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R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI

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(Much thanks to Hugo Award winning artist Abigail Larson for the use of her art)

By the pricking of my thumbs,
Something wicked[ly fun] this way comes!

~Shakespeare, the play that shall not be named, slightly edited

To be up front, there will be no thumb-pricking here.

After all, one might get blood on one’s books!

Well, the year has gone and done it again. Winter gave way to Spring, Summer came blazing in, and here before we know it Autumn will officially take the reins. Every year when September arrives I feel a lightening in my spirit, knowing that the constricting heat and humidity of the Midwest summer will soon give way to my favorite season of the year.

Orange will become a predominant color, and pumpkin-flavoring will invade every drink and dessert that we love to imbibe.

Speaking of imbibing, eleven years ago I embarked on a quest to bring a community of readers together to enjoy the literature most associated with the darkening days and cooling temperatures of Autumn:

Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Gothic
Horror
Dark Fantasy

I wanted to be able to use the well-worn graveyard acronym, R.I.P., so I came up with the name “R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril’. And for over a decade that is what we have done, imbibed together.

For the 10th anniversary I took a break and the hosting duties were fulfilled (quite wonderfully) by the team over at The Estella Society. I am so grateful to them for so doing, I truly needed the rest.

But I am back for year eleven and it is time to embrace the delicious thrill of things that go bump in the night, to figure out if the butler actually did do it, to cover our eyes during the scary bits and to conquer our fears together.

Welcome to R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI.

Many of you are probably frequent participants in this event, but for those who are new, or returning after an absence, I grew up reading scary stories illustrated by the incomparable Edward Gorey, watching horror films starring Vincent Price, and generally discovering the literary wonder of authors like Bram Stoker and Edgar Allan Poe. I did go through a brief high school, early-20’s phase where the overly gorey films like Nightmare on Elm Street were my fancy, and while I do not look down on anyone who continues to embrace that kind of entertainment, my first love when it comes to those lengthening Autumn nights are stories in the gothic vein, classic and modern mysteries, and the kind of atmospheric stories, in any format, that give you chills up your spine and make you want to pull the covers up tight.

It is in that spirit that this event began.

Reading and watching television are solitary activities, but can be expanded to a community if you get together to share what is exciting your interest and to discuss like passions. That is the entire point of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril.

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI takes place from September 1st, 2016 through October 31st, 2016.

There are only two expectations if you want to participate with us:

1. Have fun reading (and watching*).
2. Share that fun with others.

There are multiple levels of participation so that you can imbibe as much, or as little, as you desire/as time permits, and still consider yourselves a part of this community event.

*Most of these are familiar to previous participants, but there is one new addition this year.

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Read four books, of any length, from the very broad categories earlier defined as perilous. They could all be by the same author, a series of books, a random mix of classic and contemporary or whatever you like.

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Simply halve the requirement of Peril the First. If you choose to take on this Peril, read two books of your choosing that you feel fit the various R.I.P. categories.

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We all have a seemingly never-ending set of demands on our time. If you want to participate but cannot commit to anything time-consuming, this is the one-book-only option for participation. This event isn’t meant to be a burden…remember the “have fun” part…so if you want to join the fun in the least burdensome way possible, Peril the Third is just for you.

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When I think of Autumn I think of the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Neil Gaiman, Roald Dahl. I am very fond of the short story and when I started R.I.P. I knew that it had to have a Peril of its own. Read one or many short stories throughout our two-month event and you will have taken on and overcame this Peril.

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Scary stories don’t just come in book-shaped packages, they also exist in the television and film format. Why not embrace that peril as well? If you watch any particularly creepy, suspenseful, mysterious thrillers during R.I.P., be sure to share those with us as well. My list of what I would like to watch is generally much larger than the amount of time I give to watching television, but every Autumn it includes British mysteries, The Corpse Bride, Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, The Others and a whole host of classic Vincent Price horror flicks.

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R.I.P. XI marks the debut of the “Peril in Play” category. I had previously included video/computer gaming in the Peril on the Screen category, but gaming is not simply done in front of an electronic device. The rise of popularity in table top gaming over the years has brought many together to enjoy competitive and cooperative game play. Whether you are defeating the hordes of monsters in the latest Gears of War, going old school with some iteration of Silent Hill, or perhaps playing table top games like Arkham Horror, Cthulu Fluxx, Zombiecide or Dead Panic, you can find something perilous to fill your gaming needs.

So grab that controller in the dark of night for some sinister gameplay (the old PC game Clive Barker’s Undying comes to mind) or get some friends together to hold back the zombie horde and get your game on.

