Haunted Book Club 002 - Part 2 The Chat "The Masque of the Red Death" by Edgar Allan Poe With Gav Cross & John Reppion

The second Haunted Book Club and we haven’t even started haemorrhaging too many stories yet!The Masque of the Red Deathby Edgar Allan PoeHarry Clarke’s iconic illustration to accompany a very non pockect sized edition…Thank you to every one that joined in especially if your name was Claire/Clare. Never too many Claire/Clare’s.Lots to say about this one - we didn’t find it scary. Some of us get the ‘ick’ from EAP. But it did stick around in our visual perceptions of horrible plagues…We aggregated the scores. Oh yeah. We scored it.Scare Factor: 1.5/10 - Not so scary at all but some of us love the florid language and style.Creep Factor: 2.5/5 - This one lingers… Those aristo’s and their partying.Satisfaction: 4/5 - It’s a classic for a reason. It’s got everything on the surface and so much more going on underneath.Was it a ‘Woo Hoo!’ or a ‘Boo Hoo…’?You should have a listen and decide for yourself.You missed ‘The AfterLive’. The Substack exclusive and cut section of the HBC. You have to be here live to be part of that…The next Haunted Book is 9pm, Tuesday 17th of March.The Eyesby Edith WhartonOur version of that will drop on your feed next week. Get listening or reading!Mar 3rd: Haunted Book Club - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen PoeMar 9th: The Story - The Eyes by Edith WhartonMar 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Eyes by Edith WhartonMar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF BensonMarch 31st: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF BensonApril 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith NesbitApril 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith NesbitApril 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory, Runcorn - The Curfew by Lucy M.BostonMay 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth GaskellDid you spot the Live LIVE?That’s right - you can sot with us in the same wonderful and atmospheric space that is Norton Priory or the Portico Library. We will still do the reading for you but you can join in live with like minded pals and us!Phew - that is a lot to take in. We know!Thank you again. Don’t turn around…(No, that still doesn’t feel quite right as a catchphrase either. We should workshop it).Gav & JohnMarch 2026Thank you eejits, Josie Ray, Rachael Prime, Chris Williams, Clare Williams, and many others for tuning into our live video with John Reppion and Gav Cross ! Join us for my next live video in the app.Subcribe for notifications about the the Haunted Book Club and more! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit gavcross.substack.com