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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Frankenstein
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft 1797-1851
Paper Book
Few creatures of horror have seized readers' imaginations and held them for so long as the anguished monster of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The story of Victor Frankenstein's terrible creation and the havoc it caused has enthralled generations of readers and inspired countless...
Melmoth the wanderer
Maturin, Charles Robert 1780-1824
Paper Book
Created by an Irish clergyman, Melmoth is one of the most fiendish characters in literature. In a satanic bargain, Melmoth exchanges his soul for immortality. The story of his tortured wanderings through the centuries is pieced together through those who have been implored by Melmoth to take over...
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis 1850-1894
Paper Book
This edition of the classic tale of the duality of good and evil in man's nature features an Introduction and the famous Cornell lecture on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Reissue.
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900
Paper Book
VINTAGE CLASSICS X MADE.COM Dorian is a good-natured young man until he discovers the power of his own exceptional beauty. As he gradually sinks deep into a frivolous, glamorous world of selfish luxury, he apparently remains physically unchanged by the stresses of his corrupt lifestyle...
Dracula
Stoker, Bram 1847-1912
Paper Book
The turn of the screw, and other short novels
James, Henry 1843-1916
Paper Book
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The phantom of the opera
Leroux, Gaston 1868-1927
Paper Book
The call of Cthulhu and other weird stories
Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips) 1890-1937
Paper Book
A definitive collection of stories from the unrivaled master of twentieth-century horror in a Penguin Classics Deluxe edition with cover art by Travis Louie Frequently imitated and widely influential, Howard Philips Lovecraft reinvented the horror genre in the 1920s, discarding...
The haunting of Hill House
Jackson, Shirley 1916-1965
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...

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