Gothic September - Edgar Allan Poe #GothicSept #Poe (and more upcoming events)

Gothic September is here...and that means fall is just around the corner! One of my most favorite times of year! It has become a tradition for us to read Poe during this month and so that is what we're doing again. The stories and schedules are listed below.

Week One - Berenice: A Tale
Week Two - William Wilson: A Tale
Week Three - The Imp of the Perverse
Week Four - A Descent into the Maelstrom

Discussion for each story will go up by the weekend at the end of each week on this blog.

More upcoming events this fall here at Castle Macabre, over at Seasons of Reading and at Gather Together and Read!

In October, Season of the Witch is back. We will be reading stories about witches by Algernon Blackwod, George Brewer (a short novel) and Shirley Jackson. I will post the reading schedule and more specific details in the starting post on the first of October.

The Witch by Shirley Jackson,
Ancient Sorceries by Algernon Blackwood - You can get a Kindle copy of Blackwood's Complete Works on Amazon for 99 cents. The Blackwood Stories site is back up! You can download a PDF copy of the story, or any of Blackwood's stories, at their site here.
The Witch of Ravensworth by George Brewer for Kindle on Amazon $2.99

The FrightFall Readathon is back and I've made it a month long event! Sign up is open now so head over and add your name. Would love to have you join us!

Everyone knows I'm a huge Anne Rice fan (my favorite author) and she has written a sequel (with her son, Christopher Rice) to one of my favorites of her books, The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned. The new book is titled Ramses the Damned: The Passion of Cleopatra. So, I've decided to host a read-along of the first book (October) in honor of the sequel's release in November. This will be a reread for me and frankly, I'm pretty excited. Rereading a favorite is always fun! Check out the announcement post and express your interest HERE.

That's it! Let's get the fall fun under way!

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children #Read-Along - Final discussion and thoughts on the film #MissPeregrines

First, let me apologize for the delay in posting this. I had thought to finish the book before seeing the film (I was at the final chapters), but it didn't quite work out that way. Also, my sons are on Fall break so I've been busy getting things done around here (that requires their brute strength. lol) and spending time with them.

So, what a magical book, right? I really enjoyed this final part of the book where we finally learn the truth of Jacob's gift...he can see the Hollows! Not sure I would want that gift though. Yuck.

This book is unique because of the photographs. I really liked that aspect because it gives us a point of reference to what some of the children looked like, and it added to the vintage Gothic feel of the book. I think the photographs also evoked a World War II feel.

I liked the incorporation of the Nazis at the end. Makes sense that they would be involved with the nefarious doings of the Wight. This aspect, to me, gives the book a slant of morality. The correlation between the pursuit and persecution of the peculiar children with the pursuit and persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazis...clever.

Which brings me to the film. There is no part of the above in the film. Not sure why. Maybe because of the current state of things with race relations, etc. in our country and the world. Actually, the movie really is quite different from the book. Tim Burton changed a lot and I found myself wondering if that was truly necessary. Don't get me wrong...the film is pretty good...but the book is better. Who didn't know I would say that? He even flip flopped characters, giving Emma Olive's power of floating and Olive had the power of fire from her hands. Why?

Again, the film was enjoyable enough and definitely worth seeing for the visual elements alone. Also, Asa Butterfield was great as Jacob and Ella Purnell was ethereal as Emma. Of course, Eva Green was fantastic, as she is in pretty much everything she's in.

Definitely see it if you enjoyed the book, keeping in mind that the book is (almost) always better.

Thanks to everyone who read along with me.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - #GothicSept Read-Along Discussion 2 #MissPeregrines

I apologize for the lateness of this post. I ran into some dental and health issues in the past two weeks and it has seriously slowed down my reading.

I hope you're enjoying the book as much as I am. In week two's section, we finally get into the meat of the story and we get our first glimpses of the peculiar children. Aren't they amazing!? Which is your favorite? I'm kind of fond of the dapper Horace.

