October is here, the month of things spooky, Gothic, and mysterious. There’s a couple of reading events I’m considering joining (either officially or unofficially):
Victober 2021 – Read 1+ books from the Victorian era, with extra challenges suggested by the hosts. As we all know, a lot of great Victorian literature features the supernatural and bizarre. My personal recommendations (if you have the reading bandwidth) are Dracula (of course!) and The Woman in White. For something short, try some medical-inspired short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle in the collection, Round the Red Lamp: Being Facts and Fancies of Medical Life—free on Gutenberg!
Club DARE 2.0 – Hosted by the Classics Club, this is a challenge to read at least one book from your CC list that counts as Gothic. I actually have quite a few on my list… if I could find the time, I would go for The Bride of Lammermoor by Sir Walter Scott, the inspiration for one of my favorite tragic operas.
Right now, I’m reading a novella called The Wendigo, by Algernon Blackwood. I enjoyed The Willows back in June, so I thought I’d give Blackwood another read. His writing is painfully dated (e.g. racial language/stereotypes), but the plot itself—a moose hunting trip in the haunted wilderness of Canada—is very enjoyable so far. It was published in 1910, but it’s reminiscent of Doyle or Haggard from a decade or two previous.
Classics Considered 
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