Nothing can divide a room like a zombie romance.

In one corner: It’s kind of sweet when an undead boy falls for a living girl after eating her boyfriend.

In another: Gross.

“Don’t fall in love with a zombie — that’s just creepy,” said Lydia Stevens, giving a candid review of Isaac Marion’s book, “Warm Bodies.”

The same readers who split on zombie romance united to pan Anne Rice’s “The Witching Hour.” But Jim C. Hines’ “Libriomancer,” the story of a librarian who belongs to a secret magical sect and tries to save the world? A total hit.

At the Gardiner Public Library, in what may be the coolest, little-known book club in Maine, the Readers into Paranormal — the RIP-ers, for short — have gathered once a month for four years to talk zombies, witches, werewolves, UFOs, past lives and true hauntings.

Well, allegedly true hauntings.

“We had some (“The Amityville Horror” readers) who were total believers and some who thought somebody’s making stuff up to make a scary house,” said Ann Russell, the technology librarian who runs the group.

Outside of the library, Russell’s a hypnotist and reiki master. RIP-ers was born from book talk with her own friends. 

“It’s the genre that I tend to prefer,” she said.

They meet the first Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m., usually drawing up to 11 people. Membership is open to anyone, from any town, though readers tend to be adults.

They’ve read “When Ghosts Speak: Understanding the World of Earthbound Spirits” by Mary Ann Winkowski, who consulted on CBS’ show, “Ghost Whisperer.” They followed up Susan Hill’s haunting English tale, “The Woman in Black” by taking a field trip to catch the movie together.

There have also been special guests, like the hypnotist who practiced past life regression on them and Maine author Jan DeLima, who’s visited three times, one for each book in her Celtic Wolves series. 

DeLima said the RIP-ers make for a fun group.

“It was a wonderful experience talking with readers who actually read my books and weren’t hesitant to share their thoughts,” she said.

DeLima’s series follows shapeshifters in a little Maine town. There’s love, lust, battles and wolves in just the right doses for the group.

One RIP regular balks at anything too lovey-dovey, Russell said.

“As long as it’s not found on the romance shelf in the bookstore, he’s OK,” she said.

Stevens, from Richmond, who has been with the group more than three years, was drawn in because she likes to read and write about the paranormal. She’s self-publishing her first book, “Why Me?” next month.

“It’s about a geeky vampire,” Stevens said. “She’s a college TA, she works in a bookstore, and then she sort of gets thrown into this adventure helping Dracula, whether she wants to or not. It’s a paranormal comedy. It’s really making fun of the typical stereotypes and tropes of the paranormal genre.”

And it’s on the RIP-ers reading list.

She’s excited with “a little bit of trepidation.”

“These people are always very honest, which you have to appreciate as an author,” Stevens said. “Sometimes we’re sitting there and it can be brutal. You listen to somebody else’s book and the way we pick it apart, character, setting, plot . . .”

Next up for the RIP-ers in August: “Cinder” by Marissa Meyer, a take on Cinderella with a 16-year-old mechanic-cyborg leading lady.

Weird, Wicked Weird is a monthly feature on the strange, unexplained and intriguing in Maine. Send ideas, photos and good reads to [email protected].