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Classic Horror

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The Exorcist
by William Peter Blatty

Inspired by a true story of a child’s demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying.

Psycho
by Robert Bloch

Mary Crane believes she has found shelter from the storm when she checks into the Bates Motel, but the knife-wielding owner, Norman Bates, soon rips her piece of mind to shreds and the nightmare begins.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
by Ray Bradbury

Two boys' lives are changed forever when a sinister travelling carnival stops at their Illinois town.

Rebecca
by Daphne Du Maurier

At the great Cornwall estate of Manderley, Maxim de Winter and his frightened new wife try to live with the haunting legacy of Maxim's first wife, the beautiful and cold Rebecca, who died in a sailing accident.

Lord of the Flies
by William Golding

At the dawn of the next world war, a plane crashes on an uncharted island, stranding a group of schoolboys. At first, with no adult supervision, their freedom is something to celebrate; this far from civilization the boys can do anything they want. Anything. They attempt to forge their own society, failing, however, in the face of terror, sin and evil. And as order collapses, as strange howls echo in the night, as terror begins its reign, the hope of adventure seems as far from reality as the hope of being rescued.

The Woman in Black
by Susan Hill

A classic ghost story set in a small English community follows the experiences of an up-and-coming solicitor who while endeavoring to settle a deceased client's affairs is haunted by bizarre phenomena before he is approached by a ghostly figure.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
and Other Stories
by Washington Irving

There is a sequestered glen off the east coast of the Hudson, New York state, which has long continued under the sway of some witching power; the neighbourhood abounds with tales, haunted spots and twilight superstitions.

The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson

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"; Theodora, the lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

The Lottery and Other Stories
by Shirley Jackson

Collects short stories by Shirley Jackson, including "Like Mother Used to Make," "Afternoon in Linen," "A Fine Old Firm," as well as "The Lottery."

We Have Always Lived in the Castle
by Shirley Jackson

My name is Mary Katherine Blackwood. I am eighteen years old, and I live with my sister Constance. I have often thought that with any luck at all I could have been born a werewolf, because the two middle fingers on both my hands are the same length, but I have had to be content with what I had. I dislike washing myself, and dogs, and noise, I like my sister Constance, and Richard Plantagenet, and Amanita phalloides, the death-cap mushroom. Everyone else in my family is dead . . .

The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James

A very young woman's first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate haunted by a beckoning evil. Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and dusty windows- silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess their minds, own their souls. But worse-much worse- the governess discovers that Miles and Flora have no terror of the lurking evil. For they want the walking dead as badly as the dead want them.

Rosemary's Baby
by Ira Levin

Rosemary Woodhouse and her husband move into an old apartment building, renowned for its ominous reputation. An older couple begins taking an interest in the Woodhouses, especially after Rosemary becomes pregnant. Unfortunately, the couple is not what they seem.

The Collected Tales and Poems
of Edgar Allan Poe
by Edgar Allan Poe

Gathers stories, essays, and poems, including "The Gold-Bug," "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," "The Cask of Amontillado," "The Tell-Tale Heart," "The Raven," "Lenore," and "Annabel Lee"

Frankenstein
by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

A monster assembled by a scientist from parts of dead bodies develops a mind of his own as he learns to loathe himself and hate his creator. Includes illustrated notes throughout the text explaining the historical background of the story.

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
& Other Stories
by Robert Louis Stevenson

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson was first released in 1886. The story of a virtuous Dr. Jekyll who mistakenly creates an alter ego of unadulterated evil serves as an examination of the duality of human nature and the battle between good and evil.

Dracula
by Bram Stoker

The classic horror tale of the powerful, centuries-old vampire follows his bloodthirsty trail from the mountains of Central Europe to England, until Dr. Van Helsing comes up with a way to end his reign of terror.

The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde

The handsome appearance of dissolute, young Dorian Gray remains unchanged while the features in his portrait become distorted as his degeneration progresses.

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