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The other staple of the R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril event is the Review Site, which allows you to post links to any reviews you do as part of this event. This is the primary way that the “community” aspect of R.I.P. works. We get to know you, and spend time with you, by visiting your site to learn about you and your experiences with the eerie, creepy things you have read, watched, and/or played. Feel free to use the link and share.

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Abigail Larson is wonderful. I first became aware of her work when she signed up to attend one of the Spectrum Fantastic Art Live events. I was so taken with her work, and how I felt its kinship with the Gorey work from my youth, that I promptly conducted a feature/interview with her.

Since that time it is Abigail to whom I turn whenever it is time for R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril to resurface. Her art embodies so perfectly the spirit of what I envisioned this being eleven years ago.

I am proud to report that Abigail Larson recently won the Hugo Award for Best Professional Artist at the 74th WorldCon which was held right here in Kansas City, Missouri. Although she could not be in attendance, I was happy to be there to hear her name announced.

Thank you so much for allowing us to enjoy your art as part of the R.I.P. XI event this year.

Be sure to visit Abigail Larson at her website, her shop, her Etsy store, and her Facebook page.

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Also, be on the lookout for the November 15th, 2016 release of H.P. Lovecraft’s tale, The Cats of Ulthar, imagined and illustrated by Abigail Larson.

For those of you who like different sized banners, please see below, and feel free to message me if you need a different size than what is on offer.

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So here we are.

Perils await.

Do you dare face them?

If so, please sign up below. Posting on your blog about this event is not necessary, but if you do create a post about joining R.I.P. XI, please link to that specific post below. Otherwise, direct us to your site, your FB page, etc. We want to come see you. And we might bring some monster cookies along too!

78 thoughts on “R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril XI”

  1. Best day of the year! The artwork this year is gorgeous as always (I’m heading off to Abigail’s Etsy store right now) and I’m very happy you’re back hosting, Carl! Once again, I’ll just make my own Infinite Peril category and read as much as I possibly can over the next two months. 🙂

    1. Woo-hoo! First to join! Something monumental sound really come with that, shouldn’t it?

      Tell you what, to support Abigail and to reward your speed at getting started, I’ll buy you an 8X10 print. Email me to tell me which one you want and your address and I’ll order it right away and have Abigail (or her dastardly minions) wing it your way.

        1. I wondered why I felt someone watching me the past few days. I was constantly looking over my shoulder. 😉

  2. It has been a long time since I’ve officially “joined” my own events, so here’s to old times.

    If everything worked out perfectly, these are the things I would definitely do over the next two months:

    1. Listen to the audio version of The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman on my iPhone while out walking in the early morning/late night hours, including through our local graveyard. I did that the first time I read the book (but only during the daytime). Time to build on that experience.

    2. Watch the following: Coraline, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride, The Others, The Raven (Price), Comedy of Terrors (Price), House of Usher (Price), and catch up on Midsomer Murders.

    3. Create and read and post about my top 10 best R.I.P.ing short stories.

    4. Play another game of Arkham Horror like the last one, where we stopped an inexplicable horror from entering our realm on the very last roll, my daughter finally getting some lucky dice rolls at the end.

    5. Either re-read or re-listen to Dracula. It has been too long.

    Those are my ambitions. Not too terribly difficult, but we will see. Life has a way of interrupting the best laid plans of zombie mice and men.

    1. Your plans sound fantastic! And spooky (which is the best possible outcome for this event).

      I think you’ve just inspired me to give The Graveyard Book another listen when it’s a little closer to Halloween. It’s been years but I know Gaiman does an excellent job of narrating it. Thanks so much for hosting!

  3. Yay! I had been anxiously awaiting this post and when there was no sign of it yesterday I feared there might not be an R.I.P. XI this year. But here it is! I’ll make my provisional list today and come back to link up.

    Welcome back as host, Carl 🙂

    1. It is indeed back. Just didn’t have time to get too far ahead of myself this year. It was kind of fun…for me…to actually (almost) wait for the starting day to announce. Next year I will have to give some early FB and Twitter hints that it is coming.

  4. Yay, I’ve been anticipating R.I.P. for weeks. I have some Ruth Rendell and Robert Galbraith mysteries on my TBR pile. And I love gothic short stories, maybe I should read some Le Fanu or MR James. I might even post some reviews this year. I don’t have a blog, but I think you can link to Goodreads reviews? I’m so excited, I really enjoy this challenge every year.

    1. Yes you can. Anywhere you can get a link, you can link to it in Mr. Linky. Thanks for coming back!

  5. Glad to see you are carrying on the challenge, Carl! I always look forward to it and even if I don’t always read a bunch, I have never missed one. (Some years I read tonnes, maybe this year?) I will do an official post a bit later. I love the art this year. (Well, I do all years. lol)

    1. Yes, my reading output has slowed way down the last few years, but I look forward to savoring the things I can get to over the next few months.

