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The Tooth (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Shirley JacksonIncluding her iconic tale The Lottery, The Tooth brings together a short selection of Shirley Jackson's most sinister stories.'Her stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt'Her tooth, which had brought her here unerringly, seemed now the only part of her to have any identity. It seemed to have had its picture taken without her; it was the important creature which must be recorded and examined and gratified; she was only its unwilling vehicle...'The creeping unease of lives squandered and the bloody glee of lives lost is chillingly captured in these five tales of casual cruelty by a master of the short story. Portraying insanity, disturbing encounters, troubling children and a sinister lottery, Shirley Jackson's work has an unmatched power to unnerve and unsettle.Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.'An amazing writer' Neil Gaiman'The world of Shirley Jackson is eerie and unforgettable ... It is a place where things are not what they seem; even on a morning that is sunny and clear there is always the threat of darkness looming, of things taking a turn for the worse' A. M. Homes'Shirley Jackson is unparalleled as a leader in the field of beautifully written, quiet, cumulative shudders' Dorothy Parker
The Watcher
by Charles MacLean'There was no warning of any kind . . .'Friday rush-hour. Martin Gregory, laden with packages, just manages to catch the 4.48 train. Tomorrow is his wife's birthday - he has a surprise in store - and he plans to devote the weekend to her and their beloved dogs. But Saturday morning, Martin rises early and does something so horrific, so inexplicable and so out of character his only option is to run . . .And from this shocking incident the journey begins. With the help of a therapist he can't trust, and friends who no longer trust him, Martin's quest for meaning takes him down shifting realities and twisted corridors of time into the deepest recesses of the human mind. It is a world of menace and obsession from which neither he - nor the reader - can escape, for Martin Gregory is either lost in a dark maze of madness and horror, or frighteningly sane.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: Reader (The Penguin English Library)
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. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with 'damnable young man' Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
The Woman in White: A Novel (part Two) And Short Stories: The Dead Alive; The Fatal Cradle; Fatal Fortune; Blow Up With The Brig
by Wilkie Collins'In one moment, every drop of blood in my body was brought to a stop ... There, as if it had that moment sprung out of the earth ... stood the figure of a solitary Woman, dressed from head to foot in white'The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his 'charming' friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Wuthering Heights (The Penguin English Library)
by Emily Brontë"May you not rest, as long as I am living. You said I killed you - haunt me, then"Lockwood, the new tenant of Thrushcross Grange on the bleak Yorkshire moors, is forced to seek shelter one night at Wuthering Heights, the home of his landlord. There he discovers the history of the tempestuous events that took place years before: of the intense passion between the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and her betrayal of him. As Heathcliff's bitterness and vengeance is visited upon the next generation, their innocent heirs must struggle to escape the legacy of the past.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
Dracula: Auxiliar Bup (The Penguin English Library)
by Bram StokerWith an essay by John Sutherland.'Alone with the dead! I dare not go out, for I can hear the low howl of the wolf through the broken window'A chilling masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula also illuminated dark corners of Victorian sexuality. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the arrival of his 'Master', while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
The Monk: A Romance
by Matthew LewisWith an essay by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.'He now saw himself stained with the most loathed and monstrous sins, the object of universal execration ... doomed to perish in tortures the most severe'Shocking, erotic and violent, The Monk is the story of Ambrosio, torn between his spiritual vows and the temptations of physical pleasure. His internal battle leads to sexual obsession, rape and murder, yet this book also contains knowing parody of its own excesses as well as social comedy. Written by Matthew Lewis when he was only nineteen, it was a ground-breaking novel in the Gothic Horror genre and spawned hundreds of imitators, drawn in by its mixture of bloodshed, sex and scandal.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
The Picture of Dorian Gray: Downloadable Response Journal (The Penguin English Library)
by Oscar WildeWith an essay by Peter Ackroyd.'I am jealous of everything whose beauty does not die. I am jealous of the portrait you have painted of me ... Why did you paint it? It will mock me some day - mock me horribly!'A story of evil, debauchery and scandal, Oscar Wilde's only novel tells of Dorian Gray, a beautiful yet corrupt man. When he wishes that a perfect portrait of himself would bear the signs of ageing in his place, the picture becomes his hideous secret, as it follows Dorian's own downward spiral into cruelty and depravity. The Picture of Dorian Gray is a masterpiece of the evil in men's hearts, and is as controversial and alluring as Wilde himself.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.
