I have set my personal goal to 50 books for the Goodreads 2018 Reading Challenge.

1 down, 49 to go. Woo-hoo! Going strong.

My dilemma is that I’ve searched the web high and low for a reading challenge that pertains to the Gothic, and let me tell ya, they are obscure to the point of being nearly non-existent. So here I am creating the 2018 Gothic Reading Challenge, because I know that I cannot be the only weirdo out there who enjoys deliciously Gothic fiction.

Behold.

1. A book that features a Byronic hero (think the brooding, anti-hero: aka Batman!)
2. A Victorian Gothic tale (can be either written or set in the Victorian era c. 1837-1901)
3. A book that features a gloomy castle (setting is an important character, too!)
4. A Southern Gothic tale (a fixation on the grotesque, y’all)
5. A book that features an isolated manor house
6. A book that features a decaying garden
7. A book set on the English moors
8. A classic Penny Dreadful (i.e. Frankenstein, Sweeney Todd)
9. A book that features a decrepit hall or the ruins of an Abbey
10. A book that features a terrible familial curse or prophecy
11. A book whose central theme features “madness” or “insanity”
12. A book featuring elements of the supernatural (ghosts, vampires, monsters, etc.)
13. A gothic romance (a book that may feature murder, madness, and a tragic love story, with or without all the supernatural fuss and muss)

Yes, I am ending this on the number 13….

Do-dee-do-do, do-dee-do-do

Enjoy.