Miss Peregrine is an odd bird. HaHa...see what I did there? As she was explaining the time loop, I found myself having problems following. This often happens to me with time travel type stories. It's just kind of confusing. How weird would it be to always be on that one day?

Since this is Gothic September, I want to touch on some of the Gothic elements we've encountered so far.

Setting in lonely or remote places

Cairnholm Island is an isolated, remote place. There is only one phone on the entire island and the electricity comes from generators instead of power lines and the electricity is shut off at 10pm each night. Can you imagine that? I can't, although reading into the wee hours by lamp or candle light might be nice.

In addition, Miss Peregrine's house is also very isolated. Its location outside the edge of town, past a steep ridge, and through a bog and forest make it an extremely remote place indeed. In its abandoned state, it certainly could be referred to as lonely.

An atmosphere of mystery and suspense

Perhaps the mystery and suspense truly begins with the last words of Abraham Portman, and what they mean for Jacob.

“‘Find the bird. In the loop. On the other side of the old man’s grave. September third, 1940.’ I nodded, but he could see that I didn’t understand. With his last bit of strength, he added, ‘Emerson - the letter. Tell them what happened, Yakob.’” - pg. 37

Once Jacob gets to the island, there is the mystery of the abandoned house, and then the suspense of Jacob chasing Emma through the Loop, then Jacob being chased by the men in the town. The next mystery comes up with the killing of the sheep. Who did it? I couldn't help but think about the creature that killed Abraham. 

What are your thoughts about this week's section?

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - #GothicSept Read-Along Discussion One #MissPeregrines

Welcome to the first discussion! So, what did you think of our first section, through the end of Chapter 4? I'll share my thoughts and then you can join in on the discussion in the comments, or leave the link to your blog post.

There is a handy reading guide with discussion questions here at LitLovers. You can refer to some of the questions to help with discussion points, if you like. I may use a few of them myself.

DISCUSSION

Favorite quote in the first section:

"I told him I had another statement to make and then held up my middle finger and walked out."

I love how Jacob (Jake) doesn't quite fit in and has such a mind of his own. I feel like this is what his grandfather saw in him, and why he felt he was the one to share his stories and secrets with. As Jacob "grew out" of his grandfather's stories, I still think deep down that he truly believed. Otherwise, how could he have so easily suspended disbelief when he encountered his fatally wounded grandfather and the creature responsible. Many would have just chalked it up to hallucination, or a stress response...which is exactly what the adults classified his behavior and testimony of events to be.

Cairnholm Island seems a magical place in and of itself, not withstanding the "peculiar" or "magical" children who are purported to have lived there. It's like stepping back in time with the kerosene lamps after 10pm and the one telephone on the island. I think I would like to visit a place like that. Talk about being "unplugged."

So, Jake is determined to go back to the old house and investigate further. I'm looking forward to reading the next section to find out what's coming. So far, I am really enjoying the book. I can't believe I waited this long to read it!

Final note: I'm loving the photographs scattered throughout. I think they really add to the atmosphere of the novel. What do you think?

Gothic September/Season of the Witch - Read-Along Info/Schedules #MissPeregrines #Poe #Lovecraft

Gothic September is just around the corner! Can't wait to get started reading Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. Below is the reading and discussion schedule. On discussion days, I will do a general post of my thoughts and you can post yours in the comments, or on your blog and post the link in the comments, or you can do both. It's all casual.

Here's the schedule...

September 1st - Start Reading - through the end of Chapter 4 (page 103)
September 9th - stop by here for a discussion over the first section
September 9th - start reading section 2 - Chapter 5 through the end of Chapter 7 (page 206)
September 16th - section 2 discussion
September 16th - start reading section 3 - Chapter 8 through the end of Chapter 9 (page 268)
September 23 - section 3 discussion
September 23 - start reading section 4 - Chapter 10 through end of book (page 382)
September 30 - final discussion (section 4/book as a whole)

Note: My edition of the book - trade paperback, 382 pages
This post will be linked to the event button in the sidebar.

