# Halloween Book Club 2026 **URL:** \ **Category:** Book Clubs\ **Created:** [September 7, 2026, 10:48am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642 "2026-09-07T10:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 10:48am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/1 "2026-09-07T10:48:03Z")
![Nihonhorrorween (2)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/original/4X/6/d/f/6df2afc24de5a51843b0643b14bbefcf545c0f6e.png) # Welcome to Nihonhorrorween! This is a special Halloween book club run by @Zakarius and myself. We wanted to share our love of old-school horror and figured the best way would be via a book club! This book club will run the whole month of October. We intentionally selected works that are available on Aozora so that they can be enjoyed by everyone. Our stories and timing will be as follows. Since the first week would run long, please feel free to challenge yourself with the bonus work here, Black Cat. | Original Name | Translated Name | Original Author | Translator | Link | Vocab List (Renshuu) | Timing | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | The Pit and the Pendulum | 落穴と振子 | Edgar Allen Poe | 佐々木直次郎 | [🪢](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000094/files/1871_17558.html) | [Here!](https://app.renshuu.org/lesson/c/11635198/vocab/) | October 1-10 | | BONUS: Black Cat | 黒猫 | Edgar Allen Poe | 佐々木直次郎 | [🐈‍⬛](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000094/files/530_20932.html) | tba | October 1-10 | | 外科室 | The Surgical Suite | 泉鏡花 | - | [👘](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000050/files/360_19397.html) | tba | October 11-17 | | 鏡地獄 | Mirror Hell | 江戸川乱歩 | - | [🪩](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001779/files/57343_60022.html) | tba | October 18-24 | | The Haunter of the Dark | 闇をさまようもの | H.P. Lovecraft | The Creative CAT | [🖤](https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001699/files/57255_57670.html) | tba | October 25-31 | | | | | 10月 | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 月 | 火 | 水 | 木 | 金 | 土 | 日 | | | | | 01 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 02 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 03 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 04 🪢🐈‍⬛ | | 05 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 06 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 07 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 08 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 09 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 10 🪢🐈‍⬛ | 11 👘 | | 12 👘 | 13 👘 | 14 👘 | 15 👘 | 16 👘 | 17 👘 | 18 🪩 | | 19 🪩 | 20 🪩 | 21 🪩 | 22 🪩 | 23 🪩 | 24 🪩 | 25 🖤 | | 26 🖤 | 27 🖤 | 28 🖤 | 29 🖤 | 30 🖤 | 31 🖤 | | **Content Warnings** Black Cat - animal abuse, domestic violence 外科室 - medical horror Please let us know what you think as we read! Please take care to mark any twists or reveals with spoilers. You can do so by typing out this code `[spoiler]your spoiler typed out here[/spoiler]` or using the option under the plus button. ---
**Author:** ![Lisaveeta](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/lisaveeta/32/697163_2.png) [@Lisaveeta](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Lisaveeta)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 12:33pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/2 "2026-09-07T12:33:36Z")
Could I just join for one story? I’d like to try 鏡地獄 . ---
**Author:** ![downtimes](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/downtimes/32/790700_2.png) [@downtimes](https://community.wanikani.com/u/downtimes)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/3 "2026-09-07T14:52:00Z")
I’ll pretty surely join. I have some commitments but also 2 weeks of vacation. Perfect time for some more aozora reads. I did enjoy the aozora calendar last year as well. Goal is at least 2/5 stories. ---
**Author:** ![gigazol](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/gigazol/32/825119_2.png) [@gigazol](https://community.wanikani.com/u/gigazol)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2026, 2:59pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/4 "2026-09-07T14:59:12Z")
Ooooh yay im so excited for this!!! 🎃🎃🎃 ---
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 11:33am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/5 "2026-09-08T11:33:26Z")
Of course! There’s no wrong way to really join. Although if you want to post about it before the designated week, please use spoilers よろしく! ---
**Author:** ![VikingSchism](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/vikingschism/32/410752_2.png) [@VikingSchism](https://community.wanikani.com/u/VikingSchism)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2026, 1:38pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/6 "2026-09-08T13:38:33Z")
I’m down for some spooky times. I haven’t actually read any of the Poe stories or the Lovecraft one in English so this should be interesting ---
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 3:41pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/7 "2026-10-01T15:41:50Z")
And so it begins!! ---
**Author:** ![tip](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/tip/32/219684_2.png) [@tip](https://community.wanikani.com/u/tip)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 5:37pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/8 "2026-10-01T17:37:38Z")
I thought about giving it a try but this one is above my grade. You know you are in the weeds when Latin is more comprehensible than Japanese. To be fair, Poe likes to use words like tintinnabulation so I did not stand a chance. LOL ---
