Category: Spooktober

The Journey: October 26,2025

This past week was crazy busy, and as you can image , my reading took a little bit of a hit. With Halloween just around the corner there’s some preparations to be made, so in all, it was really enjoyable and spooky days.

Now, I will put some extra effort to keep my weekly goal streak going. Nothing major, just 906 pages to go, and a good 4 hours on this lazy Sunday to achieve that apparently huge number. I have done it before and I’ll do it again.

One of the great news for this week is that one of the sections of this adventure will return with a new post, Caffeine Pilgrimage, that’s the one where I go to different coffee shops, drink copious amounts of that magical elixir , and check out the reading vibe of the place. I’ll be doing this collaboration with a pretty cool and special person, which makes the experience even more exciting.

Let’s talk about the reading plans of the last days of spooky season. First of all, my current progress on The Reddening, serious what a creepy and exhilarating ride at the hand of Mr. Nevill, is almost at page 300, which is about three quarters of the way through.

I also added to my reading itinerary a couple of short stories collections from his extensive bibliography, Before you Sleep and Before you Wake., so is easy to say that this spooky season was placed in the really capable hands of this British author.

And not being satisfied with those three works, yesterday, there was the addition of his most recognized work, The Ritual, which as my in-house expert on new horror films, it’s a very disturbing and memorable movie. I’m thinking that the book should be even greater than that.

On the comic book front, there’s a lot to go thru. For starters I stumbled upon a collection from two of the greatest horror creators in the medium. Steve Niles, from 30 days of Night fame, and the legendary illustrator Bernie Wrightson, this beautiful black and white collection includes three stories, for my money the best of the collection will be The Ghoul, there’s a bit of hints of Hellboy and a noir detective that just make it a delight to read

To continue with the great stories for spooky season, I can’t not get enough of my favorite comic book universe, of course I’m talking about Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. My latest incursion was with the finally of the story arc of the long running Hell on Earth. Although one of the greatest member of the extensive history of the B.P.R.D comes and saves the day, the great Liz Sherman, the earth shattering consequences are feel throughout several planes of existence. Yes the frogmen are defeated, along with the Black Flame. But a new terror rises in the mist of the appear victory.

Which brings us to the new story arc, The Devil You Know, starting off with the first volume, Messiah. As the B.P.R.D neutralizes the apocalypse, while trying to rebuild the world among cults and demons running around, they return to the ruins of what once was their Headquarters to find a mysterious coffin containing the remains of non other than Hellboy himself, to get the full shock effect of this revelation I recommend to read The Fury and Hellboy in Hell story arcs

Not to exaggerate, but I strongly believe that this spooky season has been the best, not only in all the material that has passed thru my hands, but also the overall feel and especially the catching up with all the horror movies I missed out on in recent years, again, this is all thanks to my in-house expert, and future collaborator on this blog , on the subject.

I’ll get back to reading, there’s a gargantuan task to be tackled, and as always, I’m not about to back down from a challenge, especially if there’s coffee and books involved.

For now, I’m off to read.

Azriel

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Daily Journal: October 12, 2025

It took a while for me to get back to sharing my progress in this crazy journey of mine, but here I am, eager to get back on track with my reading.

I think the first order of business on this return is to give you a quick update of how my numbers are going and what I’m currently working on.

As you may already know, spooky season is my favorite time of the year, and so far, I have read some amazing eerie and disturbing stories.

In the case of the creature of the Black Lagoon and Dear Creature, the stories follow a reptilian type creature that haunts the waterways, but in two totally different approaches, to be completely honest, I was pleasantly surprised by Jonathan Case’s Dear Creature, not only is it beautifully illustrated, but it also has a more whimsical approach to the creature, sometimes really funny, sometimes really heart wrenching, but in all an amazing tale of trying to belong and find happiness.

On the other hand, the Creature from the Black Lagoon transported me to back when I was 12 and starting to get into those classic creature-features that were already ingrained as the basis of all the genre of monsters.

Another volume I started working on was A Very DC Halloween, seeing the classic characters from the DC universe embroiled in supernatural scenarios is always fun, and just teasing on the cover a Swamp Thing story, well that will get me to open it up every time.

On the book front, I just re-started my spooky season tradition of reading Frankenstein, beautifully illustrated by William O’Connor, as always this behemoth of a book never fails to amaze me, and with the impending release of Guillermo del Toro adaptation, this was the perfect timing to get immersed in it’s captivating story

The two other books that hopefully will be finished by the end of spooky season

The first is a compilation of vampire called Vampirismo, containing some classic authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Alexander Dumas, H.G.Wells, Robert E.Howard and the main reason for buying this particular collection was to finally read the seminal story by John Polidori, The Vampyre. Considered the first romantic vampire story and created on the same faithful night where the brilliant Mary Shelley gave birth to her famous Prometheus.

