My favorite time of year has come and gone. I’ve always loved October as the time of year when spooky sensibilities are celebrated and opportunities to dress up in costume abound. But for the past few years, this month has had the added benefit of combining my affinity for the dark and macabre with my love of reading through Romancing the Gothic’s #AScareADay reading challenge. Each year since 2022, Dr. Sam Hirst curates a reading list of Gothic, horror, supernatural and weird fiction to read throughout the month. These thirty-one short stories are arranged in chronological order and assigned to each day of October. Participants are encouraged to discuss the tales on social media using the hashtag #AScareADay. You can find my daily thoughts over on BlueSky and view the full reading list for this year’s challenge here. You can also check out my previous blog posts on the #AScareADay challenge for 2025, 2024, and 2023. Each year, Sam provides us with a new set of stories, and I’ve discovered some of my favorite writers through this challenge! Continue reading #AScareADay 2026 Reading Challenge Reflections