#RIPXX WRAP-UP

1. Timeline: 01 September and 31 October.
2. …I’m reading only in the month of September
3. #ripxx / #readersimbibingperil / #ripreadingchallenge
4. IG Host: @perilreaders

1. I’m done.
2. I have reached my “spooky” saturation point.

My List:

The BEST:

1. Revenge (11 stories)  – Yōko Ogawa – REVIEW
2. The Castle of Otranto – H. Walpole (novella) – REVIEW
3. The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix mini-series) – E.A. Poe – REVIEW
4. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – R.L. Stevenson (novella) – REVIEW
5. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco (gothic mystery) – REVIEW

The WORST:

1. Fiend – Alma Katsu – REVIEW
2. Howls from the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror (short stories) – REVIEW
3. The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror – Edith Nesbit (22 ghost stories) – REVIEW

The REST…

1. The Shining – S. King – REVIEW
2. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – A. Christie – REVIEW
3. Carmilla – J. Sheridan Le Fanu (novella) – REVIEW
4. The Turn of the Screw – H. James (novella) – REVIEW
5. Poor Things – Alasdair Gray – REVIEW
6. The Halloween Tree (novella) – Ray Bradbury (pg 148) – REVIEW

#RIPXX Turn of the Screw

by Henry James

Finish date: 20.09. 2025
Genre: gothic novella (ghost story)
Rating: C
#RIPXX

Good News: After having watched 8 episodes on Netflix “The Fall of the House of Usher” this week…I was thoroughly in the mood for spooky! Every rook, crow or jackdaw that flies around my neighbourhood made me jump, reminding me of “The Raven”. Henry James keeps the ‘supernatural’ to ZERO until you reach chapter 9. So keep reading, the slow-burning, ponderous journey into the heart of madness by the governess is coming!

Good News: Strong point: first-person narration allows readers to experience events and emotions directly through eyes of the governess. I was hooked from page one!

Bad News:  James’s writing style is cumbersome to read! The plot of the book is fascinating but…there are TOO many asides and clauses he uses to create these massive run on sentences.

Good News: I was always fascinated by the title: Turn of the Screw. (?) It appears that a screw turns and turns until smth is fastened or fastened too tightly and breaks! In the story … the more the governess finds out, the more she wants to know…and the screw keeps turning. Will she break? The governess is running around because these kids just keep disappearing!

Personal:  Henry James is talented. Henry James is heavy handed at times. I think there are much better writers in the 19th C, but I also think he’s worth the read.

#RIPXX Country House Mystery

by Agatha Christie

Finish date: 16.09.2025
Genre: CF – “The Murder of Roger Ackroyd” 
Rating: A+++
#RIPXX (mystery)

Good News: Cozy country house  mystery can be just as blood-soaked as the mean streets!

Bad News: I tried to finish this book (last 7 chapters) last night before going to sleep. Never again…I fell immediately into dreamland and missed the famous “meeting of the suspects” when Hercule tells everyone he knows who the murderer is!

Good News: Finally finished the book this morning and even listened to the last 7 chapters twice! While knowing the ending…it was a unique way to observe how the “killer” reacts to Poirot’s explanations to see if the person “blinks”.

Personal: Agatha Christie does it again…I NEVER suspected the guilty person! This story was a ‘locked room’ mystery inside a country house. Why are country house mysteries so popular? We love the intellectual challenge to try an solve the murder and enjoy the pleasure of entangled circumstances dissolve into a simplicity that only the little grey cells of Hercule Poirot can achieve!

LINK – wonderful website ” Everything Agatha Christie”.

#RIPXX Carmilla

by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Finish date: 15.09.2025
Genre: novella, 66 pg   “Carmilla”
Rating: B
#RIPXX

Good News: This story of a beautiful revenant and her fascination with teenage girls is about a vampire rather than a ghost. “Sometimes it was as if warm lips kissed me, and longer and more lovingly as they reached my throat . . .”. Well, no subtly here…this is vampire talk!

Good News: If you are looking for seduction…this is the novella for you! Laura, the narrator, awakened by “…a sensation of two needles ran into my breast.” (ch 1) “…her hot lips travelled along my cheek I’m kisses. You are mine, you shall be mine, and you and I are one forever.” (ch 4). All I can think of is ….Laura, you in danger, girl.

