October is just around the corner, which means it’s almost time for Dueling Monsters!

What?!? Another readalong?? Yes, but this isn’t any ol’ readalong. This is tradition (four years makes a tradition, right?).

Some background: Way back in the dark ages of blogging (okay, fine, it was only 2009), Heather at Age 30+…A Lifetime of Books and softdrink at Fizzy Thoughts started up Dueling Monsters. The idea? During the creepiest month of the year (October, of course), we’d pit two well-known literary monsters against each other and see who was the scariest, most bad-ass mofo out there. Each host chose her monster and spent the month of October defending him/talking smack about the other guy (not to be intentionally sexist, but so far all of our monsters have been dudes). In year one we focused on the classics, and saw Dracula take down Frankenstein. Year two was all about appearances, and Dorian Gray duked it out with Dr. Jekyll (or was it Mr. Hyde?). Last year we focused on novellas and set Cthulhu against Dr. Moreau. I’ll admit, that was an odd match-up. This time? Well, let’s just say it could be the scariest year yet.

For Dueling Monsters 2012, Heather has turned over co-hosting duties to Trish at Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity and we’re excited to host the challenge right here at The Estella Society.

So without further ado, I present this year’s monsters:

In the Fizzy Corner, we have Patrick Bateman from American Psycho, written by Bret Easton Ellis. This yuppie psychopath loves club hopping, cocaine, and judging by his fondness for raincoats, long walks in the rain.

In the Love/Laughter/Insanity (and isn’t that appropriate?) Corner, we have Hannibal Lecter from Red Dragon, by Thomas Harris. Yeah, yeah…he’s got other books, too (page hog), but for this readalong we’re starting with Red Dragon. Hannibal loves fava beans, chianti, and women named Clarice.

Yes, this year’s Dueling Monsters is all about the Psycho Killers. Which means we’ve got a theme song! Or we will…as soon as I re-write it. In the meantime, there’s this:

Here’s the plan, Stan:

• Sign up here, with a link to your blog. No blog? No worries! We’ll also be on twitter with the #monstermash hashtag.
• You can read one (psst…go with American Psycho…Patrick is Da Man!) or both books. Check out Fizzy Thoughts for occasional posts on why Patrick Bateman should win this year’s smackdown. And Love, Laughter, and a Touch of Insanity will be cheering on Hannibal. AKA The Loser.
• You could also go with the movie option, if you’d rather. Both books have movie adaptations, and I hear they’re real doozies.
• Check back here on October 1st for the kick-off post.
• On October 15th we’ll post again with a Mr. Linky for you all to leave links to your thoughts on your chosen book (or books). Links must be left before
• October 29th in order to be included in the wrap-up post.
• On October 31st, we’ll do a wrap-up post summarizing everyone’s thoughts, and declare a winner.

And in case you were wondering if the guys from Red Dragon are joining the readalong, here they are talking about it in the movie:

Will Graham: I might not have time.
Hannibal Lecter: I do. I have oodles.

Sounds like Hannibal’s in! Are you?