R.I.P. or Readers Imbibing Peril

It is that time of year when reading thoughts turn towards Halloween fare and the annual R.I.P  challenge begins.  I first discovered this challenge a few years ago in my previous online life, under a different name and blog, these days I just use the book blog as a personal reading journal and I don't normally sign up for challenges, I like to keep things simple and pressure free but R.I.P. is pretty simple and stress free and I love the concept.  Carl V at Stainless Steel Droppings created a great reading challenge in the annual R.I.P. event and I can't resist but since I am starting a bit late I thought I would only sign up for peril the second; read two books of any length that fit with the loosely defined terms of the challenge:

The purpose of the R.I.P. Challenge is to enjoy books that could be classified as:
Mystery.
Suspense.
Thriller.
Dark Fantasy.
Gothic.
Horror.
Supernatural.
The emphasis is never on the word challenge, instead it is about coming together as a community and embracing the autumnal mood, whether the weather is cooperative where you live or not.(copied from Stainless Steel Droppings).

I always love the art work that Carl V finds for the challenge banners and this year is no exception, the images are the work of Melissa Nucera and the angels evoke the creepiness of the weeping angels of Doctor Who fame, (Blink one of the scariest episodes ever and Moffat at his creepy best).  I love the angels.

Now to what I will read, well since I am starting late and the challenge ends on the 31st of October I have only set myself to read two books, one of which will be the Mark Hodder Burton and Swinburne novel The curious case of the clockwork man, not sure what the second title will be.  I do know that I will also try to read at least one short story and as part of the Halloween reading plan I thought I would re-read the original Grimm version of Cinderella, which is a whole lot darker than anything Disney came up with. So this is just my first challenge post and the start of my reading pool, further additions soon.