**Author:** ![VikingSchism](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/vikingschism/32/410752_2.png) [@VikingSchism](https://community.wanikani.com/u/VikingSchism)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/9 "2026-10-01T20:05:02Z")
> [@tip](#): > > tintinnabulation Shoutout to [Phantom Island](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lR8VLt1Xlk&t=82s) by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard for teaching me that word (linked to appropriate timestamp, but the song is worth listening to in its entirety) ---
**Author:** ![gigazol](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/gigazol/32/825119_2.png) [@gigazol](https://community.wanikani.com/u/gigazol)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/10 "2026-10-02T01:24:21Z")
Wow this guy likes his big blocks of text, huh? This is going to be a challenge for me but I’m committed 💪 Happy October!! ---
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 12:13pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/11 "2026-10-03T12:13:15Z")
Happy reading! I’ll work on the vocab lists ---
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:34pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/12 "2026-10-03T16:34:15Z")
I decided to see if Renshuu’s parser would handle the rest of the text after I finished the first paragraph and the opening quote and amazingly, it did! However, that means there are likely some erroneous items and missed words though. I had already found some missing words in just those 2 paragraphs I did manually though. If you find any errors, please feel free to suggest fixes! ---
**Author:** ![downtimes](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/downtimes/32/790700_2.png) [@downtimes](https://community.wanikani.com/u/downtimes)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 10:26am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/13 "2026-10-06T10:26:02Z")
I finally started reading the first story 落穴と振子. I quite like it so far. I’m roughly half way through the story. The atmosphere is great (if you can say this under the circumstances our protagonist finds himself in) and it is a surprisingly smooth read, so far, given the age of the story. Granted I had to reread the first part of the story, until the protagonist regains consciousness in his cell, since I wasn’t used to the writing style yet and some parts were a bit abstract. But now I’m totally used to the writing and think I can follow everything well. Will probably finish the story tomorrow; the latest the day after and update with my final impressions then. > [@tip](#): > > I thought about giving it a try but this one is above my grade. You know you are in the weeds when Latin is more comprehensible than Japanese. To be fair, Poe likes to use words like tintinnabulation so I did not stand a chance. LOL The actual text is way easier to read then the short passage at the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 3:37pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/14 "2026-10-06T15:37:49Z")
I’m nowhere near done, but I love how dramatic the narrator is lol. It’s somehow enjoyable. Idr how I felt when I first read the Pit and the Pendulum in English, but I’m glad we picked it for the book club. next paragraph: まったくとつぜんに、 > [@downtimes](#): > > > [@tip](#): > > > > I thought about giving it a try but this one is above my grade. You know you are in the weeds when Latin is more comprehensible than Japanese. To be fair, Poe likes to use words like tintinnabulation so I did not stand a chance. LOL > > The actual text is way easier to read then the short passage at the beginning. Seconding! I feel like it gets easier after the 1st or 2nd proper paragraph ---
**Author:** ![DIO-Berry](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/dio-berry/32/828567_2.png) [@DIO-Berry](https://community.wanikani.com/u/DIO-Berry)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2026, 5:21pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/15 "2026-10-06T17:21:17Z")
According to my What Day is it? Mofusand book, October 7th is Poe’s deathiversary. RIP Spoopy man. It seems fitting that we unintentionally picked this week for him. ---
**Author:** ![downtimes](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/downtimes/32/790700_2.png) [@downtimes](https://community.wanikani.com/u/downtimes)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 12:44pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/16 "2026-10-07T12:44:12Z")
Okay I powered through and finished the story today. In the middle part with the pendulum I felt the story kinda dragged on a little. Had to take a short break before I could finish it. Not sure how you want to handle spoilers in this thread. I put my further thoughts behind a detail tag for now > **落穴と振子** > > I’m really not sure how reliable the narrator is. With all the going in and out of consciousness, him being in a dark room and loosing track of time I really can’t imagine how accurate the reports of him are. > Apparently the pendulum that went on for way to long was hanging over him for multiple days. We didn’t hear of him getting any water during that time though, so I highly doubt that. > > Regarding the “tricks” in the book: > I quite like the explanation for why he measured the room so wrongly. Can totally see that happening to him because he was too flustered, going the other way around. And any nooks will inevitably lead to you thinking the room has a strange shape. > Using the mice to get free of the pendulum trap was also kinda neat. I think that part could have been described in even more details how it felt to have all these mice crawling along his body to make it hit even better. Just overall a let down because the pendulum went on for so long that I kinda lost interest in the middle and most of the tension went out of the window. > That might be a function of me still reading texts like these way slower than intended… > > But what about the room. What kind of high-tech did they have in the early 1800s. Rearranging walls, micrometer precision lowering of the pendulum scimitar, some