      It truly would not be RIP without you of the original adventure, thanks for your faithfulness!

  6. I have no words to express just how happy I was to see you hosting this again. I really don’t. And it’s not that I don’t think that Andi and Heather did a great job. Honestly, I don’t know how to explain, but in my mind, you and RIP are inseparable.
    I love your list of “goals” for the challenge. I am have to steal your idea of creating one short story post where you talk about the favorites you read. I have a ridiculously hard time writing about short stories, so I usually just don’t. But maybe if I group my favorites into one post like you’re hoping to do, I could handle it. Okay, probably not, but it’s worth a try. 😉
    Anyway, thank you, Carl, for your overwhelming generosity in hosting this!!! I hope you realize how very happy you make so many people! 😊

    1. Andi and Heather were such a blessing to me last year (and not just last year), and they did do an awesome job of celebrating the 10th anniversary of R.I.P.

      But it is nice to be caring for my wayward child again this year, the poor neglected (by me) thing.

      I thought my “goals” were a fun, day-dreaming idea too. I’ve thought of another one I would like to do, but it is hard to explain and I’m pretty sure it is going to happen, so I’m going to just leave that out there as suspense.

      Knowing that I shed a little happiness in your day is, and I mean this quite sincerely, well worth having stayed up late to get this all neat and tidy to send out into the interwebs. Thank you!

  7. I think it is also acceptable to call it “The Scottish Play” as well. I think I’ve blabbed about #RIPXI on FB, Twitter and G+ too.

    1. Yes, I have heard it referred to that way as well, now that you mention it. Have you ever seen the Blackadder episode where Blackadder keeps purposefully saying “Macbeth” to a group of theater performers? Very fun.

      Thanks for the blabbing on social media, it is much appreciated, as is having you here!

  8. My pre-scheduled post mentioned RIP today — I just edited it to link to here. So happy that we’re into the spooky season.

    1. Awesome!!! I’m happy to, as it means the weather for running/walking/hiking is going to get so much more lovely.

  9. Yessssss! For the last week I checked every day if the R.I.P. is up and was so worried that this challenge won`t happen anymore. Thank you, Carl, for carrying on the challenge!

    1. You are welcome. This is certainly the latest I’ve ever posted about it. I will endeavor to be a less mysterious host in the future, lol!

  10. Excellent – can’t wait to jump in with this one! I can’t believe how quickly this has come round.
    Lynn 😀

    1. Even though I didn’t host last year, it does indeed feel like this just happened. But I’m happy for this time of year to be back. Love the last 4 months of the year in the Midwest.

  11. I am SO excited!! Thank you so much for hosting this and I will be back tomorrow to link up my post.

    1. I really enjoyed Miss Peregrine. Looking forward to the movie.

      Thanks for joining in!

  13. Beautiful image! And congrats on re-taking the reins and delving back into some good spooky reading (etc.). Count me in, but my post won’t go live until Saturday, so I won’t add my URL until then. I’m really excited to see the gaming option as well as old faves (short stories and screen), as we’ve recently begun to build a small collection and would love an excuse to add a few more. The Graveyard Book is an awesome audio: no wonder you want to revisit. Enjoy!

    1. I haven’t listened to it for a few years, and I’m itching to again.

      Glad you are excited about gaming being added in. I plan to have some gaming fun during he event, both with the family and friends and also some solo pc/console gaming.

      Look forward to seeing your post this weekend.

  14. I always look forward to this event and it seems to have come round so fast this year! It is also lovely to see you hosting again after a break 🙂

    1. Thanks Jessica, it is good to be back. The year is really flying by. Wish I could put the breaks on it now for these last 4 months.

  15. Hurrah! I’m so excited for this! I can’t wait to figure out which books to read, but I’m thinking its going to be a lot of Stephen King. Talk about the perfect reading event to help kick-start Fall 🙂

    1. Thanks Nadia. King is always a good choice. The man can really write some chilling (in all the right ways) fiction.

  16. Oh yay, you’re back! I don’t have the blog this year, but I DO have an Instagram account just waiting to be filled with R.I.P-alicious books and movies. (Yes, I did cringe a tiny bit even as I typed that.) Hope that’s okay – I figured people can SEE the posts just the same as they would on a blog or other social media, even if they don’t have an account themselves to enable commenting etc…??

