Castle Macabre's I Read Horror Year-Round Reading Challenge

[Elyse]

Opening Post: https://castlemacabre.blogspot.com/20...
First Quarter Check-In: https://castlemacabre.blogspot.com/20...

Here are the categories, or themes:
Vampires

Witches

Folk Horror (Ideas: https://tinyurl.com/yy8jj56a or https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/...)

Written by a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) author

A Ghost Story
Bag of Bones (PB & Libby)
Written by a female author

Cosmic Horror
The Ballad of Black Tom (E-Book Own/Hoopla Audio)
Frightening Cover

Adapted as movie/series
Rosemary’s Baby (Hoopla Audio)
Katsu, Ketchum, King, or Koontz

Black, gray, orange, or red cover

Book featuring a Cryptid (mark off one BINGO square!)
The Descent (Hoopla Audio)

Levels:
Spooky: Read 6 books from 6 categories
Chilling: Read 12 Books from all 12 categories
Frightful: Read 2 books from each category for a total of 24 books
Horrifying: Read 3 books from each category for a total of 36 books

Challenge runs from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025. Cross overs with other challenges count. Short stories are allowed if you're reading an entire collection or anthology. Books must be over 100 pages (one book under 100 pages is permitted). You do not have to pick your books ahead of time, but you can if you want.

Hashtag for social media: #IReadHorror

[Elyse]

Possibles?

[Elyse]

Winter theme, or winter appearance on the cover (snow, ice, etc.)
Ararat by Christopher Golden
The Snow by Flint Maxwell
December by Phil Rickman
A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons

Ghosts or spirits
Come With Me Ronald Malfi
The Family Plot by Cherie Priest
Gad’s Hall by Norah Lofts
The Bear Who Found Christmas by Alan Rodgers

Psychological
Behind Her Eyes Sarah Pinborough
The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
The Hiding Place by C. J. Tudor

Monster or monsters
Snowblind by Christopher Golden

A body of water (featured in story, on cover, or in title)
Cradle Lake Ronald Malfi
Duma Key by Stephen King
The Listener by Robert McCammon

Really scary book cover
The Breach by M.T. Hill
Bethany’s Sin by Robert McCammon
The Tea Party by Charles L. Grant

Woman on cover
Later by Stephen King

Written by a woman
The Witch's Trinity Erika Mailman
The Mummy by Anne Rice
Frankenstein, Or the Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley
The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley
Craven Manor by Darcy Coates
The Witching Hour by Anne Rice

Written by a best-selling horror author
The Cleanup by John Skipp and Craig Spector

Written by an indie author
August's Eyes Glenn Rolfe
Echoes of Home by M.L. Rayner

Historical horror
Last Train From Perdition by Robert McCammon

Folk horror
Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon
Candlenight by Phil Rickman
The Man in the Moss by Phil Rickman
The Cold Calling by Phi Rickman
The Visitant by Kathleen O'Neal Gear, W. Michael Gear
Winterset Hollow Jonathan Edward Durham
Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist
The Summoning God by Kathleen O’Neal Gear and W. Michael Gear

Book by a BIPOC
The Only Good Indians Stephen Graham Jones
The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas
Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Lone Women
Don't Fear the Reaper

A Gothic horror classic (published 50 or more years ago, published no later than 1972)
The Marble Faun Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen
The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson
The Necromancers, Robert Hugh Benson

A modern Gothic tale (published within 50 years ago, published 1973 or later)
Fireside Gothic Andrew Taylor
Wardenclyffe by F. Paul Wilson
Diavola by Jennifer Marie Thorne
The Dismembered, Jonathan Janz

Purple, orange, or green on the cover
The Book of Accidents by Chuck Wendig

Short story collection/Anthology
Goblin by Josh Malerman
Out There Screaming by Jordan Peele
Dread: 22 Tales of Terror by Kevin Bachar
Just After Sunset by Stephen King
Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele

Zombies, Witches, Vampires, or Werewolves
Impact Winter Travis Beacham (vamp)
‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (vamp)
The Wolf’s Hour by Robert R. McCammon (werewolf)
In the House in the Dark of the Woods Laird Hunt (witch)
Nightmare Country by Marlys Millhiser (witch)

Fairy Tale Retelling
The Taking by Dean Koontz

Title with Dead, Blood, or Bone
Bag of Bones by Stephen King

Black, red, or white cover
The Magpie Lord by K.J. Charles
Black River Orchard by Chuck Wendig
The Lodge by Jeremy Eads
The Twelve by Justin Cronin

A book that is also a movie
I'm Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

Dark Academia novel
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

Creepy character/object (House, doll, child, etc.)
Night Songs by Charles L. Grant
I Found Puppets Living in my Apartment Walls by Ben Farthing
Cunning Folk, Adam Nevill

Nature gone wild (when plants or animals attack)
The Portent by Marilyn Harris
Animal Kingdom by Iain Rob Wright

Witch, dark, blood, bone, or body in title
Children of the Dark, Jonathan Janz

Holiday horror (Christmas, yule, etc.)
Christmas and Other Horrors: An Anthology of Solstice Horror

Takes place during Halloween season
Mischief Night Massacre: Ten Tales of Halloween, Jason Parent

[Elyse]

Folk Horror
Memorials by Richard Chizmar

Cosmic Horror
The Border by Robert McCammon

Black, gray, orange, or red cover
Horseman Christina Henry

Book featuring a Cryptid (mark off one BINGO square!)
The Dover Demon Hunter Shea

[Elyse]

Vampires - The Vampire Armand, Anne Rice
Witches
Folk Horror
Written by a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) author
A Ghost Story - The Hacienda, Isabel Canas
Written by a female author - Pine, Francine Toon
Cosmic Horror - Annihilation, Jeff Vandermeer
Frightening Cover
Adapted as movie/series - The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde
Katsu, Ketchum, King, or Koontz - Holly, Stephen King
Black, gray, orange, or red cover - Horseman, Christina Henry
Book featuring a Cryptid (mark off one BINGO square!) - The Dover Demon, Hunter Shea

[Elyse]

Folk Horror
1. Memorials by Richard Chizmar

Written by a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) author

A Ghost Story
1. For Fear of the Night by Charles L. Grant

Written by a female author
1. The Conjurers by Marilyn Harris

Cosmic Horror
1. The Border by Robert McCammon

Frightening Cover
1. Blood of the Children by Alan Rodgers

Adapted as movie/series
1. We Used to Live Here by Marcus Kliewer

Katsu, Ketchum, King, or Koontz
1. You Like It Darker by Stephen King
2. Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King
3. The Regulators by Richard Bachman (aka Stephen King)

Black, gray, orange, or red cover
1. The Fireman by Joe Hill