Horror Stories Master Post 2022 #SomethingWickedFall

This is the master post for horror books or short stories read during Something Wicked Fall. I will be updating this post with my thoughts on stories I've read during the event.

Please share what you've read/your thoughts on what you've read in the comments. I think this will make for some hearty conversation!

There's a tab in the menu for easy access to this post.

If you're still reading Gothic stories in October, the Gothic stories master post is still a available in the menu.

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I Read Horror Year-Round Reading Challenge 2022 - Third Quarter Check-in

Three quarters have flown by! I apologize for not having an update at the end of the second quarter. I was going on vacation in early July so I was working, and getting prepared for the trip. Completely slipped my mind!

I'm not doing too bad. My progress is below. Still not sure if I'm going to make it or not. Fingers crossed!

Full challenge details here...you can still join in.

What I've read so far: 

Book by a BIPOC (female): Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Book by a BIPOC (male): The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle (currently reading)

Purple, orange, or green on the cover: The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor

Vampires: Impact Winter by Travis Beacham

Folk Horror: Winterset Hollow by Jonathan Edward Durham

A modern Gothic tale: The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

Gothic horror classic: Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake (currently reading)

So, how's it going for you with the horror reading? Share your progress in the comments (update, links to posts/reviews, etc.).

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The Devil in Silver Read-Along - Discussion Two

Spoiler Warning: If you are not reading along with us, the below discussion post and comments may contain spoilers.

Well, shit got real in this section of our reading! I don't know about you, but I could honestly feel Pepper's fear when that "thing," or whatever it is, lowered itself down from the ceiling, and then the attack. What the hell IS it?! And why does the staff seem to be complicit? The real horror story is that mental ward and how the patients are treated. 

I'm also enjoying the occasional social commentary. Coffee (Kofi): I am trying to reach the Black President...

Pepper: "...I don't care who the Big Boss is. I don't care if someday it's a Big Lady! The whole game is fixed. Top to bottom. Left to Right. The Black President is just like the White President. 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.' "

This is something I hear from (some) people all the time. "It doesn't matter. They're all corrupt." Man that irritates me! Call me naive, but I just don't believe it. I like what Coffee then says, "Dorry was right. You think all those things you say make you sound smarter, but I think you sound like a fool." 
Exactly my sentiments, Coffee.

Also, the part where Pepper refuses his medicine and the nurse tells him if he had nothing to hide, he wouldn't say no. Pepper thinks back to conversations with his black friends when they mentioned the stop-and-frisk from the NYPD. Pepper asked them why they care about being searched if they have nothing to hide. But now, he finds himself in a situation of disenfranchisement, and he realizes that "certain types of people must be overseen" and he hadn't thought of it as a problem until he became one of those types. What's the old adage? Walk a mile in my shoes.

So, what will happen next? The Scooby gang (as I like to call them) have decided to take a stand and confront the problem who lives in Northwest 4. Right at the end of this section, Loochie lets him (it) out. I have to admit, I'm kinda scared. lol

Share your thoughts on this week's section in the comments, or leave a link to a post. We'll be back for the next discussion on October 16 (or thereabouts). If you need the reading schedule, find it here.

I apologize for some of the broken images on my site. I'm having an issue with my hosting. Hopefully, it will be fixed soon.

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The Devil in Silver Read-Along - Discussion One

Spoiler Warning: If you are not reading along with us, the below discussion post and comments may contain spoilers.

A few days late. What else is new with me? Always a day behind and...well, you know. Anyway, to start, this book is amazing so far! 

I read LaValle's The Ballad of Black Tom novella several years ago and I really liked it. Such a great spin on a Lovecraftian tale. I didn't hesitate to buy this one, but then it languished on my shelf for a time. My mom did read it and said it was really good so at that point I knew it would be right up my alley. I have not been disappointed so far.

I think we all secretly fear being imprisoned against our will, especially if that imprisonment occurred in a mental hospital. This may be even more visceral for women, who in history were committed for hysteria and other stupid reasons like speaking their minds, or going against the norms of the time. So, I can relate to Pepper's predicament, even though I've never been committed myself. I mean really, if you're arrested for assault, the last thing a person would honestly expect would be to find themselves in a mental hospital. Jail would seem the proper avenue, right? So, right off the bat, I knew something was fishy. Next we get allusions to danger in various ways...Dorry stating Northwest Four is off limits, then Coffee talking about needing to call the Mayor because he's "seen it," and then perhaps not really an allusion...Pepper's encounter with the creature (yikes) putting its hands in his mouth, etc. Now that part was unsettling. 

Not much more to say about this section except for speculation on who or what this creature is. Is it indeed a creature that had been living there and Northwest was built just to hold it, or is it what Dorry said, it being the first patient on the ward before her time? I guess we will find out, but I will say there seems to be some kind of supernatural element as well. Remember the invisible snorting and stench with no obvious source that Pepper and the cop (Dewey) experienced? Also, the strange pull that door at the end of Northwest Four had for Pepper when he ventured that way. What do you think?

Share your thoughts on this week's section in the comments, or leave a link to a post. We'll be back for the next discussion on October 2nd (or thereabouts..lol). If you need the reading schedule, find it here.

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