Personal: It’s a brief read  that doesn’t overstay it’s welcome. I thought it was funny how Carmilla admits her love multiple times and the narrator just keeps saying that she does’t understand! The novella is such a short read…experience Le Fanu’s talent evoking vague and strange sensations of vampirism!

PS: I kid you not….as I was writing this review a huge “Daddy Longlegs” spider crawled from my head  (I’d just been outside in the back yard) and landed on the keyboard! I don’t scare easily …but after 14 days of reading and watching “spooky” I did let out a cry/laugh!

#RIPXX 14 September 2025

Headless Horseman

What am I listening to ?

Audiobooks:  The Edgar Allan Poe Complete Works Collection – Stories, Poems, Novels, and Essays

1. Edgar Allan Poe is the master of macabre literature and pioneer of detective fiction,
2. …and haunting tales that explore the depths of human psychology.
3. Release date:  02.04.2022 Audible .com
4. Edgar Allan Poe Society (list of all works) LINK
5. Timeline: 60 hrs of classic literature….suspense, terror, gothic, horror.
6. It is read by Audie Award-winning actors Peter Noble and Jonathan Keeble.
7. Believe me,  the narration is mesmerising!
8. Again…this audiobook is worth every penny!

Read this week:

1. A Descent into the Maelström – harrowing tale at sea (tale)
2. A Predicament – good laugh, funny… (tale)
3. Tale of Jerusalem – I couldn’t make heads or tails of this one! Bizarre.
4. Tale of the Ragged Mountains – Mr.Bedloe morphine for breakfast, walks in the woods, dreams, medicinal leeches! Jick.
5. Berenice – short horror story – obsession (teeth), mental illness, and the macabre.
6. Bon-Bon – short comedic story – restaurateur  has a humorous encounter with the Devil.

What am I reading?

1. by Stephen King

Finish date: 09.09. 2025
Genre: horror
Rating: C-
Challenge #RIPXX

I finally finished The Shining. “I’ve been avoiding this book for years….probably because b/c of images I saw in the trailer for the film version. (never saw the movie). I found many readers still giving this book 5 star reviews…so I must get this book off my TGR and my mind! 75% of the book was a intriguing look at a failing marriage, job loss, child with the gift of  “The Shining.  The last 25% was a rollercoaster ride. Impressed by King’s descriptions of  the haunted Outlook H0tel and its disintegration. One reader summarised the book very well:  “…Spends top much time on background stuff with not enough payoff.” The book is done and dusted and I’m  still…not a Stephen King fan. 

by P.L. McMillan

Finish date: 09. 09.2025
Genre: horror, 18 short stories
Rating: D-
Challenge #RIPXX

Bad news: Good heavens, I couldn’t sleep one night and read the first story in  Howls from the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror Nr 1 was about human sacrifice by a group of witches! Now I’ll never get to sleep. The “hook” story was not exactly a great beginning for the book. I was sure there were better writers and I read at a slow but constant and deliberate pace.

Good News: I was ready to toss this book in the DNF bin…but I kept reading: found 5 excellent writers. Never give up on a book!

Personal: I took a gamble and found this anthology on a website about adventures in fantasy literature. The book is the perfect place for aspiring writers in the Dark Fantasy, Horror and Gothic Chick (…yes that is a thing). I struggled to get through 18 short stories.  You can’t just write about any bloody, gory, horrific scenes….the story has to have structure. These  5 authors understand this and are worth your reading time!

The Fourth Scene  –  Brian Evenson (professor of Literary Arts)
White Owl  – Stevie Edwards (assistant professor of Poetry)
A Dark Quadrivium  – David Worn (neuroscientist)
The Mouth of Hell  –  Cody Goodfellow (screenplay writer)
A Dowry for Your Hand  –  Michelle Tang (Canadian speculative writer)

3 stories were readable (mèh)… and 9 stories were absolutely “not my cup of tea”….awful!

#RIPXX 13 September 2025

What  did  I watch?

