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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The castle of Otranto : a gothic story
Walpole, Horace 1717-1797
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...
Frankenstein
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft 1797-1851
Paper Book
Mary Shelley's groundbreaking classic--begun as a ghost story for friends--is a potent blend of science fiction and horror that has inspired countless movie and other adaptations. Nothing, however, equals the depth and beauty of Shelley's original, which emains as relevant as ever. In his...
The fall of the house of Usher : and other tales
Poe, Edgar Allan 1809-1849
Paper Book
A man visits his friend, Roderick Usher, who lies ill in a gloomy estate. Spooky events inside and outside the house escalate into a terrifying conclusion to the physical and ancestral House of Usher. This is a must-have collection of stories from Edgar Allan Poe, legendary author of Gothic...
Carmilla
Le Fanu, Joseph Sheridan 1814-1873
Ebook
The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Stevenson, Robert Louis 1850-1894
Paper Book
Robert Louis Stevenson originally wrote Dr. Jekyll And Mr Hyde as a "chilling shocker." He then burned the draft and, upon his wife's advice, rewrote it as the darkly complex tale it is today. Stark, skillfully woven, this fascinating novel explores the curious turnings of human character...
The picture of Dorian Gray
Wilde, Oscar 1854-1900
Paper Book
The Picture of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde, 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...
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 produced a seminal...
Dracula
Stoker, Bram 1847-1912
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 1868-1927
Paper Book
A sparkling new translation of the novel that inspired the most popular stage musical of all time. Rumors abound that a ghost stalks the dark passages and cellars of the Paris Opera House. No one has actually seen this Phantom, but Christine Daa , a beautiful and talented young singer,...
The call of Cthulhu and other weird stories
Lovecraft, H. P. (Howard Phillips) 1890-1937
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 1916-1965
Paper Book
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 seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House- Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a 'haunting...

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