  17. Yay! Must get my list together. Love the Peril in Play category! And as usual the art is fabulous!

  18. Yes!! So excited that it’s time for R.I.P. again. Love the season and love the challenge (celebrating my 6th year participating). Happy reading, everyone! 🙂

  19. Hooray, it’s RIP time! I’m making a limited commitment this year, due to all the other stuff going on in life, but I so look forward to reading everyone’s reviews and picking up great recommendations!

  20. I’m back for another round! I picked up a couple of ghost story collections in the pulp-era digest size books. Can’t wait to add them to my R.I.P. reading agenda.

  21. I was so excited to see this up! I have only been book blogging for a year and I discovered this swell challenge last year just as it was ending. I have had it on my radar ever since. I plan to do an eclectic mix of novels (Frankenstein. HP Lovecraft), short stories (Poe, Le Fanu) and some films. I will get up a proper post over the weekend. Thanks for creating this!

  22. Peril in Play is a great new category. I have Cthulhu Fluxx and Arkham Horror so hopefully I can get enough people together to play. Anyway, I’m interested in reading others’ playing experiences. I’m joining in just the Peril the First, again.
    Thanks for hosting!

  25. I finally got my post done for RIP!!!!! Wouldn’t be Fall (such as it is/ isn’t in Florida) without it!!

  27. Thanks for hosting this! It’s my favorite challenge. Sooooo looking forward to it!

  29. Huzzah! Welcome back, Carl. This is the best reading challenge of them all. Now to figure out which Peril to chance, and choose the books/movies/TV shows.

  31. Hooray! I knew this site was out here from a while back, and with the weather getting autumnal I’m happy to find it again.

    Count me in. It’s finally time to face my fears and read those Gothic Horrors on my bookshelf.

  36. Can’t believe it’s already been a whole year since the last RIP! But I’ve been looking forward to this all year. So glad you’re back to hosting again. Many, many thanks!

  37. I should have joined this sooner. I spend every October reading scary books, so I’m definitely in at the Peril the First level. In fact, I just finished a book that I’m blogging about later this week that absolutely fits. Hurray!

  39. This is one of my favourite reading challenges to do every year. This year, as in previous ones, I will be reading Peril the First, Second and Third, and as I haven’t watched Stranger Things or Supernatural season eleven yet, they probably both count as Peril on the Screen (I am unlikely to blog about them, though. I don’t blog TV).

    I’ve already completed one book that fits with the challenge and have two waiting for me on my e-reader. Is it ok to keep posting reviews for books that fit the categories, even after I’ve completed all the various challenges?

  43. I forgot to check over the weekend. I’m in again this year with a movie and TV on DVD review planned (whether the DVD comes out or not) and, of course, lots of mysteries.

    I’ll link up to my official sign up post, which will probably go live this weekend. But trust me, I’m in.

  45. Another first time participant….ready to get into the dark world of Edgar Allan Poe.
    He has written practically every genre…so I don’t have to look far for a variety of works!

  48. I look forward to R.I.P. every autumn. Like you, it’s my favorite time of year. Is it too early to hang my Day of the Dead wreath? I wonder what the neighbors would think…

    Anyhow, I’m so excited to participate and read everyone’s musings about the things that go bump in the night!

  49. Thank you so much for this fun challenge, Carl! I learned about your site through Tracy at Bitter Tea and Mystery, and I’m excited to make time to read my Halloween-themed titles. I chose 1935’s THE GRINDLE NIGHTMARE by Q. Patrick and 1955’s THE JUDGE AND HIS HANGMAN by Friedrich Durrenmatt; those should keep me busy.

    All best wishes, and I look forward to reading everyone’s reviews (and providing my own)!

    Jason Half

  50. Sounds like fun! I love the artwork! I already had some books in mind that I wanted to read in October that fit exactly with the theme of R.I.P. so thought I might as well join in on the conversation here. 🙂 Autumn is my absolute favorite – crisp air, falling leaves, misty mornings, and creepy books!

  51. This is my 2nd year participating–I had a great time last year and I have some good books in mind. I’m late in joining, but it’ll work out. Thanks.

  53. Carl, I wait for this event every fall … glad I saw the post on a friend’s site. I’m late to the party, but signing up for it once again! Glad you’re back!

  54. I’m in! Doing Peril of the Short Story and attempting to read 24 short stories by the end of October. Looking forward to the challenge.

  55. I’m a little late, but I’m in with three levels of Peril. I’m going to read at least 4 books, 2 short stories and watch 2 movies/tv dramas. Ambitious, I know, but I’m retired – lucky me.

  56. After viewing this from afar for many years, I am participating for the first time. I think it will be a lot of fun!

  57. a little late but that’s nothing new! still, very excited to be here and so happy you’re back 🙂 EstellasRevenge is awesome but just wasn’t same without you!

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