In addtion to the read-along, I'm hoping to share a little bit of Gothic all month so if you happen to be reading other Gothic literature (or poems) and would like to do a guest review, or write a guest post, let me know. Would love to have you!

Season of the Witch is going on here in October for the scariest month of the year. I'll be hosting read-alongs of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft stories each week.

Here's what we're reading:

Week One - The Mask of the Red Death, Poe - Discussion on October 7/8
Week Two - The Dunwich Horror, Lovecraft - Discussion on October  14/15
Week Three - The Pit and the Pendulum, Poe - Discussion on October 21/22
Week Four - The Dreams in the Witch-House, Lovecraft - Discussion on October 28/29

Note: I will post a reminder closer to October and share the schedule again.

I'm hoping to share the scary all month long so I'm looking for guest reviews on scary reads, and/or guest posts on favorite spooky topics. Get in touch!

It's going to be a frightfully awesome Autumn! Don't forget, the FrightFall Read-a-Thon will be going on the first week in October over at Seasons of Reading.

Upcoming Fall Events - Gothic September and Season of the Witch in October

Fall is just around the corner and it's time again for two of my favorite events of the year.

Next month is Gothic September and I'm hosting a read-along of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I've been wanting to read the book for some time and with the film coming out at the end of September, I thought it was the perfect time. Yet I wondered if the book could truly be considered Gothic (I think so). I found this article which confirmed my thoughts.

So, mark your calendars. Leave a comment if you think you might want to participate, and I'll post the reading schedule on the first of September.

October is my annual event, Season of the Witch. This year, I'm going to host some short read-alongs of Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft short stories. I will announce which stories later in September to get ready for October.

I would love to have some guests during either event, so if you like Gothic or spooky, feel free to contact me via the contact tab. Would love some guest posts or guest reviews.

Can't wait for...

Edgar Allan Poe - The Fall of the House of Usher - Discussion

I'm quite behind with this final Gothic September read-a-long discussion. The month got away from me.

So, I finished reading last night and I was struck by how much I confused this story with some other story...I'm not even sure which. It's my pesky Vincent Price obsession again. I think he had starred in another movie that I thought was this, besides starring in the actual production of the Fall of the House of Usher film, which I watched last night as well.

I enjoyed this story, but I have to admit that I actually liked Ligeia best out of all three stories read for this event. Poe is a genius, as always, evoking a gloomy and Gothic atmosphere and a sense of something hidden beneath the surface of what shows in the daylight.

In the book version, the narrator is an old friend of Usher's from school and he visits to find his old friend in a not so healthy state, along with his twin sister. In the movie version, the narrator (or main character) is an acquaintance of Madeline, Usher's sister. He is intent on taking her from the house with the big crack in the facade (weird), saving her from her fate. It seems that the Ushers' health is directly tied to the health of the house, and as the house decays, so do they. At least, that was my observation.

***********Spoiler Alert**************
************************************
************************************

So, in both versions, things escalate and someone is buried alive (you can probably guess who). In the book version, entirely by accident. In the movie, not so much. In both cases, revenge ensues and at end, we are treated to the "Fall of the House of Usher"...hence the name. 

I have really enjoyed reading these Poe tales and I plan to continue sharing some of his works during Season of the Witch this month. I hope you will visit and perhaps join us for The Bell Witch read-a-long.

I'm also hosting a read-a-long of Stephen King's Salem's Lot at my Stephen King challenge blog. Feel free to join in.

And don't forget about the FrightFall Read-a-Thon coming up next week!

October is here!!!

Also read for (and movie watched for)...

Edgar Allan Poe - The Cask of Amontillado - Discussion

This is a short one, but really no less profound. Funny how Poe understood human nature. Obviously, as we learn very early in the story, Montresor has been wronged by Fortunado, but how was he wronged? Was it a wrong hearkened to being continually cut off in traffic, or was it more of a constant injury of pride? We shall never know. But, as I said, Poe knew human nature, and knew it wouldn't be hard for the reader to believe this revenge plot, which really is a brilliant one.

