Haunted Book Club with Gav Cross & John Reppion – Details, episodes & analysis

A Book Club you don’t ‘have’ to do the reading for.

We’ll read it to you…

For enjoyers of eerie tales, curious to know more about the stories that make their skin crawl. Join Norton’s Narrator Gav Cross and author John Reppion as they delve into the stories behind some of your favourite spine-tingling tales. Whether you’re a seasoned ghost story expert or a newcomer to the realm of creepy fiction, Haunted Book Club welcomes all new members with open (and possibly skeletal) arms.

Join in the conversation or sit quietly in the dark. Whatever you choose. Keep glancing over your shoulder…

How does it work?

Every other Tuesday, live here on Substack, we will host a book club focusing specifically on a classic short supernatural tales.

https://gavcross.substack.com/s/haunted-book-club

We have made some choices of the first few. But of course what we want is to know what we do next… We want you to be part of the choosing. We want to know what gives you the shivers and why…

John will bring his extensive expertise in this field to give us an insight to the story, the author and its influence. Gav will ask some of the stupid questions because he is not as informed or clever as he pretends to be. But this is a Book Club so we want you to be part of that conversation as well.

Let us know what you thought of the story how it made you feel, if you are a fan or not…

What do you do?

Obviously, we want you to join in. We want to chat to you as well. Don't get me wrong we love chatting to each other and that's basically what we've been doing for years now but we want to include you in that as well.

We think it would be better if you know the story before coming to the book club.

Many of you will already know these stories very, very well. Obviously, the best way to enjoy them is with a candle lit armchair by the fire, reading a first edition. If you don't have access to any of those things, we will do a reading for you over at Gav's other strand of Substack. You can also find this & lots of other stories on his Youtube, Spotify and your usual Podcast Places:

https://gavcross.substack.com/s/phantastic-stories-with-gav-cross

What happens next?

Join in!

Subscribe!

Invote?

Comment?

Share?

Buy some candles?

Get to know us…

John is popping on to Gav’s other Live Podcast:

https://gavcross.substack.com/s/tell-me-your-story

Come along live or listen back after. Let’s find out about how John gets his ideas for his own work and the collaborations with Leah Moore. (Link Below.)

We are over on Instagram & Facebonk too. Links here:

https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub

That’s a LOT of stuff. Coffee? Tea? A tincture of something else…?

Gav & John

John Reppion is a writer, born in Liverpool.

Since 2003 he has co-written comics in partnership with his wife, Leah Moore, as Moore & Reppion. John’s solo-scripted comics work has also appeared in 2000 AD, Judge Dredd Megazine, and Heavy Metal Magazine. He has written books and articles on Weird History, Folklore, Superstition, and Magic for the likes of The History Press, Fortean Times, Daily Grail Online, and Hellebore Zine. John’s Horror and Weird Fiction has appeared in anthologies from the likes of Titan Publishing, PS Publishing, Swan River Press, and Sarob Press.

https://www.moorereppion.com/

Gav Cross is a storyteller and performer. He creates weird and scary shows for grown ups and families. “The War of the Worlds - An Abridged & Performed Reading”, he brings humour, heart, and a touch of chaos to venues, festivals, and theatres across the UK. Currently ’Norton’s Narrator’ for Norton Priory, bringing terror and shouting to the good people of the area.

https://linktr.ee/gavcross

Welcome to Part One of our very first Haunted Book Club.

The story itself.

The Signalman by Charles Dickens. (1866)

With so many Short supernatural stories to choose from we have picked the first few for the book club. And we thought we would start with a humdinger. With something that has its own brand recognition. With something that is always being read, adapted, performed and feared…

You can close your eyes and hopefully enjoy this reading by Gav. Or as John suggests you can take your copy off the shelf. Here is a link to the text online:

Link To Story on Gutenberg

And then on the 17th of February at 9 pm, we will reconvene for the book club itself.

John brings his expertise. Gav brings his enthusiasm and the questions to hide the fact that he doesn't know as much as people think he does and hopefully you will be there to join in the conversation live on Substack:

Link to Haunted Book Club on Substack

But don't worry if you can't make it and you subscribe you will get that conversation drop into your inbox or Podcast player soon afterwards.

Coming up on Substack we have:

Feb 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Signalman by Charles Dickens

Feb 23rd: The Story - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 3rd: Haunted Book Club - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 9th: The Story - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar: 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory, Runcorn - The Curfew by Lucy M.Boston

Mar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF Benson

March 31st: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

May 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

Did you spot the Live LIVE?