NETFLIX:  FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER    (limited mini-series)

1. Every  Netflix episode has a connection with Poe’s work w/ reference to the title
2. …..but prepare yourself for some graphic, bloody scenes!
3. It is essential to learn about VERNA’s role in the series..in every episode!
4. The name Verna is an anagram for “raven,“.
5. She is a harbinger of doom and influences the Ushers’ destinies…death! 
6. #MustSee  supernatural horror

1. Episode 1: Midnight Dreary. (…line from “The Raven”) = close up of the bird…is symbol of  (…”she is here”.) Verna!
2. Episode 2: Masque of the Red Death (…unforgettable last scene when “Death” (the plague) visits a rave!
3. Episode 3: Murder in the Rue Morgue – Poe broke the  “rules of clues”  in Murder in the Rue Morgue.
4. Episode 4: The Black Cat – Oh, I hope I can get through this one…cats behaving very badly!
5. Episode 5: The Tell-Tale Heart – Gruesome…
6. Episode 6: Goldbug – Usher world  collapses further…
7. Episode 7: The Pit and the Pendulum – Poe’s short story  “Berenice” …read what happens to Morella Usher!
8. Episode 8: The Raven – What a magnificent series and  what an ending….

1. TRIVIA: The first scene in which the sermon  is delivered by the preacher… are passages from Poe’s poem “For Annie”, tale “The Premature Burial, poem The Spirits of the Dead and  from Poe’s short story, “The Imp of the Perverse”.
2. Follow all the trivia of all 8 epidsodes  on Fandom.com “The Fall of the House of Usher:  with this  LINK 

1. TRIVIA: 
2.  C. Auguste Dupin (sleuth created by Poe!)  = Ass. US Attorney 
3. A. Gordon Pym (Tale Narrative of A. Gordon Pym) =  Usher’s  attorney 
4. Lenore Usher’s  grand daughter = Poe’s famous poem
5. Eliza (Roderick Usher’s mother) =  middle name Poe’s wife
6. Fortunato, Name of  Usher’s  drug company = character in Poe’s “The Cask of Amontillado”
7. Tamerlane – (poem) and name of Roderick Usher’s daughter
8. Annabel Lee – Usher’s wife = inspiration for  Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” was his  wife Virginia Eliza Clemm Poe 
9. Verna is an anagram for raven.

#Update 08 September 2025

SUNDAY-SEPT 07, 2025

Audiobooks: Once I get out of the shower and in the kitchen for breakfast I put on my AirMax headphones (with excellent noise cancelling) and start my day: empty dishwasher, start breakfast,  feed cats, clean kitty litter box, put devices on their chargers (Kindle, mobile, iPads). Before coffee I start one of the Great Courses books on Audible. I listen to 1 lecture 30 minutes and take a quick walk around the block, a few times. During the day 3 more “walking breaks” and average 8-10 km per day. It took me 3 weeks to finish 36 lectures. This is an excellent series of lectures on Audible…worth every penny!

Movies: Getting ready for the Fall and Winter days when I need to leave my books and watch a movie. Treated myself to 2 extra streamings: MGM+ and SKYShowtime. There have been lots of movie awards  (Oscars, BAFTAS, Venice, Cannes, Toronto)  and I have to look at last years Emmy winners. I’ve made a list of 50 movies/series I want to watch.  

Movies for #RIPXX: 

JAWS  (50th anniversary….it scared the bejesus out me!) (SKYShowtime)  (suspense)

FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER  (Netflix) – Limited mini-series (8 episodes). Every episode is a modern retelling of an Edgar Allan Poe story. And then tying each of those stories into the house of usher. It is genius. Some people will catch that by reading the titles of each episode. (supernatural horror)

MISERY (Prime Video) – Stephen King classic  – 1991 Oscar Best Actress for Kathy Bates (thriller horror)

Movies that disappointed me last week:

The Residence –  Mini-series, 8 episodes – Started off fine. But it just kept going on and on and on. Really, this series was TOO long, could have been a good 2hr movie!

The Thursday Murder Club – Despite the stellar cast (Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Pierce Bronson). It felt corny from the start: he location didn’t feel like a retirement village…It didn’t even feel particularly British.  Perhaps the books are better than this movie.

Son of Critch: After 3 episodes I pulled the plug. It was a very bad imitation of “Young Sheldon”…in Canada.

BOOKS:

The Name Of The Rose
by

Umberto Eco,

William Weaver (Translator)

Sep 07, 2025  

Challenge: #RIPXX

The Name of the Rose was well worth re-reading after

I first opened the book 40 years ago!

