Teesside Horror Book Club

Hi everyone!

My name's Joe and I'm looking to start and lead a book club for horror fiction enthusiasts in the Teesside area.

A little about me: I'm in my early 30s and work in the NHS. I loved reading as a kid and studied an English Lit degree. As I've gotten older I've found myself loving horror fiction but I'm fairly new to the genre and have a lot to explore and read. I'd love to create a space where like-minded people can get together and discuss various horror works. You don't have to be a newbie like me though! I've found my friends don't have similar tastes to me (most don't read regularly at all) but I love sharing my interests with equally passionate people and I feel like I'm currently missing this. I'm hoping this club will scratch that itch, as well as expand/broaden my reading and knowledge/opinions/interpretations/critiques of the horror genre!

How I'm thinking the group will run (but open to suggestions as it's newly forming):

• 18+ only, but other than this everyone is welcome.
• Meetup every 4-6 weeks in a public place in the Teesside area, perhaps a library or cafe. Some quieter pubs/bars may work if the club doesn't meet at peak times (open to suggestions for location).
• All forms of horror fiction will be considered (prose including novels, novellas and short stories, poetry, drama including play and film scripts). We will aim to keep the focus solely on horror.
• All types and subgenres of horror fiction welcome: old, new, classic, high brow, low brow, etc. If it's horror we'll read it!
• An achievable amount of reading for 4-6 weeks. This can be negotiated but I'm thinking likely be one novel or novella, or multiple of shorter forms (short stories, poems).
• A 'round robin' style to text selection - each person will have the opportunity to select a text for the next meetup, taking it in turns so everyone gets the opportunity to have the group read something they are interested in.
• We will respect any objections to text selections, but at the same time would encourage an open mind. Sometimes we don't always know if we'll like something until we try, and other people may have read something you suggested that they didn't like the sound of!
• Read the whole text, even if you are not enjoying it.
• If a text hasn't been read the group should be skipped.
• We will aim to keep the discussion primarily focused on the texts. We will have breaks where we'll be able to chat about other things!
• We will aim to have some deeper conversations beyond likes/dislikes. Likes/dislikes are fine and probably a good starting point but it would also be interesting to consider other things such as meanings, metaphors, cultural/historical implications, the author and the context in which the work was written, the message being conveyed by the text, what makes it scary (or not scary!), how the horror is delivered, choices of language, language structure, plot structure, how it compares in the above ways to other texts we may have read as a group etc. The list is endless! Please don’t be intimidated by this: it doesn’t need to be genius/mind blowing conversation. It’s mainly just to encourage something deeper than ‘this was good’.
• No cost, other than what you pay out of your own pocket for the texts and getting to/buying things at the meet ups. If the group gets to be large in size (a man can dream), donations to cover the cost of online management of the group and advertising on meetup.com and similar sites would be welcome but never mandatory.
• I hope this goes without saying but all group members must be treated with respect at all times. Any form of discrimination or abuse will not be tolerated. We will create a safe, welcoming and supportive environment for members at all times.

As this is just getting set up and I’m the only one currently: location, time and frequency will be confirmed if people reach out to me and express an interest. Happy to answer any questions people may have in the mean time. Thanks for reading this and if you're interested please reach out! I hope to see you at the Teesside Horror Book Club!

Thanks,

Joe