#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. 

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Ronald Malfi's Come With Me - Review

The first time I read a Malfi book was 2015. Six years later, I can safely say that he has become one of my favorite authors. Horror has always been one of my favorite genres, but in the past so many years, it has moved to the forefront of my favorites. That's largely due to authors like Malfi. They know what scares us and they leave us wanting more. 

I never go into a plot rehash (I HATE spoilers), so let me just say there's a sudden death, some buried secrets, ghostly happenings, and a serial killer. Not only do we get scares from this book, we get a good old-fashioned mystery to boot. That's part of the thrill here. Trying to figure it out as we follow Aaron on his journey through the evidence, and to the past. As always, there's creepiness. It wouldn't be Malfi without it. I can only describe it as the willies. Every one of his books has affected me in such a way...in a good way. Anyone who loves horror will get it.

Honestly, I can't wait for his next one. I'm also working on reading his backlist (just a few to go), and planning a reread (listen) of Bone White, which is my favorite. Seriously, people. If you have not read his books, you are doing yourself a disservice. 

About the book

A masterful, heart-palpitating novel of small-town horror and psychological dread from a Bram Stoker nominee.

Aaron Decker's life changes one December morning when his wife Allison is killed. Haunted by her absence--and her ghost--Aaron goes through her belongings, where he finds a receipt for a motel room in another part of the country. Piloted by grief and an increasing sense of curiosity, Aaron embarks on a journey to discover what Allison had been doing in the weeks prior to her death.

Yet Aaron is unprepared to discover the dark secrets Allison kept, the death and horror that make up the tapestry of her hidden life. And with each dark secret revealed, Aaron becomes more and more consumed by his obsession to learn the terrifying truth about the woman who had been his wife, even if it puts his own life at risk.

You will find Ronald Malfi on Goodreads and check out his website here. 

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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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