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 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
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft 1797-1851
Paper Book
Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley, is part of the Barnes & Noble Classics series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of...
Melmoth the wanderer
Maturin, Charles Robert 1780-1824
Paper Book
Written by an eccentric Anglican curate in Dublin, Melmoth Wanderer brought the terrors of the Gothic novel to a new pitch of claustrophobic intensity. Its tormented villain, a Faustian transgressor desperately seeking a victim to release him from his fatal bargain with the devil, regarded by Balzac...
Washington Irving's The legend of Sleepy Hollow and other stories
Irving, Washington 1783-1859
Paper Book
From the "Father of the American Short Story" comes a classic collection of well-loved tales sure to chill the faint of heart and thrill the brave-hearted. Ride with the headless horseman as he makes his rounds through "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," soon to be a major motion picture starring Johnny...
The fall of the house of Usher : and other tales
Poe, Edgar Allan 1809-1849
Paper Book
The celebrated master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe brought his nightmare imaginings to life in classic stories told in a signature style. This volume gathers together 14 of Poe's richest and most influential tales, including 'The Pit and the Pendulum', 'The Tell-Tale Heart', which Stephen King...
Carmilla
Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan 1814-1873
Paper Book
A beautiful gift edition of this cult classic female vampire story, which predated and greatly influenced Dracula.
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis 1850-1894
Paper Book
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a landmark in psychological fiction. The respectable doctor and his horrifying double are known even to those who have never read Robert Louis Stevenson’s short novel. This special edition, based on the original one published in...
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900
Paper Book
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design. Enthralled by his own exquisite portrait...
The yellow wall-paper and other stories
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins 1860-1935
Paper Book
Charlotte Perkins Gilman was America's leading feminist intellectual of the early twentieth century. The Yellow Wall-Paper and Other Stories makes available the fullest selection of her short fiction ever printed.In addition to her pioneering masterpiece, `The Yellow Wall-Paper' (1890), which draws...
The great god Pan and other horror stories
Machen, Arthur 1863-1947
Paper Book
Something pushed out from the body there on the floor, and stretched forth a slimy, wavering tentacle... Perhaps no figure better embodies the transition from the Gothic tradition to modern horror than Arthur Machen. In the final decade of the nineteenth century, the Welsh writer...
Dracula
Stoker, Bram 1847-1912
Paper Book
Part of Penguin's beautiful hardback Clothbound Classics series, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith, these delectable and collectible editions are bound in high-quality colourful, tactile cloth with foil stamped into the design When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania...
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
Audiobook
This collection includes a selection of H.P. Lovecraft's finest chilling tales. Lovecraft's most famous monster is Cthulhu, a gargantuan beast which has been lying dormant for millions of years but rises up and forces mankind to recognise its fundamental ignorance, powerlessness and insignificance....
The haunting of Hill House
Jackson, Shirley 1916-1965
Paper Book
Part of a new six-volume series of the best in classic horror, selected by award-winning director Guillermo del Toro. First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four...

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