That’s right - you can sot with us in the same wonderful and atmospheric space that is Norton Priory or the Portico Library. We will still do the reading for you but you can join in live with like minded pals and us!

Phew - that is a lot to take in. We know!

Get to know us both a little more when Gav chats to John here on Substack, live. Feb 10th at 8.30pm. Tell Me Your Story: John Reppion. Subscribe to this Substack for updates.

https://gavcross.substack.com/s/tell-me-your-story

Welcome to the Haunted Book Club. We bring the supernatural, uncanny and ghostly stories to your ears and eyes. And we want you to join us. Together we will be safe…

Gav & John

Feb 2026

All the place we are can be found here:

https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub

John Reppion can be found here:

https://www.moorereppion.com/

Gav Cross can be found here:

https://linktr.ee/gavcross

The first Haunted Book Club lands with a screech!

The Signalman

by Charles Dickens

Thank you to every one that joined in and I thinke we all went on a git of a journey with this story…

It’s definite that we think differently now.

We aggregated the scores. Oh yeah. We scored it.

Scare Factor: 3/10 - Not so scary but THAT description of going down into the cutting…

Creep Factor: 4/5 - This one lingers… This one gets stuck in the back of the brain…

Satisfaction: 4/5 - It’s a classic for a reason. It’s got everything on the surface and so much more going on underneath.

Was it a ‘Woo Hoo!’ or a ‘Boo Hoo…’?

You should have a listen and decide for yourself.

You missed ‘The AfterLive’. The Substack exclusive and cut section of the HBC. You have to be here live to be part of that…

The next Haunted Book is 9pm, Tuesday 3rd of March.

The Masque of the Red Death

by Edgar Allan Poe

Our version of that will drop on your feed next week. Get listening or reading!

Coming up on Substack we have:

Feb 23rd: The Story - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 3rd: Haunted Book Club - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 9th: The Story - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar: 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory, Runcorn - The Curfew by Lucy M.Boston

Mar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF Benson

March 31st: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

May 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

Did you spot the Live LIVE?

That’s right - you can sot with us in the same wonderful and atmospheric space that is Norton Priory or the Portico Library. We will still do the reading for you but you can join in live with like minded pals and us!

Phew - that is a lot to take in. We know!

Thank you again. Stay creepy…

(No, that doesn't feel quite right as a catchphrase. We should workshop it).

Gav & John

Feb 2026

All the place we are can be found here:

https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub

John Reppion can be found here:

https://www.moorereppion.com/

Gav Cross can be found here:

https://linktr.ee/gavcross

Thank you eejits, Judith Wilde, Chris Williams, Kelly Williams, dean mcleod, and many others for tuning into my live video with John Reppion! Join us for our next live video!

Spinach

By E.F. Benson

We genuinely look forward to the conversation that we have with you Book Clubbers. We look forward to knowing that you will tell us straight if you think the story is ‘Woo Hoo!’ or ‘Boo Hoo…’

REMINDER: The chat will take place on Monday the 30th at 9 pm instead of the usual Tuesday. Put it in your diary now with a reminder, we wouldn’t want to miss you.

You can close your eyes and hopefully enjoy this reading by Gav. Or you can take your copy off the shelf. Here is a link to the text online:

Spinach BY E.F. Benson ON GUTENBERG

And then on the 30th of March at 9 pm, we will reconvene for the book club itself.

John brings his expertise. Gav brings his enthusiasm and the questions to hide the fact that he doesn’t know as much as people think he does and hopefully you will be there to join in the conversation live on Substack:

Link to Haunted Book Club on Substack

But don’t worry if you can’t make it and you subscribe you will get that conversation drop into your inbox or Podcast player soon afterwards.

Coming up on Substack and beyond we have:

March 30th: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory - Runcorn

May 14th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

May 22nd: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Blooming Skull Coffee - Link to follow soon.

Find all the places we haunt here:

https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub

Gav Cross & John Reppion

The third Haunted Book Club and we dipped out toe in the crossover World between ghost and weird fiction and legit literature.

The Pulitzer Prize winning Edith Wharton and The Eyes.

Featuring a wide range of responses and a shocking moment when a cork self pops… The haunted book club continues into the darkness.

We aggregated the scores. Oh yeah. We scored it.

Scare Factor: 0.9/10 - not generally seen as scary whatsoever!

Creep Factor: 1.5/5 - it required a couple of readings in certain places for clarity and for some it just was not creepy at all.