To Be Read at Dusk: A Very Short Story (Penguin Little Black Classics)
by Charles Dickens'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.'Three ghostly tales from a master of the form, 'The Signalman', 'The Trial for Murder' and the title story, 'To Be Read at Dusk'.One of 46 new books in the bestselling Little Black Classics series, to celebrate the first ever Penguin Classic in 1946. Each book gives readers a taste of the Classics' huge range and diversity, with works from around the world and across the centuries - including fables, decadence, heartbreak, tall tales, satire, ghosts, battles and elephants.
Dark Tales
by Shirley JacksonThe perfect read for Hallowe'en, this new hardback volume of Jackson's finest stories reveals the queen of American gothic at her unsettling, mesmerising bestThere's something nasty in suburbia. In these deliciously dark tales, the daily commute turns into a nightmarish game of hide and seek, the loving wife hides homicidal thoughts and the concerned citizen might just be an infamous serial killer. In the haunting world of Shirley Jackson, nothing is as it seems and nowhere is safe, from the city streets to the country manor, and from the small-town apartment to the dark, dark woods...
The White People and Other Weird Stories (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Arthur MachenMachen's weird tales of the creepy and fantastic finally come to Penguin Classics. With an introduction from S.T. Joshi, editor of American Supernatural Tales, The White People and Other Weird Stories is the perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. The title story "The White People" is an exercise in the bizarre leaving the reader disoriented and on edge. From the first page, Machen turns even fundamental truths upside-down, as his character Ambrose explains, "there have been those who have sounded the very depths of sin, who all their lives have never done an 'ill deed'" setting the stage for a tale entirely without logic.
Ghost Detectives: The Lost Bride (Ghost Detectives)
by Emily MasonSome ghosts are haunted by their past. When the local museum needs volunteers to help it reopen, Abi, Hannah, Sarah and Grace sign up. The girls discover that the museum has a link to the spirit world when they find an ancient diary and meet a ghost bride from another century. She can't rest in peace until she finds out why her true love left her at the altar. The Ghost Detectives have a romantic first mystery to solve!
Ghost Detectives: The Missing Dancer (Ghost Detectives)
by Emily MasonGhost Detective: The Lost Dancer is brilliant for younger fans of the spy series The Gallagher Girls and also paranormal fiction. Girls of 9+ will love the gentle romance, school friendships and thrilling detective case to be solved. The perfect series for aspiring tweens.Some ghosts are haunted by their past . . .When Abi, Sarah , Hannah and Grace are visited by the ghost of a littl lost girl trying to dance one last time so that her spirit can rest, they jump at the chance to help. But this Ghost Detective case seems to be shrouded in secrets and everywhere they look, people get upset. With clues runing out, can the Ghost Detectives solve the mystery of the missing dancer?Emily Mason is an exciting new Irish author. Her previous book Ghost Detective: The Lost Bride was her debut novel for Puffin. Emily has been a bookworm since she was little. She is now an editor and author but has yet to see any ghosts herself...
You Came Back: A Novel
by Christopher CoakeAn astonishing first novel about love and belief, and the difficulty of letting goThirty-something Midwesterner Mark Fife believes he has moved on from the accidental death of his young son and the subsequent break-up of his marriage. He's successful, he's in love again and he believes he's mastered his own memories. But then he's contacted by a strange woman who tells him she's living in his old house, the house where Brendan died, and she's convinced it's haunted by Brendan's ghost.Mark doesn't believe in ghosts, but his distressed ex-wife does, and Mark so much wants to help her. So much so that he begins to doubt his own beliefs and motives. And as he flirts with the idea of trying to contact his son, he begins to endanger the relationships that matter now in his life, with his fiancee Allison and his tough and sceptical father. You Came Back is a wonderfully affecting read about the nature of belief and bereavement, about old loves and new loves, and the hardships involved in letting go.