The second is the folk-horror novel The Reddening by author Adam L.G. Nevill , as the description of the book goes, I’m getting into a world of ancient rituals , prehistoric vengeful gods and mythical red creatures. Sounds like the perfect book to cozy up for the colder weather.

On the number side of things , I’ll just make a quick update, the full rundown of my totals and date of the next achievements will be posted on the next numbers post, which as tradition dictates, will be done on the magic Monday of each week.

So far on this year, the eighteen of reading, my total is 13,971 pages. I started a bit slow but right now my pace has improved drastically. The goal for the year is 70,265 pages, clarifying that I measure from my birthday , which is in June, so the year starts one day after and finishes on the exact date of my birthday.

The two next impending goals are reaching 15,000 pages for the year, projected for October 21, and the next big milestone on the whole project , reaching 600,000 pages, that according to my average and pacing it should be achieved on the last day of 2025, of course I’ll try to bring down that date.

Now more than ever each day gained and each page read is worth gold,my conviction to arrive to those coveted objective has not changed. In around 6 years, I’ll be celebrating with a trip to culminate this amazing adventure, the journey has been spectacular, not let’s thread those final footsteps to my emerald prize .

For now, I’m off to read

Azriel

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The plot thickens

As November starts, I find myself with some unexpected challenges in this year’s reading journey.

By now I should be around 26,000 total pages for the year, the reality of things is that my current count is 21,567, some 4,000 pages behind schedule, and as a new month begins, the projected total sums up quite the hefty sum.

The challenge, in November, is to read 9,754 pages to get back on track, I’m well aware that it is a monumental task, but now more than ever my mindset is more than ready to take on this seemingly impossible task.

And to start off things with a bang, I’ll take on what it seems like a really stupid idea, which in my mind sounds like the perfect plan to tackle the sheer amount of pages in front of me, get thru the remaining hours of my Spooktober reading marathon.

Being that sleeping is overrated, I’ll take these two remaining days to close-out my favorite time of the year in style.

Off to read.

azr

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Spooktober reading marathon update

My reading this passed few days have been underwhelming to say the least. Of the 49 proposed hour, I have only gone thru 3 and a half hours

But that is the least of my worries, there´s still 2,431 pages left on my October reading goal, and 5,012 pages to get back on track. The good news is that my weekend, starting tomorrow, looks pretty clear, some intense late night reading sessions are in order, maybe even some outings to some local coffee house, there are a few quiet and cozy places to read the afternoon away.

My focus today is to finish with this year´s traditional reading of Frankenstein, currently on page 205 of 260, and if my eyes can holdout, finish with the second volume of the Enderverse, La voz de los muertos, currently on page 388 of 451, finishing either one would get me back on track with the 52 books in 52 weeks challenge.

Big plans for one of my favorite time of the year.

Off to read.

azr.

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Spooktober marathon

It’s finally here, the week leading up to Halloween and Dia de Muertos, and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than with a 9 day reading marathon.

The rules are quite simple, complete 49 hours of reading by the end of November 2 and maintain as much as possible the Science Fiction theme of the year, if there’s some space horror to throw into the mix, it would be just perfect.

To keep track of the hours left, I’ll use the really handy timer plus app. So, the clock is set.

Let’s go get those remaining October pages and more.

Off to read.

azr.

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2,814 pages

I start the final stretch of October with 2,814 pages left to read, this, from the 5,518 projected as the minimal total for this month. That gives around 312 daily pages to read, which is really doable, just need some focus, and large quantities of caffeine.

To keep the tradition of this time, I started reading this year’s edition of Frankenstein, a present from a couple of my dearest friends, makes this all that more special. This particular edition is from Nordica Libros, a publishing house from Spain, and its beautifully illustrated by Elena Odriozola.

Another delightful surprise is that this edition contains introductions from Mary Shelley and her husband Percy Shelley, and if I´m not mistaking, it’s the first time I read side by side.

I’ll take this days to also close the Aliens Omnibus series, currently about to start volume number 4, right after I finish the first volume of the manga Ghost in the Shell.

The only left is to make the list for the movie marathon form Halloween to Día de Muertos and I will be set, on top of the list is ParaNorman by request from my two kids, there’s also James Whale’s classic, Frankenstein, but from there everything is pretty much open territory.

Now to tackle those pages.

Off to read.

azr

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20,000 pages , and just getting started

I have finally reach another milestone on this year of reading, 20,000 total pages.

Not the milestone to break open the champagne, or the red wine in my case, but it’s an important stepping stone toward the broader goal of the year, and a much needed wisp of fresh air to fill my being with renew hope.