Satisfaction: 2/5 - we are not always going to agree and there was a wide range of responses for this one but overall probably not the book club's favourite yet.

You should have a listen and decide for yourself.

You missed ‘The AfterLive’. The Substack exclusive and cut section of the HBC. You have to be here live to be part of that…

The next Haunted Book is 9pm, Monday 30th of March.

Spinach

by

EF Benson

Our version of that will drop on your feed next week. Get listening or reading!

Mar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF Benson

March 30th: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory, Runcorn - The Curfew by Lucy M.Boston

May14th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

May 22nd: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Blooming Skull Coffee, Bebington, Wirral

- Link to follow

Did you spot the Live LIVE?

That’s right - you can sot with us in the same wonderful and atmospheric space that is Norton Priory or the Portico Library. We will still do the reading for you but you can join in live with like minded pals and us!

Phew - that is a lot to take in. We know!

Thank you again. Don’t turn around…

(No, that still doesn’t feel quite right as a catchphrase either. We should workshop it).

Gav & John

March 2026

Thank you eejits, Jude Wilde, Claire Pitt, Clare Satsuma, Rachael Prime, and many others for tuning into my live video with John Reppion! Join me for my next live video in the app.

The Eyes

By Edith Wharton

We genuinely look forward to the conversation that we have with you Book Clubbers. We look forward to knowing that you will tell us straight if you think the story is ‘Woo Hoo!’ or ‘Boo Hoo…’

It was boo-hoo tonight as the full recording made fresh failed…

So this is a use of a live reading of the story by Gav from last year on his Phantastic Stories thread. So there are some unedited stumbles… Don't ever forgive him. He will be punished.

The Eyes

By Edith Wharton

You can close your eyes and hopefully enjoy this reading by Gav. Or you can take your copy off the shelf. Here is a link to the text online:

THE EYES BY EDITH WHARTON ON GUTENBERG

And then on the 17th of March at 9 pm, we will reconvene for the book club itself.

John brings his expertise. Gav brings his enthusiasm and the questions to hide the fact that he doesn’t know as much as people think he does and hopefully you will be there to join in the conversation live on Substack:

Link to Haunted Book Club on Substack

But don’t worry if you can’t make it and you subscribe you will get that conversation drop into your inbox or Podcast player soon afterwards.

Coming up on Substack and beyond we have:

Mar 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF Benson

March 31st: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory - Runcorn

May 14th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

May 22nd: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Blooming Skull Coffee - Link to follow soon.

Find all the places we haunt here:

https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub

Gav & John

Thanks for reading Haunted Book Club! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

The second Haunted Book Club and we haven’t even started haemorrhaging too many stories yet!

The Masque of the Red Death

by Edgar Allan Poe

Harry Clarke’s iconic illustration to accompany a very non pockect sized edition…

Thank you to every one that joined in especially if your name was Claire/Clare. Never too many Claire/Clare’s.

Lots to say about this one - we didn’t find it scary. Some of us get the ‘ick’ from EAP. But it did stick around in our visual perceptions of horrible plagues…

We aggregated the scores. Oh yeah. We scored it.

Scare Factor: 1.5/10 - Not so scary at all but some of us love the florid language and style.

Creep Factor: 2.5/5 - This one lingers… Those aristo’s and their partying.

Satisfaction: 4/5 - It’s a classic for a reason. It’s got everything on the surface and so much more going on underneath.

Was it a ‘Woo Hoo!’ or a ‘Boo Hoo…’?

You should have a listen and decide for yourself.

You missed ‘The AfterLive’. The Substack exclusive and cut section of the HBC. You have to be here live to be part of that…

The next Haunted Book is 9pm, Tuesday 17th of March.

The Eyes

by Edith Wharton

Our version of that will drop on your feed next week. Get listening or reading!

Mar 3rd: Haunted Book Club - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 9th: The Story - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF Benson

March 31st: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory, Runcorn - The Curfew by Lucy M.Boston

May 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

Did you spot the Live LIVE?

That’s right - you can sot with us in the same wonderful and atmospheric space that is Norton Priory or the Portico Library. We will still do the reading for you but you can join in live with like minded pals and us!

Phew - that is a lot to take in. We know!

Thank you again. Don’t turn around…

(No, that still doesn’t feel quite right as a catchphrase either. We should workshop it).

Gav & John

March 2026

Thank you eejits, Josie Ray, Rachael Prime, Chris Williams, Clare Williams, and many others for tuning into our live video with John Reppion and Gav Cross ! Join us for my next live video in the app.