Horror Stories (Penguin Worlds)
by E. NesbitA groom promises to be at the church on time, even if he has to come back from the grave to do it.A man inherits a property where he discovers a portrait of a woman that will change his life forever.Two newlyweds find their dream country cottage, unaware of an ancient curse from the previous owners. A gripping, unsettling and utterly chilling collection of short stories from one of Britain's best loved storytellers.
Dust (A\resurgam Novel Ser.)
by Joan Frances TurnerAfter she was buried, Jessie awoke and tore through the earth to arise, reborn, as a zombie. Jessie's gang is the Fly-by-Nights. She loves the ancient, skeletal Florian and his memories of time gone by. She's in love with Joe, a maggot-infested corpse. They fight, hunt, dance together as one-something humans can never understand. There are dark places humans have learned to avoid, lest they run into the zombie gangs.But now, Jessie and the Fly-by-Nights have seen new creatures in the woods-things not human and not zombie. A strange new illness has flamed up out of nowhere, causing the undeads to become more alive and the living to exist on the brink of death. As bits and pieces of the truth fall around Jessie, like the flesh off her bones, she'll have to choose between looking away or staring down the madness-and hanging onto everything she has come to know as life . . .
The Witch (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Shirley JacksonA terrifying short story from Shirley Jackson, the master of the macabre tale.Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and random cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. When her story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail. It became known as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Have you read her yet?'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.
The Intoxicated (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Shirley JacksonA terrifying short story from Shirley Jackson, the master of the macabre tale.Shirley Jackson's chilling tales of creeping unease and random cruelty have the power to unsettle and terrify unlike any other. When her story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail. It became known as one of the greatest short stories ever written. Have you read her yet?'Shirley Jackson's stories are among the most terrifying ever written' Donna Tartt'An amazing writer ... if you haven't read any of her short stories ... you have missed out on something marvellous' Neil Gaiman'Her stories are stunning, timeless - as relevant and terrifying now as when they were first published ... 'The Lottery' is so much an icon in the history of the American short story that one could argue it has moved from the canon of American twentieth-century fiction directly into the American psyche, our collective unconscious' A. M. Homes Shirley Jackson was born in California in 1916. When her short story The Lottery was first published in The New Yorker in 1948, readers were so horrified they sent her hate mail; it has since become one of the greatest American stories of all time. Her first novel, The Road Through the Wall, was published in the same year and was followed by five more: Hangsaman, The Bird's Nest, The Sundial, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, widely seen as her masterpiece. Shirley Jackson died in her sleep at the age of 48.
The Grin of the Dark
by Ramsey CampbellOnce upon a time Tubby Thackeray's silent comedies were hailed as the equal of Chaplin's and Keaton's, but now his name has been deleted from the history of the cinema. Some of his music-hall performances before he went to Hollywood were riotously controversial, and his last film was never released - but why have his entire career and all his films vanished from the record? Simon Lester is a film critic thrown out of a job by a lawsuit against the magazine he helped to found. When he's commissioned to write a book about Thackeray and restore the comedian's reputation, it seems as if his own career is saved. His research takes him from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, from dusty archives to a hardcore movie studio. But his research leads to something far older than the cinema, something that has taken a new and even more dangerous shape...
The Perils and Dangers of this Night
by Stephen GregoryA bleak mid-winter. An icy wind blows through the corridors of Foxwood Manor, a boys' prep-school deep in the woodlands of Dorset. The boys have gone home at the end of the Christmas term and the old house is left to the headmaster, Dr Kemp, his wife, and Alan Scott, a boy abandoned by his mother.As the snow falls heavily on the house and the surrounding woods, a story of revenge and retribution unfolds: a web of half-truths and innuendoes woven into a bizarre game of hide-and-seek through the corridors and dormitories of the school.The Perils and Dangers of this Night is a compelling story of unfolding horror as a small boy undergoes a rite of passage, seeking redemption from his haunted past.