kind of way to make half the room walls burning hot. Pretty sadistic stuff all in all. I thought there would be more direct torture in there somehow. Most was mental except for food and drink scarcity. > > I did like how the story picked up the topic of hope and despair. And no matter how hard he tried our prisoner could not escape feeling hope in some situations, most crazily exemplified in his rejoicing after getting out of the pendulum trap and feeling free, while still being caged in a prison cell. > > I did not think the story would end in a rescue. I thought it will end with him actually falling into the 深淵 he feared so much. Kinda strange and unexpected end to the story. I haven’t read the story before (in any language) and am not sure I 100% understood everything. I also think it was my first Edgar Allan Poe I read. I did enjoy looking at some of the depictions that come up when one googles for the story. I’m kinda on the fence if I should start reading the BONUS story (黒猫) as well or read some of my other ongoing books instead. The synopsis sounds decent and it seems to be a little shorter as well. I’d be done until Friday for sure 🤔 . Anyone read it and can comment on if it is worth reading? ---
**Author:** ![Zakarius](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/zakarius/32/834987_2.png) [@Zakarius](https://community.wanikani.com/u/Zakarius)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2026, 1:19pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/17 "2026-10-07T13:19:31Z")
> [@DIO-Berry](#): > > According to my What Day is it? Mofusand book, October 7th is Poe’s deathiversary. RIP Spoopy man. It seems fitting that we unintentionally picked this week for him. I didn’t know this! That is a fitting coincidence. > **Spoiler replies** > > > [@downtimes](#): > > > > I’m really not sure how reliable the narrator is. With all the going in and out of consciousness, him being in a dark room and loosing track of time I really can’t imagine how accurate the reports of him are. > > I’ve read this before in English (currently going through in Japanese) and I’ve thought this too. I always felt that he was perhaps kept there a day/night at most but the psychological torture of it all, him passing in and out of consciousness, and all that makes him feel it’s endless days of darkness. And that that was the point of this strangely elaborate torture device - to send its victims crazy with anxiety/terror before ultimately sending them down into the pit of doom (for whatever reason that may be). > [@downtimes](#): > > I’m kinda on the fence if I should start reading the BONUS story (黒猫) as well or read some of my other ongoing books instead. The synopsis sounds decent and it seems to be a little shorter as well. I’d be done until Friday for sure 🤔 . Anyone read it and can comment on if it is worth reading? I’ve read Black Cat in English before and would say I enjoyed it more than Pit and Pendulum. It’s a bit more straight forward in that concrete things happen leading up to the main event of dread against Pit and Pendulums more abstract ramblings. ---
**Author:** ![downtimes](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/downtimes/32/790700_2.png) [@downtimes](https://community.wanikani.com/u/downtimes)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2026, 9:17am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/18 "2026-10-09T09:17:48Z")
After Zakarius recommendation I now finished the bonus Black Cat as well. I didn’t like it as much. It didn’t have as nice of an atmosphere as the other story and I feel like it doesn’t fit as well with the Halloween theme this thread is supposed to have > **Black Cat** > > Man the protagonist was some insufferable maniac. All the circumstances are always to blame. He is innocent in all of this and would have you believe he actually really likes animals and is a super nice guy 👀 . > The alcohol is at fault, the cat is too clingy, the other cat I brought home is too attached, my wife got in the way at the wrong moment. BLURGH. He’s constantly seeking for validation from everyone while being a total asshole himself ☹ > > I’m kinda surprised again that he didn’t get away in the end. It would have been super nice would he have been haunted by the cat in the wall for a good while, it driving him insane and committing suicide or some such. It was a little quicker to read than the other story but felt pretty comparable difficulty wise. The actions are more concrete but the choice of words is still a little strange compared to contemporary writing. Maybe the fact that it is a translation adds to this feeling. ---
**Author:** ![downtimes](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/downtimes/32/790700_2.png) [@downtimes](https://community.wanikani.com/u/downtimes)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 8:53am UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/19 "2026-10-13T08:53:48Z")
I tried the 外科室 story for a short while. I’m not going to read that one. The style is too old for what I’m looking for at the moment and it would be too much a hassle to understand the story in enough detail. I can vibe through it a little but I feel I loose too much information then. Maybe in the future I’ll get back to it. ---
**Author:** ![eefara](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/wanikanicommunity/user_avatar/community.wanikani.com/eefara/32/296524_2.png) [@eefara](https://community.wanikani.com/u/eefara)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 11:03pm UTC](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642/20 "2026-10-13T23:03:23Z")
[桜の樹の下には | L34](https://learnnatively.com/book/6307ce27bc/) might be an okay replacement for this week if you’d still like something to read that’s both shorter and easier. [Next page](https://community.wanikani.com/t/halloween-book-club-2026/75642.md?page=2)