Why do bad things seem to happen at class reunions

Or at least in novels about them?

Here are some misfortunate reunions for consideration before or consolation after attendance at any of your own-
with a few heartwarming ones as well...

Reunion by Alan Lightman
Attending his thirtieth college reunion, Charles, now a middle-aged professor, recalls his senior year, when he had an affair with a beautiful young dancer amidst the turbulent social and political upheaval of the 1960s.

The Class by Erich Segal The ethos and glamour of Harvard resonate throughout this story of five men--Andrew Eliot, Daniel Rossi, Ted Lambros, Jason Gilbert, and George Keller--from their first days at Harvard through their twenty-fifth class reunion.

Die Dreaming by Terence Faherty "Metaphysical detective" Owen Keane learned at his ten-year high school reunion that his old friends share a sinister secret, and now, ten years later at the next reunion, he discovers just how sinister that secret really is.

Outer Banks by Anne Rivers Siddons Reunited with her beloved college chums after years of separation, Kate Abrams, now a successful interior designer, must face the many bitter truths of her own past.

Circle of Grace by Penelope Stokes Having remained in touch through a shared journal since college, friends Grace Liz, Tess, and Amanda meet for an unplanned reunion after a personal crisis leads to the discovery that Grace's colorful life is a fabrication.

Delta Belles by Penelope Stokes Twenty-five years after breaking up, a bitter, widowed Delta Ballou is reunited with her old friends and fellow members of the popular 1960s musical group, the Delta Belles, when they are asked to get together to perform at their college reunion.

Immediate Family by Eileen GoudgeWhen best friends Jay, Franny, Emerson, and Stevie reunite at their fifteen year college reunion, they catch up on their accomplishments and goals and learn the importance of friendship and acceptance.

The Same Sweet Girls by Cassandra King Every two years, a tight-knit group of Southern women, friends since college, come together for a reunion to renew their relationships with one another, each of them having an incredible story to tell about the course their lives have taken

Gaudy Night by Dorothy L. Sayers One of the classic reunion nightmares, with a semi-happy ending-Attending a college reunion at Oxford, Harriet Vane receives mysterious messages that call her a murderer.

The Wyndham Case by Jill Paton Walsh St. Agatha's College in Cambridge, England, provides the setting for nurse Imogen Quy's investigation into a series of deaths connected to the special library called the Wyndham Case, which has a strange and possibly violent legacy