books of All Time), Classics, Folk Horror (Goodreads Folk Horror List) and any other kind of horror (Best Horror Anthologies and Horror Collections - Single Author). This post will be the master post where we can post about what we're reading in the comments (or leave links) so be sure to bookmark it (I will also have Something Wicked Fall linked in the menu at the top of the blog).

👹 Horror movie/shows I'm a year-round horror girl so I watch an inordinate amount of horror movies and shows, and even more during spooky season, so I will be sharing my take on some of those, and will probably share a few book reviews as well. As always, I invite guest posts or reviews from anyone who would care to contribute. If interested, send me a message via the Contact Me button in the sidebar.

👻 #FrightFall Readathon, October all month long, at Seasons of Reading. Sign-up for the readathon will be open soon. Reader's Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) is going on right now as well. This year, they're doing a buddy read of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. I read it a few years back...it's really good.

🎃 In case you missed it last year, I created some printable Halloween bookmarks for you guys. If you would like to download them for printing, just click the image below.

I believe I've covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, or contact me via the contact form (click the image near the top of the sidebar) No official sign-up for this. Just share that you're in by leaving a comment. You can join in as little or as much as you want.

Stay Wicked!!

Happy 14th CM...and save the date for Something Wicked Fall 2025!

I'm passionate about horror, as anyone who knows me is aware. I had some years of segue into reading mostly historical fiction, but horror is once again at the forefront of my reading, and writing (I'm currently at work writing my first horror novel). So, I've gone back to my roots since horror was the genre I mainly read when I started reading adult fiction as a preteen. 

A big thank you to all the horror lovers out there, authors and readers alike! Also, thank you for following this little corner of the horror universe. It means more than you will ever know.

Here's to many more years of horror!

Save the date for our scary fall events. Something Wicked Fall, which runs through September and October, kicks off on September 1st. I will have the kick off post live with all the info, and the reading schedule for our read-along of Richard Matheson's Hell House that day (this is a reread for me and I'm excited because it's my favorite horror novel!). The FrightFall Readathon, hosted over at my readathon blog, Seasons of Reading starts on October 1st. Sign up for that event will be posted by mid-September. 

Check out the FrightFall event button. So excited for spooky season! I hope you will join us for all the fun!

2024 Something Wicked Fall featuring a Stephen King read-along + stories, movies, and more!

It's September 1st so it's officially fall here at Castle Macabre and spooky season starts NOW! I can't believe this is our 7th year...and we have a Friday the 13th in September this year. I might have some goodies for you on that auspicious date. 🎃 Update: Visit my Friday the 13th post here to grab the free gift I made for you!

Everything on the agenda is on the button above, but I'm going to share more details below. If you're on Facebook, we have a Seasons of Reading group and page, where we interact during readathons so I'll be sharing info there, and also on the Seasons of Reading Instagram, and in the Seasons of Reading Goodreads group. Castle Macabre also has a Facebook page and we're on Instagram here. Also, if you like Discord, join us on the Seasons of Reading Discord. There is a Something Wicked Fall channel if anyone is up for some live interaction. Here's the invite link: https://discord.com/invite/e6uAmXtGqA

👿 Stephen King's Fairy Tale read-along. We will be reading the book for the entire two months.

Discussions will be held on this blog. I will put a new post up the day after each reading section ends. We will read along according to the schedule below.

My edition is the Scribner (hardcover) edition, published in 2022. 599 pages.

Read-Along Schedule
September 1 - 14 - Ch. 1 - 9, pp 1 - 153 

(Discussion post September 15)
September 16 - 28 - Ch. 10 - 16, pp 155 - 295 

(Discussion post September 29)
Sept 30 - Oct 12 - Ch. 17 - 24, pp 297 - 450 

(Discussion post October 13)
October 14 - 26 - Ch 25 - Epilogue, pp 451 - 598 

(Discussion post October 31)

💀 For the two months of Something Wicked Fall we focus on everything horror...Gothic (Best Gothic Books of All Time), Classics, Folk Horror (Goodreads Folk Horror List) and any other kind of horror (Best Horror Anthologies and Horror Collections - Single Author). This post will be the master post where we can post about what we're reading in the comments (or leave links) so be sure to bookmark it (I will also have Something Wicked Fall linked in the menu at the top of the blog).

👹 Horror movie/shows I watch an inordinate amount of horror movies and shows during the season so I will be sharing my take on some of those, and will probably share a few book reviews as well. As always, I invite guest posts or reviews from anyone who cares to contribute. The more the merrier!

👻 #FrightFall Readathon, October all month long, at Seasons of Reading. Sign-up for the readathon will be open soon. Reader's Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) is going on right now as well.

