Classic horror and ghost stories

He is fond of enigmas, of conundrums, hieroglyphics; exhibiting in his solutions of each a degree of acumen which appears to the ordinary apprehension praeternatural.

'The monstrous thought came into my mind as I perused the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man.

House of Small Shadows is the disturbing novel about a modern phobia - the fear of dolls and puppets - from award-winning horror author Adam Nevill.

Ash is James Herbert's last and most controversial novel.

'A gothic masterpiece and a devastating exploration of humanity's capacity for evil' Sunyi Dean, author of The Book Eaters'The Black Hunger is a phenomenal book full of rich historical detail, occult mysticism, and slow, creeping horror.

'I seemed to gaze upon a vast space, the limits of which extended far beyond my vision.

'I seemed to gaze upon a vast space, the limits of which extended far beyond my vision.

'There was a rumour, too, that he was a devil-worshipper, or something of that sort, and also that he had the evil eye.

'There was a rumour, too, that he was a devil-worshipper, or something of that sort, and also that he had the evil eye.

'Well, a corpse is a natural thing; but this was the dreadfullest sight I ever sid.

'Well, a corpse is a natural thing; but this was the dreadfullest sight I ever sid.

I entered the church.

I entered the church.

By the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window-shutters, I beheld the wretch-the miserable monster whom I had created.

By the dim and yellow light of the moon, as it forced its way through the window-shutters, I beheld the wretch-the miserable monster whom I had created.

'Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men.

'Loathsomeness waits and dreams in the deep, and decay spreads over the tottering cities of men.

'I am not an angel nor a genie nor a ghost.

'I am not an angel nor a genie nor a ghost.

'I was conscious of a most horrible smell of mould, and of a cold kind of face pressed against my own.

'I was conscious of a most horrible smell of mould, and of a cold kind of face pressed against my own.

'it was butcher work.

'it was butcher work.

Shelley's suspenseful and intellectually rich gothic tale confronts some of the most important and enduring themes in all of literture--the power of human imagination, the potential hubris of science, the gulf between appearance and essence, the effects of human cruelty, the desire for revenge and the need for forgiveness, and much more.

'Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged.

'Instantly the spirit of hell awoke in me and raged.

The modern horror story grew and developed across the nineteenth century, embracing categories as diverse as ghost stories, the supernatural and psychological horror, medical and scientific horror, colonial horror, and tales of the uncanny and precognition.

The modern horror story grew and developed across the nineteenth century, embracing categories as diverse as ghost stories, the supernatural and psychological horror, medical and scientific horror, colonial horror, and tales of the uncanny and precognition.

`Upon her neck and breast was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth having opened the vein: - to this the men pointed, crying, simultaneously struck with horror, "e;a Vampyre, a Vampyre!

'There was a rumour, too, that he was a devil-worshipper, or something of that sort, and also that he had the evil eye.

'There was a rumour, too, that he was a devil-worshipper, or something of that sort, and also that he had the evil eye.

'He was deaf to the murmurs of conscience, and resolved to satisfy his desires at any price.

'He was deaf to the murmurs of conscience, and resolved to satisfy his desires at any price.

Gothic literature imagines the return of ghosts from the past.

Gothic literature imagines the return of ghosts from the past.

The master of weird fiction, H.

'Alone with the dead!

'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop .

One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'The Penguin English Library Edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley'Never did I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness'A twisted, upside-down creation myth, Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale lays bare the dark side of science, and the horror within us all.

With an essay by D.

The Penguin English Library Edition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson'All human beings, as we meet them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil'Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality.

'It was a monstrous constellation of unnatural light, like a glutted swarm of corpse-fed fireflies dancing hellish sarabands over an accursed marsh (.

This terrifying selection of ghost stories brings together the very best classic works from the masters of the supernaturalPhantom coaches, evil familiars, shadowy houses, spectral children and mysterious doppelgangers haunt these tales.

Macabre parties in isolated castles Gruesome bestial murders Talking ravens, hellish black pits, innocents buried alive Prepare to be chilled and enthralled by the haunting genius of the acknowledged master of gothic horror and suspense, Edgar Allan Poe.

Rumours that a ghost stalks the dark passages and cellars of the Paris Opera House, wreaking havoc, have long been rife among staff and performers.

Fear of Satan becomes murder in the name of God.

In 'The Masque of the Red Death' and other tales of gothic horror, Edgar Allan Poe writes as no one else ever has of creeping, mounting terrors, of malevolent tormentors and of a mind's own sickening madness Outside the abbey's armoured walls, the common poor are ravaged by a grisly pestilence known as the 'Red Death', while within, safe and untroubled, the happy Prince Prospero hosts lavish entertainments.

A mysterious attack on Margaret Trelawney s father brings young lawyer Malcolm Ross into the Egyptologist s bizarre home, and the couple soon find they are battling ancient forces greater than they previously could have imagined.

One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New York TimesMary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley on Lake Geneva.

'The very best story of diablerie which I have read for many years' Arthur Conan DoyleA masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula also probes identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire.