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
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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
In September of 1884, Robert Louis Stevenson, then in his mid-thirties, moved with his family to Bournemouth, a resort on the southern coast of England, where in the brief span of 23 months he revised A Child's Garden of Verses and wrote the novels Kidnapped and The Strange...
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900
Paper Book
Since its first publication in 1890, Oscar Wilde's only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, has remained the subject of critical controversy. Acclaimed by some as an instructive moral tale, it has been denounced by others for its implicit immorality. After having his portrait painted, Dorian Gray is...
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 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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