I believe I've covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, or contact me via the contact form (click the image near the top of the sidebar) No official sign-up for this. Just share that you're in by leaving a comment. You can join in as little or as much as you want.

Stay Wicked!!

  

Castle Macabre is 13 today...and update on Something Wicked Fall

I have always been a horror reader, but around the time of this blog's inception, I was reading more historical fiction than anything else. A lot has changed since then and horror has once again become the forefront of my reading passion. Back to my roots, I would say...since horror was the genre I mainly read when I started reading adult fiction as a preteen. I also write horror and I'm currently working on my first horror novel. 

Anyway, A big thank you to everyone who follows/reads the blog, and to those who participate in events and reading challenges. Here's to many more years of horror!

Update on Something Wicked Fall

The votes were counted and our Stephen King read-along winner was Fairy Tale. I'll have the reading schedule for you in the kickoff post on September 1st. Here's the updated event graphic...

Save the date for the FrightFall Readathon in October at Seasons of Reading...

Save the date...and a poll for our scary fall events

Save the date for our scary fall events. Something Wicked Fall, which runs through September and October, kicks off on September 1st. We will be having another Stephen King read-along and you get to vote for your choice. Just click this link when you're ready to vote: https://forms.gle/u8Pcb2QMEsk83LGK8 

Please only vote for one title. Voting is anonymous, but feel free to share what you voted for in the comments below.

I will have the post live with all the info, and the reading schedule for our TBD read-along on the kickoff date. The FrightFall Readathon, hosted over at my readathon blog, Seasons of Reading starts on October 1st. Sign-up for that event will be posted before mid-September on the Seasons of Reading blog.

Check out the preliminary event button for Something Wicked Fall below. I hope you will join us!

Something Wicked Fall 2023 featuring an If It Bleeds read-along...stories, movies, and more!

Year six! It's September 1st so it's officially fall here at Castle Macabre and spooky season starts NOW!

Everything on the agenda is on the button above, but I'm going to share more details below. If you're on Facebook, we have a Seasons of Reading group and page, where we interact during readathons so I'll be sharing info there, and also on the Seasons of Reading Instagram, and in the Seasons of Reading Goodreads group. Castle Macabre also has a Facebook page and we're on Instagram here. Also, if you like Discord, join us on the Seasons of Reading Discord. There is a Something Wicked Fall channel if anyone is up for some live interaction. Here's the invite link: https://discord.com/invite/e6uAmXtGqA

😈 Stephen King's If It Bleeds read-along. We will be reading the book for the entire two months.

Discussions will be held on this blog. I will put a new post up the day after each reading section ends. We will read along according to the schedule below.

My edition is the Scribner (hardcover) edition, published 2020. 436 pages.

Read-Along Schedule

• September 1 - 15 - Mr. Harrigan's Phone (Discussion post Sept 16)
• September 16 - 30 - The Life of Chuck (Discussion post Oct 1)
• October 1 - 15 - If It Bleeds (Discussion post Oct 16)
• October 16 - 31 - Rat (Discussion post Nov 1)

💀 In September, we're focusing on Gothic stories (Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and others). There's a great list on Goodreads for reference, Best Gothic Books of All Time. I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this. 

🎃 In October, we're focusing on horror stories. There are a couple of great lists on Goodreads for reference...Best Horror Anthologies and Horror Collections (Single Author). I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this either.

The above are not steadfast rules. Read what horror you want, when you want. Just a guideline on what we will be focusing on here. 

There will be master posts for both of the above for you to stop by and share your thoughts on what you read in the comments. Look for the tabs in the menu bar above.

👹 Horror movie/shows I watch an inordinate amount of horror movies and shows during the season so I will be sharing my take on some of those, and will probably share a few book reviews as well. As always, I invite guest posts or reviews from anyone who cares to contribute. The more the merrier! 

👻 #FrightFall Readathon, October all month long, at Seasons of Reading. Sign ups for the readathon will be open soon. Reader's Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) is going on right now as well.

I believe I've covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, or contact me via the contact form (click the image near the top of the sidebar) No official sign-up for this. Just share that you're in by leaving a comment. You can join in as little or as much as you want.

#SomethingWickedFall 2022 featuring The Devil in Silver Read-Along...plus, stories, movies, and more!

Here we are at year five! I don't know about anyone else, but here at Castle Macabre, spooky season starts TODAY! Keep reading for all the wicked fun!

Everything on the agenda is on the button above, but I'm going to share more details below. If you're on Facebook, we have a Seasons of Reading group and page, where we interact during readathons so I'll be sharing info there, and also on the Seasons of Reading Instagram, and in our Seasons of Reading Goodreads group. Castle Macabre also has a Facebook page. Forgot to mention...we have a Seasons of Reading Discord. I will create a Something Wicked Fall channel if anyone is up for some live interaction. Here's the invite link: https://discord.com/invite/e6uAmXtGqA

😈 Victor LaValle's The Devil in Silver read-along. We will be reading the book for the entire two months. My mom borrowed it a couple of years ago, and said it was really good. Time to mark it off the TBR!