Subcribe for notifications about the the Haunted Book Club and more!

We had such fun at the first Haunted Book Club. Who knew that such a classic tail could throw up so much new thinking? That is of the value of a good conversation with good people and we hope we can keep that rolling with this dark red classic…

The Masque of the Red Death

By Edgar Allan Poe

You can close your eyes and hopefully enjoy this reading by Gav. Or you can take your copy off the shelf. Here is a link to the text online:

Link to the story at the Poe Museum

And then on the 3rd of March at 9 pm, we will reconvene for the book club itself.

John brings his expertise. Gav brings his enthusiasm and the questions to hide the fact that he doesn’t know as much as people think he does and hopefully you will be there to join in the conversation live on Substack:

Link to Haunted Book Club on Substack

But don’t worry if you can’t make it and you subscribe you will get that conversation drop into your inbox or Podcast player soon afterwards.

Coming up on Substack we have:

Feb 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Signalman by Charles Dickens

Feb 23rd: The Story - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 3rd: Haunted Book Club - The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allen Poe

Mar 9th: The Story - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 17th: Haunted Book Club - The Eyes by Edith Wharton

Mar 23rd: The Story - Spinach by EF Benson

March 31st: Haunted Book Club - Spinach by EF Benson

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

May 21st: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

The fourth Haunted Book Club and we threw ourselves into the horror horn stew and dumplings* that is ‘Spinach’ by E.F. Benson.

It is fair to say from the gecko that both of us are fans of Benson. And hedging our bets it was an easy one to include him in our first run.

Featuring recurring themes of cousins and the such like this seemed to be a favoured story.

We aggregated the scores. Oh yeah. We scored it.

Scare Factor: 1.5/10 - not generally seen as scary whatsoever!

Creep Factor: 2/5 - it required a couple of readings in certain places for clarity and for some it just was not creepy at all.

Satisfaction: 4/5 - we are not always going to agree and there was a wide range of responses for this one but overall probably not the book club’s favourite yet.

You should have a listen and decide for yourself.

You missed ‘The AfterLive’. The Substack exclusive and cut section of the HBC. You have to be here live to be part of that…

The next Haunted Book is 9pm, Tuesday 14th of April.

Man Sized in Marble

by

Edith Nesbit

Our version of that will drop on your feed next week. Get listening or reading!

April 6th: The Story - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory, Runcorn - The Curfew by Lucy M.Boston

May14th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

May 22nd: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Blooming Skull Coffee, Bebington, Wirral

- Link to follow

Did you spot the Live LIVE?

That’s right - you can sot with us in the same wonderful and atmospheric space that is Norton Priory or the Portico Library. We will still do the reading for you but you can join in live with like minded pals and us!

Phew - that is a lot to take in. We know!

Thank you again. Don’t turn around…

(No, that still doesn’t feel quite right as a catchphrase either. We should workshop it).

Now we have decided to continue with the haunted book club we need suggestions of stories and feedback.

CLICK HERE!

Gav & John

March 2026

* you will just have to listen for an explanation…

Thank you Chris Williams, Josie Ray, Annie, dean mcleod, and many others for tuning into my live video with John Reppion! Join me for my next live video in the app.

We are back on the Tuesday train. Tuesday 14th of April is when we will have the chat for the next haunted book club. And of course it is:

Man Sized in Marble

by

Edith Nesbit

If you click the title above it will take you through to a free version online for you to read all of course course you can listen to Gav read it to you.

A hugely popular story and the genre I bet it is in the collection you have.

This version is from Gav's previous project where he read supernatural stories on a Tuesday evening and anybody who has come over from that nose that he holds Edith in a special place for many reasons.

Don't forget, we are very soon to be live at Norton Priory :

Coming up on Substack and beyond we have:

April 14th: Haunted Book Club - Man Sized in Marble by Edith Nesbit

April 18th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Norton Priory - Runcorn

May 14th: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Portico Library, Manchester - The Old Nurse’s Tale by Elizabeth Gaskell

May 22nd: Haunted Book Club Live LIVE - Blooming Skull Coffee - Link to follow soon.

Now we have decided to continue with the haunted book club we need suggestions of stories and feedback.

CLICK HERE!

Gav & John

April 2026

Find all the places we haunt here:

https://linktr.ee/haunted_bookclub

Shairing this helps us bring our kinda wierdos to the Haunted Book Club!