So, as usual, I did my Google searches and came across some tidbits. Of course, I must touch on the Vincent Price version of the story. This story is portrayed along with two other tales (Morella, one of my favorites, and The Case of M. Valdemar) in a 1962 film titled, Tales of Terror. Amontillado in this film is actually told as a kind of mash up with another story and is titled The Black Cat. I remember this one well and I kind of liked this variation on the story, although it's a bit more comical.

I then came across this YouTube video of the story, kind of a short film. It's pretty good and I swear I think that's John Heard portraying Montresor, but I'm not sure. The video is poor quality, but I embedded it below, in case your might want to watch. I enjoyed it nonetheless. (My goodness, the way Montresor mocks Fortunado by making those screaming sounds...quite made me shudder)



Shmoop had some interesting discussion questions. I'll paste them below and then attempt to answer them as to my own thoughts. Feel free to do so as well in the comments, if you like.

1. What if Montresor is a woman? Most people assume Montresor is a man. Why? Would it change the way you think about the story if Montresor is a woman?
2. What kind of clown is Fortunato? We see lots of scary clowns in the movies and in books. Is Fortunato a scary clown? If so, what is scary about him? If not, why?
3. How do you feel when you read "The Cask"? Claustrophobic? Tired? Something else? What about the story makes you feel this way?
4. Could Fortunato narrate this story? Why, or why not? Make an argument for both sides of this debate.

If Montresor was a woman, I think it would be pretty kick ass. I, for one, think a woman would be quite adept at devising this kind of plot. Men, even enemies, seem to revert to good ole boy buddies when they're drinking and seem to temporarily forget past wrongs. The only thing that Montresor being a woman would change my thinking about the story is I would believe that Fortunado had wronged her by corrupting her innocence, or something to that effect.

I think Fortunado is portrayed as dressed up as a clown as a symbolism of his clown-like nature. What I'm thinking of is the person who is always clowning around and insulting people, thinly disguised as joking around. You know the type of person I'm talking about. I don't find him scary at all (well, unless was dressed as a circus clown. Yes, I have a phobia of those kinds of clowns).

I feel a bit bothered because I don't know how someone could kill another human being. And then I wonder what could Fortunado have done to Montresor to make him kill him in this way. And claustrophobic...yes! Who would ever want to be walled up alive. Ack! 

I suppose it would be interesting for Fortunado to narrate since he really has no idea how much Montresor hates him and so it would be equally suspenseful, perhaps more. Feeling the horror of being walled up from his point of view would be pretty creepy. Also, we might get some insight into how Fortunado really feels about Montresor. He might say, in his narrative, "Montresor is such a prat. He knows nothing about good Amontillado." And so we would get a glimpse of why Montresor can't stand him. 

I hope you will share your thoughts in the comments, or leave a link to your blog post.

Looking forward to next week and The Fall of the House of Usher!

Another story under my belt for R.I.P. X!

Edgar Allan Poe - Ligeia - Discussion

So, who else envisions Vincent Price as the male protagonist and hears Price's voice as the narrator? I can't help it! Every time I read Poe stories, I picture and hear Vincent Price. I guess it's because my earliest exposure to Poe's works were indeed from Price's movies. And I still love them to this day.

This was an interesting story. I don't think I've read it previously. And I was thinking that it was never made into a film because I don't remember seeing it. Wrong! As I did my Google search, I came across The Tomb of Ligeia, starring (guess who?) Vincent Price. It was a 1964 film. The IMDB description: "A man's obsession with his dead wife drives a wedge between him and his new bride." Even better, here's what the movie poster said, "Even on her wedding night, she must share the man she loved with the 'female thing' that lived in the tomb of the cat." Sounds good! I'm going to see if my library has it, or maybe I'll just buy it. I've found that I like owning Vincent Price films. The House of Wax still creeps me out to this day. (Addendum: Turns out there is a more recent film based on this story that I have seen. It was pretty good, as horror films go. Now that I know it's based on this story, I will have to watch it again. I do remember, upon reading the synopsis, that it does veer off from the original story quite a bit. 2009 film, The Tomb)

I found some discussion questions online that I thought might help facilitate our discussion. Feel free to answer them in the comments, or if you feel like sharing your thoughts without answering the questions, be my guest.