I skimmed the pages with endless arguments about heretics
and religious orders. I tried to stay close to the main mystery
narrative.

Since Brother William of Baskerville arrived at the abbey
… in these six days… 4 monks have died and two
have been arrested by the Inquisition!
Seems WB has not lived up to the expectations of the Abbot…to solve
…the first murder/suicide (?) death of the young monk Aldemo.

Last line in the book:
Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus
The original rose remains in its name, we hold bare names.

Revenge (11 short stories)
by

Yōko Ogawa,

Stephen Snyder (Translator)

Sep 03, 2025

Challenge: #RIPXX

One of my favourite books this year
…stunning!

 

#Classics Ancient Greek Literature

Finish date:  06 September 2025
Genre: The Great Courses: Western Literature series ( Audible)
Rating: A+++
Title: Masterpieces of Ancient Greek Literature  18 hr  25 min (spread  over 3 weeks)

Why do we like reading tragic plays?
Professor David Schenker explains the answer!
Excellent narration and I am inspired to read and in some cases
re-read plays by:
Aeschylus – Often referred to as the father of tragedy, Aeschylus introduced the second actor, which allowed for more complex dialogues and interactions.
Sophocles – Known for his development of character and plot, Sophocles wrote famous tragedies such as “Oedipus Rex” and “Antigone,” emphasizing moral dilemmas and human suffering.
Euripides – Euripides is celebrated for his character-driven narratives and psychological depth, often challenging traditional values and norms in plays like “Medea” and “The Bacchae.”

NOTES:

Lectures 9-10-11 close the study of the Archaic period…800 BC to 480 BC, characterized by the emergence of early Greek poetry (Homeric hymns, Solon, Sappho and Alcaeus) and including works attributed to Homer. Why did lyric poetry fade away? This was b/c of the rise of Greek Tragedy/Comedy. We start the Classical period in the next 13 lectures.

Aeschylus’S plays are explained in lectures 13-14-15 Persians -Agamennon – Libation Bearers – Eumenides (the furies).

Listened to lectures 17-18-19-20: Sophecles and Euripides
This is an excellent series of lectures on Audible…worth every penny!
Of all the great plays by Sophecles (Oedipus King a favourite)…I still would have liked to have seen 1994 Broadway production of Medea with Dame Diana Rigg. Powerful play…the character of Medea is on stage from start to finish. Dame Rigg won a Tony Award for Best Actress.

Listened to 29/36 lectures. Listen to explanation of The Frogs by Aristophanes. I knew very little about the play but sounds like fun to read! Today were also 5 selections about the historians Herodotus and Thucydides. A bit boring….much rather listen to info about the tragedies and comedies.

Just 3 more lectures to listen to!
Learned about the 3 different types of of rhetoric/oratory today:
Performative
Forensic (in courtroom)
Politica

#RIPXX Readers Imbibing Peril

1. It’s time again for the Readers Imbibing Peril…
2. …fiction, short stories, true crime, audiobooks, films.
3. Timeline: 01 September and 31 October.
4. …I’m reading only in the month of September
5. #ripxx / #readersimbibingperil / #ripreadingchallenge
6. IG Host: @perilreaders

• Mystery
• Suspense
• Thriller
• Dark Fantasy
• Gothic
• Horror
• Supernatural

My List:

1. The Power of Darkness: Tales of Terror – Edith Nesbit (22 ghost stories) – REVIEW
2. Revenge (11 stories)  – Yōko Ogawa – REVIEW
3. The Shining – S. King – REVIEW
4. The Name of the Rose – Umberto Eco (gothic mystery) – REVIEW
5. The Castle of Otranto – H. Walpole (novella) – REVIEW
6. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd – A. Christie – REVIEW
7. Carmilla – J. Sheridan Le Fanu (novella) – REVIEW
8. The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix mini-series) – E.A. Poe – REVIEW
9. Howls from the Dark Ages: An Anthology of Medieval Horror (short stories) – REVIEW
10. The Turn of the Screw – H. James (novella) – REVIEW
11. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – R.L. Stevenson (novella) – REVIEW
12. Fiend – Alma Katsu – REVIEW
13. Poor Things – Alasdair Gray – REVIEW
14. The Halloween Tree (novella) – Ray Bradbury (pg 148) – REVIEW

#Top 3 longest books I’ve ever read!

