A shortened version of this essay ran in the monthly Book People newsletter (the full version was on the website). Peggy and I had been meeting for four months with no one else showing up. One month after this appeared, we decided to meet one more time and if no one else showed up, we'd call it quits. Believe it or not, this plea actually worked. As we sat upstairs in our offices, they called us from the sales floor to tell us that someone had called asking about the group. We thought for sure they were putting us on. That evening, Regina showed up. Apparently, when she entered the store and asked for the group, there were whoopings and hollerings of joy by some of the employees. She told us she had read the column the month before, but too late to attend the meeting. Almost three years later, the Dark Forces reading group is still going strong. (Although not at Book People.)

I'm going to let you in on a secret. I'm a slow reader. No, not slow in the head. I understand it all. It just takes me a while. A 250 page novel takes me about four days. (I'll tell ya this was a real impediment back in my editing days. Under the best of circumstances reading manuscripts is no fun. I spent a lot of late nights falling asleep with some unpublished novel sliding off my lap, scattering papers everywhere.) My fiancee once told me that I savor books. She is right. To me reading is like eating a good meal. I take a bite, let it roll around on my tongue, experience the nuances, and then finally swallow. As the food travels down my throat, the palate is replaying the wonderful experience again and again. Reading a great book does that as well. I will read a passage and then think about it, often reliving it. The truly great ones will rattle around in my head for awhile.

One of my favorite things about reading is sharing the experience with others. I love sitting around and shooting the shit about the latest story I read. Rather than continuing to drive my friends and family crazy, I decided (along with fellow buyer and biblioholic Peggy) to start a book group here at Book People. For the uninitiated, a book group (or club or sometimes reading group) is usually a monthly affair when a group of people meet to discuss a previously agreed upon book. Someone (or in this case someones) organizes the group around a certain type of book. Currently at Book People we offer four different book groups that meet every Wednesday at 7PM. My group named "Dark Forces" discusses dark suspense, horror, and the like. Sounds like a lot of fun. And it would be, if ANYONE SHOWED UP!

We ostensibly meet the second Wednesday of every month. It's been four times and so far it's only been me and Peggy. Not that I don't love to sit and wile away the hours chatting with her about a book we both read, but she is just across the hall and could talk to her whenever I wanted. Something is not working here.

I dare say it's not our book selection. The four books cover a wide spectrum (one horror, one dark fantasy, one classic vampire, one classic haunted house tale) and were all of superior quality.

The first book, Anubis Gates, was listed on Stephen Jones and Kim Newman's 100 best horror novels of the century. It's a doozy with time travel, werewolves, occultism, killer clowns, and other dark things. Tim Powers is one of the masters of the dark fantasy.

That didn't work, so for Halloween we opted for a true classic, one of the most terrifying novels ever written Dracula. After 100 years, this is still the greatest vampire novel ever. And you guessed it. No one came. The sales on both books were good and went up the two weeks before the group was suppose to meet. We carried on.

William Hjortsberg's Falling Angel, a horror/mystery and the basis for the cult film Angel Heart, sold better than the two previous books combined. Peggy and I were excited. This was it. Surely, we'd have at least one person show up.

Nothing but crickets.

But Peggy and I are gluttons for punishment so after taking a month off for Christmas, we did it again. This time we selected another classic The Haunting of Hill House. Shirley Jackson's book is universally loved and has even been the subject of two films. Sales were even better than those of Falling Angel. Sadly attendance wasn't better.

We've decided to give it until April. Three more chances. Why? Book People is planning several SF/fantasy promotions in April and we figure if that don't work, nothing will. Over the next three months will be reading Bloodsucking Fiends by Christopher Moore, The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, and Land of Laughs by Jonathan Carroll. I've read two of the three and they are works of genius. Fun and spooky and just a great read.

So if you happen to be in the neighborhood on the second Wednesday of the month around 7PM and want to discuss some works of dark fantasy and horror, why not stop by and say howdy? We'll be on the second floor keeping a chair warm for ya.

Reprinted with permission from Geek Confidential: Echoes From the 21^st Century by Rick Klaw (MonkeyBrains, Inc., 2003)