1) "Ligeia" is an evocative name. What does it suggest?
2) What effect does the notion that the narrator does not know the paternal name of his wife
have on us?
3) Ligeia's eyes are so prominent, so compelling. Why?
4) What does the poem about the conqueror worm have to do with her character / the story?
5) What does the Lady Rowena have in common with Ligeia? How?

My thoughts on the questions, etc...

I wasn't sure of the name of Ligeia and what it suggests so I did a search of its meaning: Derived from Greek λιγυς (ligys) meaning "clear-voiced, shrill, whistling". This was the name of one of the Sirens in Greek legend. This gave me an interesting thought. Ligeia in the story is a siren and she has the narrator firmly under her spell, even after death. I believe that she used her powers to cause him to poison Rowena and he was so firmly under her spell (and high on opium) that he didn't realize that he indeed killed her. 

I'm not even sure why #2 is relevant. I did not find myself asking why we did not learn, nor does the narrator know, Ligeia's paternal name. What about you? Do you find that strange? I'm thinking perhaps, going back to the siren idea, that she is actually a daughter of a god (like the Greek gods, for instance).

When I came to this question, I went back and read about her eyes again. It seems to me that the narrator is most compelled by her eyes. Perhaps her eyes are where her siren powers actually derive, or perhaps it's the old adage for him, "The eyes are the window to the soul"? The issue with the eyes also makes me think of her as a divine being, such as an angel. Which would also tie into the poem in the story, The Conqueror Worm.

This question got me thinking. The audience watching the play in The Conqueror Worm are angels, and so are immortal beings, and the players (mimes) on stage represent the human race. The worm then is death, devouring the humans and the audience (angels) are forced to watch this play out over and over in their immortality. And yet she laments to God in the passage directly after the poem about mortality (at least that's what I got from it) so perhaps she decides then and there that she will not give into to death. She will resist it with her sheer will and so she decides to get rid of Rowena and take over her body and life. There really could be so many interpretations here!

One similarity I noticed is that the narrator does not know or remember where or how he met Ligeia and again the same with Rowena. He isn’t sure how it happened that the family of the bride allowed their daughter to marry him. Another similarity is that both Ligeia and Rowena take ill and die. So perhaps, in the long run, the narrator is psychotic and is, in fact, a wife murderer. Food for thought.

I really enjoyed this story. I'm going to watch some movies based on it, as I mentioned above. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on it.

Next up we have The Cask of Amontillado. Watch for the discussion post next week.

I forgot to add that this counts for R.I.P. X

Gothic September Is Here! #GothicSept

Today is the official kick-off of Gothic September here at Castle Macabre! This year, I'm featuring read-a-longs of three Edgar Allan Poe short stories.

Here are the stories and discussion schedule:

Ligeia 

Week of Sept. 7 - 13

The Cask of Amontillado 

Week of Sept. 14 - 20 

The Fall of the House of Usher 

Week of Sept. 21 - 27

*The schedule can also be found in the sidebar*

So, start reading Ligeia and next week, on Monday, I will put up a discussion post. Stop by at your leisure all week to discuss. I will follow this model for all three stories. (Each week's discussion post will be a sticky post.)

What else is going on this month? I'm hoping to post more about Edgar Allan Poe and his poems. If you're reading anything Gothic this month, I'd love for you to do a guest review. Just let me know if you'd like to share anything at all Gothic related this month. You can be my guest! 

