Classics Of Horror

Critical reviews of classic and otherwise noteworthy horror movies are organized according to single film and recurrent motif or theme

"This collection of chilling horror stories from the maestro of suspense contains nearly 20 of Edgar Allan Poe's best known stories"--Amazon.com

Curl up with this collection of classic scary stories from the masters of the genre. With dozens of stories of the macabre, fantastic, and supernatural, Classic Horror Tales is sure to keep readers on the edges of their seats. This collection of works by classic writers spans more than a century—from 19th-century trailblazers such as John William Polidori, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving to 20th-century masters like Saki, Edith Wharton, and Franz Kafka. The fear of the unknown is a driving force in literature, and the horror genre surpasses all others in bringing this idea to the forefront of the reader's consciousness. A wide range of cultures and classes of society are represented in this volume, reminding us that dark forces lurk all around us—for even in broad daylight, a shadow exists somewhere.

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires comes a nostalgic and unflinchingly funny celebration of the horror fiction boom of the 1970s and ’80s. Take a tour through the horror paperback novels of two iconic decades . . . if you dare. Page through dozens and dozens of amazing book covers featuring well-dressed skeletons, evil dolls, and knife-wielding killer crabs! Read shocking plot summaries that invoke devil worship, satanic children, and haunted real estate! Horror author and vintage paperback book collector Grady Hendrix offers killer commentary and witty insight on these trashy thrillers that tried so hard to be the next Exorcist or Rosemary’s Baby. Complete with story summaries and artist and author profiles, this unforgettable volume dishes on familiar authors like V. C. Andrews and R. L. Stine, plus many more who’ve faded into obscurity. Also included are recommendations for which of these forgotten treasures are well worth your reading time and which should stay buried.

'Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men. A time will come - but I must not and cannot think!' H. P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) was a reclusive scribbler of horror stories for the American pulp magazines that specialized in Gothic and science fiction in the interwar years. He often published in Weird Tales and has since become the key figure in the slippery genre of 'weird fiction'. Lovecraft developed an extraordinary vision of feeble men driven to the edge of sanity by glimpses of malign beings that have survived from human prehistory or by malevolent extra-terrestrial visitations. The ornate language of his stories builds towards grotesque moments of revelation, quite unlike any other writer. This new selection brings together nine of his classic tales, focusing on the 'Cthulhu Mythos', a cycle of stories that develops the mythology of the Old Ones, the monstrous creatures who predate human life on earth. It includes the Introduction from Lovecraft's critical essay, 'Supernatural Horror in Literature', in which he gave his own important definition of 'weird fiction'. In a fascinating contextual introduction, Roger Luckhurst gives Lovecraft the attention he deserves as a writer who used pulp fiction to explore a remarkable philosophy that shockingly dethrones the mastery of man.

Horror: Another 100 Best Books features one hundred of the top names in the horror field discussing one hundred of the most spine-chilling novels ever written. Each entry includes a synopsis of the work as well as publication history, biographical information about the author of each title, and recommended reading and biographical notes on the contributor. Author Ramsey Campbell also offers a new foreword to the book describing the evolution of horror over the past two decades — from the way it's written by a crop of new and exciting writers to the way it's received by a new market of readers. Horror: Another 100 Best Books will be the definitive guide to the tremendous library of horror fiction available today —a reference that no fan can live without.

Eleven classic whodunits starring master sleuths such as Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, and Father Brown. A superstar lineup of detectives—including Sherlock Holmes, C. Auguste Dupin, and Hercule Poirot—headlines this elegant leather-bound edition of classic mystery stories. Short stories such as Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and G. K. Chesterton’s “The Blue Cross” are ideal for a cozy evening by the fire, while novels like Agatha Christie’s The Murder on the Links and Jules Verne’s An Antarctic Mystery will keep you engrossed for days. The eleven works in this volume are preceded by a scholarly introduction that explores the origins of the genre, as well as the development of the modern mystery story and the contributions made by each author. Works Included Short stories: "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," Edgar Allan Poe "The Adventure of the Creeping Man," Sir Arthur Conan Doyle "The Blue Cross," G. K. Chesterton "The Coin of Dionysius," Ernest Bramah "The Anthropologist at Large," R. Austin Freeman "The Most Dangerous Game," Richard Connell Novels: The Murder on the Links, Agatha Christie Whose Body?, Dorothy Sayers The Thirty-nine Steps, John Buchan An Antarctic Mystery, Jules Verne Room 13, Edgar Wallace

The greatest haunted house story ever written, the inspiration for a 10-part Netflix series directed by Mike Flanagan and starring Michiel Huisman, Carla Gugino, and Timothy Hutton 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, his 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. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Value, quality, and three gothic-horror stories all in one book! Get three classics at an affordable price. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde And Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson "Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful." ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray "Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." ― Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde