Classic horror

Novels that not only define horror but also explore deep psychological and existential themes, making them timeless reads that have left a lasting impact on the genre.

Updated October 21, 2024
W
Westchester Library System
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The castle of Otranto
Walpole, Horace
Paper Book
On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed in mysterious circumstances. His calculating father Manfred fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son's bride himself - despite the fact he is already married. But a series of terrifying...
Frankenstein, or, The modern Prometheus
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
Paper Book
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World' 'That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New York Times Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley on Lake...
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar
CD
Basil Hallward, an artist, meets Dorian Gray and paints his portrait. The artist is so infatuated with Dorian's beauty that he begins to believe it is the reason for his quality of art. Dorian becomes convinced that beauty is all-important and wishes his portrait could age instead of him. But...
Dracula
Stoker, Bram
Paper Book
When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England- an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman...

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