Discussions will be held on this blog. I will put a new post up every two weeks on Sunday. We will read along according to the schedule below.

My edition is the Spiegel & Grau (hardcover) edition, published 2012. 412 pages.

Read-Along Schedule

• Week One (start Sept 1): Ch 1 - 4, pp 3 -48
• Week Two (week of Sept 12): Ch 5 - 11, pp 49 - 101
  Discussion post over weeks one and two - Sunday, September 18
• Week Three (week of Sept 19): Ch 12 - 15, pp 102 - 153
• Week Four (week of Sept 26): Ch 16 - 20, pp 154 - 203
  Discussion post over weeks three and four - Sunday, October 2
• Week Five (week of Oct 3): Ch 21 - 28, pp 204 - 251
• Week Six (week of Oct 10): Ch 29 - 33, pp 252 - 299
  Discussion post over weeks five and six - Sunday, October 16
• Week Seven (week of Oct 17): Ch 34 - 37, pp 303 - 351
• Week Eight (week of Oct 24): Ch 38 - Author's Note, pp 352 - 412 (end)
  Discussion post over weeks seven and eight - Sunday, October 30

💀 In September, we're focusing on Gothic stories (Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and others). There's a great list on Goodreads for reference, Best Gothic Books of All Time. I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this. I'll create a master post and you can stop by and share what you read, and your thoughts, in the comments of that post.

🎃 In October, we're focusing on horror stories. There are a couple of great lists on Goodreads for reference...Best Horror Anthologies and Horror Collections (Single Author). I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this either. I'll create another master post and you can stop by and share what you read, and your thoughts, in the comments of that post. 

👹 Horror movie/shows I watch an inordinate amount of horror movies and shows during the season so I will be sharing my take on some of those, and will probably share a few book reviews as well. As always, I invite guest posts or reviews from anyone who cares to contribute. The more the merrier! 

👻 #FrightFall Readathon, October all month long, at Seasons of Reading. Sign ups for the readathon will be open soon. Reader's Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) is going on right now as well.

I believe I've covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, or contact me via the contact form (click the image near the top of the sidebar) No official sign-up for this. Just share that you're in by leaving a comment. You can join in as little or as much as you want.

If you have already read this post (or if you haven't), I'm adding an addendum, as I forgot to mention Countdown to Halloween! It's an annual event hosted by my friend Michelle aka Naila Moon. You can check out all the details here, and grab a badge if you'd like to participate. 

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#SomethingWickedFall featuring The Blood Countess Read-Along...plus Gothic and Horror stories

Year four! Can't hardly believe it! Read on for all the wicked fun!

Everything on the agenda is on the button above, but I'm going to share more details below. If you're on Facebook, we have a Seasons of Reading group and page, where we interact during readathons so I'll be sharing info there, and also on the Seasons of Reading Instagram, and in our Seasons of Reading Goodreads group. Castle Macabre also has a Facebook page.

💀 Andrei Condrescu's The Blood Countess read-along. We will be reading the book for the entire two months (excluding the week of October 10 - 17 when I will be on my trip...see below). This is another one I've had on my TBR for a LONG time.

Discussions will be held on this blog. I will put a new post up every two weeks on Sunday, with the exception of Sunday, October 10th and October 17th (I am going to Salem, Massachusetts for my birthday week this year...beyond excited!). The final discussion will not be on Halloween, which is on Sunday this year. I will post the final discussion on Monday, November 1st. We will read along according to the schedule below.

My edition is the Simon and Schuster edition, published 1995. 347 pages. 

Read-Along Schedule

• Week One (start Sept 1): pp. 7 (Prefatory Note) - 42
• Week Two (week of Sept 6): pp. 43 - 89
  Discussion post over weeks one and two - Sunday, September 12
• Week Three (week of Sept 13): pp. 89 - 128
• Week Four (week of Sept 20): pp. 128 - 167
  Discussion post over weeks three and four - Sunday, September 26
• Week Five (week of Sept 27): pp. 167 - 214
• Week Six (week of Oct 4): pp. 214 - 258
  Discussion post over weeks five and six - Sunday, October 24
• Week Seven (week of Oct 18): pp. 258 - 301
• Week Eight (week of Oct 25): pp. 301 - 347 (end)
  Discussion post over weeks seven and eight - Monday, November 1

Note on the schedule: This book does not have any clear chapter numbers, but there are clear breaks in the text at certain points. On sections of the schedule where one week ends on a certain page, and the next week starts on that same page, look for the clear page breaks. Hope this helps.

