FAQ alt.books.ghost-fiction Recommendations for ghost short stories and books. A fairly new, spam free, low traffic newsgroup. FAQ alt.books.peter-straub Reviews of Peter Straub books. This is a low traffic, relatively spam free group - which makes it very nice to read. Koko is mentioned here a lot.
Some group reading activity takes place on occasion, for book discussions.
Poppy Z. Brite's vampire, gothic and horror books and short stories. Frequently Poppy books are cast as movies, and long threads involve what actors should play which parts. A close knit group of people reads this newsgroup, and topics often veer off into personal matters and inside jokes - nonetheless interesting. Stephen King's books and short stories. Some group reads occur once in a while for discussion purposes.