R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril IX

I am going to participate in a reading challenge this fall called R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril or RIP, hosted by Carl of Stainless Steel Droppings. The challenge is in its ninth year (wow!), but this will be my first time playing along. This is kind of out-of-the box for me, but I've decided I'm in!

Here is the basic idea of the RIP IX challenge . . . to read one or more books that fit into the following categories during the months of September and October:
Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
Dark Fantasy
Gothic
Horror
Supernatural

And here are Carl's two rules for RIP:
1. Have fun reading (and watching).
2. Share that fun with others.

Well, truthfully, I don't read many books that fall into the above categories at all! I am usually more of a literary fiction and historical fiction reader, although I like a good thriller or mystery once in a while. But, as a relatively new blogger, I am trying to expand the horizons of my reading and connect with other bloggers, and this seems like a great way to do both. And, hey, it's almost fall . . . what better way to get into the mood for Halloween than to read something creepy?

The RIP IX challenge has several levels of participation, or "perils," which you can read all about on the official challenge site here. I am going to participate in this peril:

Andi and Heather of The Estella Society are hosting a RIP IX Readalong for this year's Group Read, and this is actually what led me to participating in RIP. The readalong will run from September 1 through October 1, and the book selected is The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. There will be a group discussion of this classic novella on October 1. Here is the banner for The Estella Society's readalong:

When I saw Andi's post about the readalong for The Haunting of Hill House, I decided this would be a great opportunity for me to revisit the work of Shirley Jackson. I've only read her short stories, and that was positively EONS ago in high school. My interest in Jackson was peaked earlier this summer when I read a novel loosely based on Shirley Jackson; it's called Shirley: A Novel by Susan Scarf Merrell and you can read my review of it here. I didn't find Merrell's novel fully satisfying, unfortunately, but I feel drawn to reading more Jackson. So this readalong sounded like perfect fit. I can't wait to get started!

I'm only committing myself to reading The Haunting of Hill House at this point, but I am fully expecting to hear about some fantastic books through RIP IX. Maybe I'll add other books as we go along! I look forward to reading everyone's posts.