Thieving Fear
by Ramsey CampbellCharlotte Nolan and her cousins may not have ended up in the jobs they hoped to have when they were teenagers, but they've made their way in life. Charlotte works for a London publisher, Ellen cares for the elderly, Hugh has left teaching to work in a supermarket while his brother Rory is a controversial artist. Then more than their jobs begin to go wrong as something reaches out of the past for them. What has it to do with the summer night they spent on Thursaston Common? If the dreams they had that night are catching up with them, how is the Victorian occultist Arthur Pendemon involved? Before the nightmare ends more than one of them will have to enter what remains of Pendemon's house and confront what still lives there in the dark.
Dark Designs (Black Lace Ser.)
by Madelynne EllisA deliciously steamy gothic romance for fans of EL James and Sylvia DayRemy Davies is under pressure, as the designer for an opulent gothic wedding. There's the over-stressed bride, a trinity of vampire-obsessed bridesmaids, a wayward groom, and then there's the best man . . . Silk looks like he's been drawn by a manga artist; beautiful, exotic, and with a predatory sexuality. Remy has to have him, in her bed and between the pages of her new catalogue. Remy is about to launch herself into the alternative fashion world, and Silk is going to sell it for her whether he knows it or not. But Silk is nobody's toy, and for all his androgyny, he's determinedly heterosexual. Pity, since Remy's biggest fantasy is to see him making out with her Japanese biker, sometime boyfriend, Takeshi.
My Work Is Not Yet Done: Three Tales Of Corporate Horror
by Thomas LigottiWhen junior manager Frank Dominio is suddenly demoted and then sacked it seems there was more than a grain of truth to his persecution fantasies. But as he prepares to even the score with those responsible for his demise, he unwittingly finds an ally in a dark and malevolent force that grants him supernatural powers. Frank takes his revenge in the most ghastly ways imaginable - but there will be a terrible price to pay once his work is done.Destined to be a cult classic, this tale of corporate horror and demonic retribution will strike a chord with anyone who has ever been disgruntled at work.
Natural Causes: Inspector McLean 1 (Inspector McLean #1)
by James OswaldA devastating serial killer. A chilling cold case. Only DI Tony McLean realises the connection...Edinburgh is horrified by a series of bloody killings. Deaths for which there appears to be neither rhyme nor reason, and which leave the city's police stumped.DI Tony McLean is focused on the investigation, but his attention is drawn by a chilling cold case - a young girl ritualistically murdered, her remains hidden for sixty years.It seems impossible that there could be any connection between the cases, but McLean starts to wonder.Because if it's true, they might be facing an evil beyond anything they ever imagined... See what reviewers are already saying about James Oswald's bestselling Inspector McLean series... 'Creepy, gritty and gruesome' Sunday Mirror'The new Ian Rankin' Daily Record'Oswald easily outstrips the formulaic work of bigger names' Guardian'Crime fiction's next big thing' Sunday Telegraph'Oswald is among the leaders in the new batch of excellent Scottish crime writers' Daily Mail'Oswald's writing is in a class above most' Daily Express
In the Flesh (The Historical series)
by Sylvia DayIn the Flesh is an evocative and unique fantasy romance from the international Number One bestselling author of the Crossfire seriesAn infamous beauty. A daring warrior.Two hearts are about to collide . . .For five years, Sapphire has been the King of Sari's most treasured concubine. Independent at last, she refuses to put herself in anyone's control again. But now another's scheming has led her into the path of proud, arrogant Wulfric, Crown Prince of the rival kingdom of D'Ashier, a man who is dangerous to her in every way.The daughter of Wulfric's fiercest opponent, Sapphire is a prized warrior in her own right and highly skilled in the sensual arts - Wulfric's perfect match. A lasting union is unthinkable, but the bargain they strike - to spend one night together, and then part - proves impossible in the face of a desire powerful enough to bring two countries to the brink of war, and two hearts to the point of surrender. . .Praise for Sylvia Day:'A hundred degrees hotter than anything you've read before' Reveal'Move over Danielle Steel and Jackie Collins, this is the dawn of a new Day' Amuse