👻 In September, we're focusing on Gothic stories (Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, and others). There's a great list on Goodreads for reference, Best Gothic Books of All Time. I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this. I'll create a master post and you can stop by and share what you read, and your thoughts, in the comments of that post.

👿 In October, we're focusing on horror stories. There are a couple of great lists on Goodreads for reference...Best Horror Anthologies and Horror Collections (Single Author). I'm not going to set up any read-alongs for this either. I'll create another master post and you can stop by and share what you read, and your thoughts, in the comments of that post.

👹 We're going to have one or two horror movie watch-alongs! I'm thinking Malignant, which premieres on HBO Max on September 10th. We wouldn't necessarily have to watch it on release day. Let me know what you think in the comments. 

 

Any suggestions? Leave me a comment. Since not everyone is on the same social media platforms these days, I have a Seasons of Reading Slack group (I use it for my online book group and it's so much better than Twitter chats) for our watch-alongs. Slack is free so you don't have to worry about that. Stay tuned!

🎃 #FrightFall Readathon, October all month long, at Seasons of Reading. Sign ups for the readathon will be open soon. Reader's Imbibing Peril (R.I.P.) is going on right now as well, and there will be Dewey's 24-Hour Readathon in October too.

😈 I'm hoping to get some of my horror author friends to contribute some guest posts. If anyone else would like to contribute a post or guest review, please let me know. You can send me a message via the contact form here on the site.

I believe I've covered everything. If you have any questions, feel free to comment, or contact me via the contact form (click the image near the top of the sidebar) No official sign-up for this. Just share that you're in by leaving a comment. You can join in as little or as much as you want. 

Get new posts by email:

Happy Blog Birthday, Castle Macabre and Save the Date! #SomethingWickedFall

One day late, but yesterday was the anniversary of 10 years of blogging here at Castle Macabre. Wow! Ten years of horror goodness. I've so enjoyed this journey, and the branch off from my founding/sister blog, True Book Addict. It has been great getting know those who are just as passionate about horror as I am. Here's to many more years of all things murder and mayhem. Long live horror! 💀👹👿

Save the date! Coming up September/October is our FOURTH year for Something Wicked Fall AND, as always, we have the annual FrightFall Readathon all month long in October. SO excited! Stay tuned for the official event post for Something Wicked Fall by the end of the month, along with the read-along schedule for The Blood Countess. The FrightFall sign-up will be posted at Seasons of Reading in September. 

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An update (of sorts) on The Woman in White and #SomethingWickedFall

Yeah, so this event has not been going as planned. As many of you know, I moved from Tennessee to Michigan in August. It was a big move and not a fun one. Also, my grandfather passed away in September. My sister, my nieces and I traveled to Tennessee last week for the funeral. Needless to say, it has been a hard couple of months. My reading is suffering, as I'm still trying to get this house in order. Those who have moved house know the difficulties of continuing to work while unpacking/arranging. It's hard enough without a death in the family, and then trying to unpack and shelve 3000+ books. 

Anyway, I have not made it very far into The Woman in White. I'm on page 157 which is WAY behind the read-along schedule. You know what though? I'm giving myself a pass and that means you get one too, if you're also behind. 

My thoughts so far...

This is a beautifully written book. Collins definitely had a way with words. It's also a bit slow though I am enjoying it to a certain extent. I'm intrigued by what the story of the woman in white is going to turn out to be. I know I don't trust Sir Percival because the dog didn't like him. That's always a true sign. lol Also, wondering what's going on with Mr. Hartright, in light of his disheveled and downtrodden appearance when encountered by Vincent Gilmore. 

I will keep plugging away and hopefully will finish by the end of the month. Let me know your thoughts, if you're still reading, and how far along you are in the comments.

Gothic Stories in September 

Unfortunately, I didn't get around to any Gothic short stories in September, but plan to try to read a few in October. The three books we are reading for my TrueBookTalk book group (on Goodreads) would be considered Gothic so I will probably share thoughts on those as I finish. I'll keep the Gothic stories master post tab open in the menu for continued thoughts through the end of the event.

Horror Stories in October

I will create a horror stories master post and put the link in the menu for any thoughts you would like to share on what you're reading. I'm hoping to get to at least some of the stories in Stephen King's 

Bazaar of Bad Dreams.

REMINDER

Our first of three movie watch-alongs is tonight. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein at 9:00 pm ET. Visit the schedule post here for the Slack invite link. We discuss there while we're watching. The movie can be watched for free on Amazon Prime Video (if you're a Prime member) or on Pluto (which is completely free, but may have commercials). 

That's it for now. As always, thank you for bearing with me and Happy October!