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
Drag items up and down to your preferred order then select the "Save Order" button.
The castle of Otranto : a gothic story
Walpole, Horace
Paper Book
'Look, my lord! See heaven itself declares against your impious intentions!' The Castle of Otranto (1764) is the first supernatural English novel and one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction. It inaugurated a literary genre that will be forever associated with the effects that Walpole...
The mysteries of Udolpho : a romance
Radcliffe, Ann Ward 1764-1823
Paper Book
This was the most popular novel of Radcliffe's time and Radcliffe's portrayal of her heroine's inner life raised the Gothic romance to a new level. The atmosphere of fear and the gripping plot continue to thrill today. This is the story of the orphaned Emily St Aubert who finds herself separated...
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...
Carmilla: The Dark Sapphic Romance That Inspired Dracula
Fanu, Sheridan Le.
Paper Book
A stunning new paperback edition of the original vampire story that inspired Dracula -- featuring blood-red sprayed edges, an eternally sexy spine, art deco design, and thoughtful layout for a seductive reading experience Sapphic longing meets gothic horror in this "exploration of...
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis
Paper Book
'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil- and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil' Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The...
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900
Paper Book
'A triumph of execution ... one of the best narratives of the "double life" of a Victorian gentleman' Peter Ackroyd Oscar Wilde's alluring novel of decadence and sin was a succès de scandale on publication. It follows Dorian Gray who, enthralled by his own exquisite portrait,...
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...
The phantom of the opera
Leroux, Gaston
Paper Book
The thrilling story of the 'Opera Ghost', legendary for making performers at the Paris Opera House apprehensive when they sit in their dressing-rooms or walk alone in the building's corridors. But it isn't until the triumphant performance the sensual Christine and her startling disappearance that a...
The call of cthulhu and other weird stories
Lovecraft, h P.
Paper Book
Part of the Penguin Orange Collection, a limited-run series of twelve influential and beloved American classics in a bold series design offering a modern take on the iconic Penguin paperback Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books | 50 Covers competition  ...
The haunting of Hill House
Jackson, Shirley
Paper Book
The greatest haunted house story ever written--the inspiration for the hit Netflix horror series! One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been...

Library staff! You can create and contribute to lists. Contact your catalog administrator or log in here.