Si Dieu existait, il serait une bibliothèque. » Umberto Eco

Robert Bolãno – 2666 (1184 pages)

1. This is the ONLY book that made me physically exhausted.
2. It was praised to the high heavens…an I wanted see what the hype was all about.
3. With a half hour per day, this will take 30 days to read.
4. Believe me you cannot endure more than 30 minutes a day!
5. There are two major, intertwined plot threads in 2666,
6. one about a series of gruesome rapes and murders
7. in the fictional city of Santa Teresa, Mexico,
8. ..and the other concerning an obscure German writer with the
9. improbable name Benno Von Archimboldi.
10. Roberto Bolaño was dying of liver failure when he was working on 2666, though
11. he had nearly completed the novel before his death in 2003 at the age of 50.
12. A Race Against Death….
13. Many critics and writers felt that 2666 was written in a race against time,
14. with the shadow of death evident in the novel’s powerful and bleak themes. 

St. Augustine – The City of God   (1184 pages)

It is a book that influenced Western society more powerfully than perhaps any other book except the Bible.

Good News: This massive classic book has been on my bucket list for years. Is it possible to get through 1186 pages of St. Augustine? Well, I finally forced myself to read a book a day (22 books). It is the only way I could finish it.  I’m glad it is done and dusted. It is NOT for the fainthearted.  What is The City of God? I finally got my answer: it is more of an ideal that humans should strive for rather than a particular place or institution. It is an argument against paganism in favor of Christianity.

Bad News: I was not always thrilled to start my reading day with this book. It drains so much energy from me…and I just want to move on to another book.

Bad News: I slowly collaped like a cold soufflé while reading Books X-XXII. It felt like a retelling of the Old Testament up until the coming of Christ. Books XX-XXII are a final attempt to convince us that The Last Judgement, Hell and Heaven are real.

Good News: After a few books I learned that you cannot absorb every single word in this book. Each book has plusminus 25-35 chapter summations, so read that carefully, read/skim the text and draw a succint conclusion for yourself.

Personal:

1. It’s the final countdown…the end of an important journey.
2. Today I’ll say goodbye to St Augustine.
3. Now if I can only find the coffee mug with the logo:
4. “I read The City Of God.”
5. #ThereMustBeCoffeeInHeaven, right?
6. PS: If you want to read St. Augustine….I’d  recommend “Confessions”
7. ….it was 100x better than this book…and shorter! (324 pg)

William L. Shirer – The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (1264 pages)

1. William L. Shirer ranks as one of the greatest of all American foreign correspondents.
2. He was correspondent in Germany for the Chicago Tribune and later for  CBS
3. …in the late 1930s that his reputation was established.
4. This book is a classic…it is an AMAZING READ…or a Audio book:  57 hr 13 min.
5. I listened to it during my morning walk
6. I never REALLY studied WW II in high school  and wanted to finally learn what was happening.

   Conclusion:

   1. The best description of this book
   2. …was written by H. Trevor-Roper
   3. a British historian at Oxford University
   4. who reviewed the book or the New York Times:
   5. “Light on our century’s  darkest night
   6. the awful story of Hitler’s Germany is movingly told
   7. and masterfully studied.”
   8. I could not improve on this statement if I tried.
   9. What I can add are my thoughts while reading the book.
   10. This classic of non-fiction had been on my bookshelf for decades!.
   11. But the sheer size of the book intimated me…and I never read it.
   12. If I can give any advice
   13. …read this book because it is so insightful.
   14. The only way I managed to do
   15. ..it was using the audio book.
   16. I set out with Hitler, Goebbels, Himmler, Göring  and  a cast of
   17. …characters on my morning walks.
   18. I let Shirer’s words drift into my mind hoping I would learn a
   19. little more about Hitler, his rise to power and his
   20. …dreams of a pure nation that would rule the world!
   21. I wrote down a few notes  after every walk.

   Last thoughts:

   1. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich has become more than
   2. …just another work of history.
   3. It has acquired the reputation as the best-selling historical work
   4. ever written in modern times.
   5. It is based on captured  German secret documents.
   6. Don’t wait as long as I did to discover this book
   7. ….read it soon!
   8. Remember…
   9. Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.‘
   10. (George Santayana, philosopher )

   

   War correspondent, W. Shirer