For me, fall means reading books that make you want to wrap yourself in a blanket, curl up on the couch and sink into an atmospheric story that chills your blood as much as the cooling temperatures outside. Plus, as most book bloggers know, it’s Carl’s RIP Challenge!

S.J. Bolton’s gothic thriller Blood Harvest definitely fit into those parameters. Set in a quaint but ominously odd village in the English countryside, it reminded me of Thomas Tryon’s Harvest Home. A young couple and their two children have recently moved Heptonclough, taking up residence in a home situated next to the village’s graveyard. The Fletcher family aren’t the only outsiders to arrive in Heptonclough; Harry, a young (and single) priest has arrived to assume the rectorship of the Anglican church. They all quickly find themselves mired in a sinister mystery, as children are found murdered, a ghostly figure seems to be threatening the Fletcher children, and the ancient rites of the villagers may be more than symbolic.

For a chilling twist on a crime novel, Blood Harvest is a great book for a good scare.

Beth Gutcheon’s novel More Than You Know has been on my bookshelf waiting to be read for so long, I don’t even remember how I got it in the first place. But I do know that the premise about a ghost story set in a small Maine coastal town is what drew me to the book in the first place. An elderly woman is recounting what happened to her one fateful summer. As a teenager, Hannah was brought to Dundee by her mercurial stepmother. There, she meets a local boy, Conary, and falls in love. She also encounters a terrifying entity who exudes misery and malevolence. There is a history of unhappiness and grief in Dundee, and Hannah becomes caught in its legacy. With its star-crossed lovers and frightening spectre, More Than You Know would appeal to older teens as well as adults.

And last, but certainly not least, I finished up the challenge (on Halloween as I waited for trick-or-treaters) with The Woman in White, Wilkie Collins’ classic tale of gothic suspense. I initially put this book on my nightstand last December, with the intention to participate in the Big Read V throughout the month of January. Well, it wasn’t long before I fell behind, and while I didn’t give up, Wilkie’s book sat neglected for many months while other books were piled on top of it, and other books were read instead. But I was determined to return and finish, and so, finally, in early October, I moved The Woman in White to the top of the pile, and lo and behold, I not only read the book, but I liked it, too! I also enjoyed reading Leila’s snarky and insightful comments in her Big Read posts, although sadly, life happened as it is wont to do sometimes, and she never made posts for the last few chapters.

I was pleasantly surprised at how funny and subversive Collins was in his writing, as I was expecting a straightforward Victorian melodrama. We get melodrama, of course, but so much more, thanks in large part to a gutsy and intelligent woman (in the character of Marian) and a diabolical yet strangely endearing villain (Count Fosco). The Woman in White is another one of those ‘why did I wait so long’ books and I wish I had participated more actively in The Big Read, as this is the kind of book you want to discuss with others who’ve read it. I’ve also added The Moonstone, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Drood to my ‘to read’ list, all thanks to this book.

And with that, the RIP Challenge is complete for another year. Thanks, Carl! I’ve already got my list underway for next year …