R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge VI

Wow, I actually missed the start of this one, this time around! I usually spend the last week in August obsessively checking Carl V's Stainless Steel Droppings blog, just hoping for some mention of the beginning of his annual R.I.P. Challenge. But this year, real life just keeps getting in the way of the fun stuff – so I'm a little late signing up.

The R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril Challenge (R.I.P. for short) is one of my favorite reading challenges. It runs from September 1st to October 31st, and it's perfect for this time of year. Also, it includes some of my favorite genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, Supernatural. You can read about it in detail and sign up on the challenge announcement page (here). There are several different levels of participation, and even a new wrinkle this year with the Peril of the Group Read feature.


I'm going to be signing up for Peril the First, so I'll be reading at least four books. I'm also going to sign up for Peril on the Screen again this year – I had a great time with that one last year.

Now, about books. I'll be giving a lot of thought to what I might read for this one, so my list of possibilities will probably be getting longer and longer, and going through many changes. But right now, these are a few of the books I'm considering:

• The Dead Zone. Stephen King (I read King's The Dark Half last year, and it was a great reminder of just how fine a writer King really is. And scary, too!)
• Grave Sight. Charlaine Harris (The first book in the Harper Connelly mystery series. Everyone else has read something by Harris, and I'm beginning to feel left out.)
• The Haunting of Hill House. Shirley Jackson (This would be a re-read for me, so I'm not sure about it; but it's been many years, and I loved it the first time around.)
  
• The Hunger. Whitley Strieber (I'm not usually a vampire fan, but I could make an exception for this one. Loved the movie.)
• Mr. Murder. Dean Koontz (Never read anything by Koontz, but several trusted recommenders have recommended this one.)
• The Prince of Mist. Carlos Ruiz Zafón (A spooky novel for young adults, by the author of Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game.)
• Widdershins. Oliver Onions (First published in 1911, and one of the classic ghost story collections; includes the novella that is probably Onions' best-known work, The Beckoning Fair One.)

Or, I might ignore all those and just stick with Preston and Child – there are still quite a few of their Pendergast novels I haven't gotten to yet. And Diogenes P. is a really delicious villain – perfect for a little autumnal reading spree. Anyway, during the challenge I'll be updating my reading progress on my challenge blog here.

Now, I'm off to sign myself up for the challenge, and then do some blog-hopping to see what everyone else is thinking about reading.