The blogoversary giveaway is still going on at the announcement post so be sure to check it out. 

Happy (Gothic) September!

Announcing Gothic September and I missed my four year blogoversary!

BLOGOVERSARY WINNER - RACHELLE!

That's right, folks. This humble little horror arena turned four on August 15th. Where does the time go? I thought I would mark the occasion by announcing Gothic September! This year, I'm doing all Edgar Allan Poe. Specifically, there will be read-a-longs of his short stories, Ligeia, The Cask of Amontillado and The Fall of the House of Usher. I will also share some of his poetry and other tidbits throughout the month. I'm hoping I will get some people willing to guest post too. You will find the read-a-long discussion schedule after I tell you about the giveaway...

Why, yes...a giveaway! My sister site, True Book Addict also celebrated a blogoversary in August. As of August 5th, True Book Addict has been online for SIX YEARS! Wow! So, this will be a dual giveaway between both blogs. Here's how it will work. If you comment here on this post (either telling me you'll be joining in for Gothic September and/or the read-a-longs, or just to tell me how much you love Poe) and on this post at True Book Addict, you will get two entries into the giveaway.

What's the prize? You will have the chance to win a $10 digital Amazon gift card OR $10 worth of books from the Bargain Bin at Better World Books (these are gently used books and let me tell you...I love the site. You can get 3 books for $10 from the bargain bin! I order from them all the time and purchases benefit literary causes around the world. Check them out!).

To enter, as I mentioned above, comment on this post AND on this post at True Book Addict and then fill out the form below with the name you used to comment. You only have to fill out the form once so if you fill it out here, don't fill it out again at True Book Addict. This giveaway will end on September 10, 2015 at 11:59pm CST. Open internationally.

Thanks for entering, in advance for joining me for Gothic September (if you plan to) and for being a loyal follower/reader of this blog.




The read-a-long discussion schedule is as follows. I will put the post up for the full week to enable plenty of time for people to stop by and discuss. I'll also post the schedule in the sidebar.

Ligeia
Week of Sept. 7 - 13
The Cask of Amontillado
Week of Sept. 14 - 20
The Fall of the House of Usher
Week of Sept. 21 - 27

It's the Season of the Witch...Plus, Read-a-Long Update and Announcing a New Read-a-Long!

One of my favorite times of year is here! And this is the third year of Season of the Witch here at Castle Macabre. I'm looking for contributors this month, as I've learned from my fail with Gothic September that I just don't have time to come up with all the content myself. So, if you're interested in contributing a scary book or movie review, or just want to write something about what you love during this time of the year, please email me at truebookaddict (AT) gmail (DOT) com  I would really, really, really love to have you!

Next up is an update on The House of Seven Gables read-a-long and scroll down for the exciting new read-a-long announcement!

Update on The House of Seven Gables Read-a-Long - I am so sorry that I did not stay up-to-date on the read-a-long. I had a hell of a September with work and all so barely had time to read anything. And then when I did pick up this book, I just had so much trouble getting into it. So, I'm still reading and hoping to finish by this weekend so I can post a final update. Thank you to Carol who stuck with it...and to anyone else who did.

The Vampire Armand Read-a-Long! What could be better than reading an Anne Rice novel in the Fall!? And since I have not made it through the entire Vampire Chronicles yet so I won't be reading Prince Lestat like everyone else this Fall, I thought I would live with them vicariously by progressing to the book I was at when I last visited the series. Anyone game? I'm hosting this in conjunction with my Never-Ending Anne Rice Challenge which I launched in August. You can check it out on its dedicated site here.

I've made this one a bit longer than a month in hopes that the longer time period will be easier for me to manage. Reading will follow the schedule below (subject to change)...start reading on October 10:

Read Part I: Chapters 1 - 7 
Discussion will be around Friday, October 24

Read Chapters 8 - 15
Discussion will be around Friday, November 7

Read Part II: Chapters 16 - End
Discussion will be on Friday, November 21


Who's with me?