To keep on rolling on this high, I will attempt to knock-off at least 1,000 pages of the backed-up pages from passed weeks, and get my reading back on schedule, which as of now, it’s 4,250 pages behind schedule, but first things first, read the remaining 608 pages left to reach this week’s quota, and then, take a little off the top.

To help me along the way, there’s some amazing things helping me out, from a couple of French Comic Books, Clockwerx and the Ark, the latter part of the material that got me over 20,000 pages-

To the classic Manga, Ghost in the Shell, which I’m currently reading while listening to Mr. Nick Cave´s solo performance in Alexandra Palace, Idiot Prayer.

And top off the night the award-winning novella Binti, written by the Nigerian-American author Nnedi Okorafor, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and it’s sequels both were nominated for the Hugo Award in their respective years. I am about halfway thru it, and is quickly escalating to the top of the best book of this year of reading.

There’s still some intense reading to close-out the day with a strong progress, but with such good material, and a couple of really strong black coffee, this night is shaping up to be a really good one.

Off to read.

azr.

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Spooktober comes to an end

The spookiest month has come and went.

Let me recap how my plans work out.

On the movie front, I just watched 1 of the 19 movies that were on my list, and it’s probably time to scrap this part from next year’s festivities.

On the reading front, it went a bit better, but not that much, I finished Frankenstein, and read the about half of The Halloween Tree.

Also ,first volume of Marvel’s The Vampire Tales, about 1/5 of the second volume of Werewolf by Night, a couple of short stories from Avatar’s Night of the Living Dead, and the crown jewel of this year’s festivities, Hellboy: The Storm and The Fury.

Not a very productive run, but a really satisfying one.

Right now I am gearing up for my next task, Bookly’s Fall Readathon, which will take place from November 5 to 8, and the main goal is to read 10 hours using the app.

For more information check out Bookly’s blog.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

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Time of Frankenstein

I about 60 pages away from finishing Frankenstein, one of my Spooktober’s tradition, which also includes watching on Halloween, Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein, both movies starting the legendary Boris Karloff, and directed by James Whale.

This year I have included a new take of this classic tale, in form of an Rock Opera by Mexican composer Jose Fors, we watch the show a few years ago, now I have to settle with the album.

Also, I have reach the first 1,000 pages of this year, only 36,000 pages to go.

I’ll make the most of this cold and snowy day, to cozy up, and get some reading done, on deck right now is the second volume of Werewolf by Nigh.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

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Spooktober update

With the main week of Spooktober just around the corner, an update is in order.

On the movie front, not much to tell, just watch one movie, Cronos, the first long feature film by academy award winner director Guillermo del Toro.

The updated list

  1. Dracula (1931)
  2. Frankenstein (1931)
  3. The Mummy (1932)
  4. The Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
  5. Werewolf of London (1935)
  6. Dracula (1958)
  7. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
  8. The Brides of Dracula (1960)
  9. Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)
  10. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  11. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
  12. Day of the Dead (1985)
  13. Land of the Dead (2005)
  14. Diary of the Dead (2007)
  15. Survival of the Dead (2009)
  16. Cronos (1993)
  17. The Devil’s Backbone (2001)
  18. Halloween (1978)
  19. Halloween (2007)

On the graphic novel/comic books front, I have finished the first volume of the vintage comic book by Marvel, Vampire Tales, some amazing black and white stories of Morbius , the living vampire, which is really familiar to me because of the Ghost Rider comics.

Also, some of Avatar comics Night of the Living Dead, which ties directly to the classical movie by the zombie master himself George A. Romero.

This list is always a challenge, because I keep adding things, like the book , The Halloween Tree by legendary writer Ray Bradbury, and beautifully illustrated by the talented Gris Grimly.

Here is the updated list.

  1. Vampire Tales Vol.1
  2. Tomb of Dracula Vol.1
  3. Werewolf by Night: The Complete Collection Vol. 2
  4. Aliens Omnibus Vol.1
  5. Aliens Omnibus Vol.2
  6. Aliens Omnibus Vol.3
  7. Aliens Omnibus Vol.4
  8. Aliens Omnibus Vol.5
  9. Aliens Omnibus Vol.6
  10. B.P.R.D : Vampire
  11. B.P.R.D. : Hell on Earth Book One
  12. Gotham by Midnight (2014-2015)Vol. 1
  13. Wormwood Gentleman Corpse: Mr. Wormwood goes to Washington
  14. Night of the Living Dead : Hunger
  15. Night of the Living Dead: Back from the Grave
  16. Frankenstein (Book)
  17. The Halloween Tree (Book)
  18. Hellboy: The Storm and the Fury

Next on the list is the second volume of another vintage monster Marvel comics series, Werewolf by Night.

Still a lot to watch and read, this is going to be a fun week.

For now, I am off to read.

azr.

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