Why celebrate just one day of Halloween when you can read a spooky story for each day of October? For the third year in a row, Dr. Sam Hirst, founder of Romancing the Gothic, has put together a reading challenge that features thirty-one poems and short stories from across history and Gothic subgenres to get us into the Halloween spirit. The challenge started in 2022 using the hashtag #AGhostADay and focusing on tales of revenants and spirits of the dead. Last year, Sam expanded the focus to include all different areas of the weird and macabre and changed the hashtag to #AScareADay. You can read my recap of last year’s challenge here. This year, #AScareADay is back and I’m more excited than ever! You can see the full reading list, complete with links for where to find each story or poem, on the Romancing the Gothic website and join the discussion using the hashtag #AScareADay on Twitter or Bluesky. (I will try to post on both platforms as I finish each story.)
I love that this reading challenge gets me to stretch outside my comfort zone and discover works I never would have found otherwise. This is especially true for the poems on the list, since I find myself rarely exploring poetry outside of a classroom setting. Sam Hirst has particularly good taste, and I’ve enjoyed pretty much all of the readings from the last two challenges! Last year, a good chunk of the stories were rereads for me, but this year they’re almost all brand new. Though I’m familiar with most of the authors, I believe the only texts I’ve read already are Edith Nesbit’s “From the Dead” (a tragic and ghostly love story included in Handheld Press’s recent collection, The House of Silence) and A. M. Burrage’s “Smee” (one of my favorite Christmas ghost stories).
There are a few stories on this year’s list that I’m particularly looking forward to. One is “The Overcoat” by Nikolai Gogol. I’ve only read one short story before by this famed Russian fantasist, a particularly surreal and humorous little piece called “The Nose.” But ever since watching the Russian-language mini series Gogol with the Romancing the Gothic book club a couple years ago (looks like it’s currently available to stream on Amazon Prime), I’ve been intrigued to read more of his darker stuff. Another one I’m excited for—and can’t believe I haven’t read yet—is Bram Stoker’s “Dracula’s Guest.” I’m currently in the middle of my annual Dracula reread (thanks to Dracula Daily for starting me on this yearly tradition), so it’s the perfect time to read this 1914 short story, which is widely considered to have originally been a deleted first chapter from Stoker’s novel. And lastly, I can’t wait to check out “Locked Doors” by Mary Roberts Rinehart! Rinehart is best known as a writer of mystery novels during the golden age of that genre (roughly between the two world wars). In fact, she is often called the “American Agatha Christie,” though she actually was even more popular and outsold Christie during her own lifetime. For my day job at a publishing house specializing in mystery fiction, I’ve worked on quite a few reprint editions of Rinehart’s classic mystery novels. I wasn’t at all aware of her short fiction, though, and am especially interested to see her dip into the spookier side of things.
Will you be participating in the #AScareADay Reading Challenge? Check out the readings here and let me know which tales you’re excited for in the comments!