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Classic Ghost Stories: Spooky Tales to Read at Christmas
by VariousDo you believe in ghosts?Not monsters, not floating objects or unexplained coincidences, but an actual presence – a flicker in the corner of the eye, a shadow in a darkened hallway, a hand pressed against the window, or a figure at the end of the bed. Sometimes they are a malevolent warning, or they come seeking revenge, or as a horrible reminder of past misdeeds. But ghosts can visit on the brightest summer's day, or on a lonely stretch of beach, making themselves felt just when you least expect it.The great writers of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, from Elizabeth Gaskell to Rudyard Kipling, also produced some of the most influential ghost stories ever written, shaping the conventions of the genre for generations of writers to follow. Collected here are some of the most iconic of these Victorian ghost stories, from Charles Dickens's 'The Signalman' to M.R. James's 'A Warning to the Curious', alongside more unexpected contributions from masters of the form such as J.S. Le Fanu and H.G. Wells.You may think you don't believe in ghosts, but these stories will haunt you nonetheless.
Classic Hallowe'en Stories (Macmillan Collector's Library #308)
by Ned HalleyAs the nights draw in and Halloween is just around the corner, what better to read than this collection of seriously spooky stories about ghosts, ghouls and things that go bump in the night.Ghost stories became hugely popular during the nineteenth century and the Victorians became the masters of the genre. This deliciously chilling collection of Classic Hallowe'en Stories includes authors such as Charles Dickens, Edith Wharton, Edgar Allen Poe, Elizabeth Gaskell, Henry James, Bram Stoker, H. P. Lovecraft, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, M. R. James and Vernon Lee.So dim the lights, close the curtains and revel in the frisson of fear from these most chilling of anecdotes.
Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature (Historical Explorations of Literature)
by Anne DeLongA valuable resource for readers exploring the classic horror genre, this book presents primary source documents alongside analysis in an examination of the social, political, and economic factors reflected in 19th century Gothic literature.The nineteenth century was a time of social, cultural, and economic change; revolutionary scientific developments; and enduring imaginative works. This book explores the classic horror genre of Gothic literature in its historical and social contexts. It contains chapters on four major works of classic horror, with each chapter providing a mix of background information, primary source historical documents, and analysis that will appeal as much to high school and college students as to lovers of literature and the Victorian era.Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is contextualized through documents pertaining to British imperialism, Antarctic Exploration, and the burgeoning environmentalist movement. Shelley's Frankenstein is explored through sections on galvanism, electricity, grave robbing, and the vitalist debate. Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is read through explanations of nineteenth-century drug use and addiction and early theories of psychology and criminology. Stoker's Dracula is studied with reference to such topics as mesmerism, clairvoyance, alienism, medical ethics, xenophobia, and Victorian pseudoscience.
Classic Horror: A Historical Exploration of Literature (Historical Explorations of Literature)
by Anne DeLongA valuable resource for readers exploring the classic horror genre, this book presents primary source documents alongside analysis in an examination of the social, political, and economic factors reflected in 19th century Gothic literature.The nineteenth century was a time of social, cultural, and economic change; revolutionary scientific developments; and enduring imaginative works. This book explores the classic horror genre of Gothic literature in its historical and social contexts. It contains chapters on four major works of classic horror, with each chapter providing a mix of background information, primary source historical documents, and analysis that will appeal as much to high school and college students as to lovers of literature and the Victorian era.Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is contextualized through documents pertaining to British imperialism, Antarctic Exploration, and the burgeoning environmentalist movement. Shelley's Frankenstein is explored through sections on galvanism, electricity, grave robbing, and the vitalist debate. Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is read through explanations of nineteenth-century drug use and addiction and early theories of psychology and criminology. Stoker's Dracula is studied with reference to such topics as mesmerism, clairvoyance, alienism, medical ethics, xenophobia, and Victorian pseudoscience.
The Classic Horror Collection
by H. P. LovecraftSpanning the extraordinary breadth of the genre, these terrifying stories are sure to leave you sleeping with the light on for many nights to come. Whether the threat comes from accursed artefacts, supernatural villains, or deadly rituals, there is always some unknowable evil lurking around the corner waiting to pounce.Ranging from the efforts of classic literary writers like Mary Shelley and Robert Louis Stevenson to pulp icon H. P. Lovecraft, these masters of the dark arts knew how to create suspense and an impending sense of dread.Horror fiction found its first connoisseurs amongst the Victorian public. This collection features several of its most accomplished pioneers.Short stories from Mary Shelley, the author of Frankenstein, Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula, and Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, show that some of the 19th century's most revered horror novelists could provide equally terrifying experiences in a shorter form.Other authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, William Hope Hodgson, Pearl Norton Swet, and M. P. Shiel established themselves in the emerging pulp magazines of America in the early 20th century. There, they mastered their craft and provided terrifying thrills for an audience eager for a new type of fiction. Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom and Ireland, writers like Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, E. F. Benson, and M. R. James mastered the classic ghost story.And who can forget Edgar Allan Poe? He devoted himself almost entirely to his poetry and his short stories, and his lyrical style and ability to evoke an atmosphere are unparalleled.includes stories by:Edward Frederic BensonAmbrose BierceFrancis Marion CrawfordGeorge Allan EnglandWilliam Hope HodgsonW. W. JacobsM. R. JamesVernon LeeJoseph Sheridan Le FanuH. P. LovecraftArthur MachenGuy de MaupassantEdgar Allan PoeCharlotte RiddellMary ShelleyM. P. ShielRobert Louis StevensonBram StokerPearl Norton Swet
The Classic Horror Stories (Oxford World's Classics)
by H. P. Lovecraft'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.
The Classic Horror Stories (Oxford World's Classics)
by H. P. Lovecraft'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.
Classic Retellings – Frankenstein: A Retelling (Classic Retellings)
by Tanya LandmanA young man's search for the spark of life leads him to a horrific experiment, which quickly turns monstrous … A gripping and gruesome retelling of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, brought to life for a new generation of readers by Carnegie Medal winning author Tanya Landman.
Classic Tales of Horror: A collection of spine-tingling short stories
by Robin BrockmanEerily vivid and yet never devoid of the beat of the human heart, Classic Tales of Horror presents the work of some of the world's most celebrated authors in a compilation designed to provide both a gripping read and glimpses of life beyond the realm of the everyday. Spooks and inexplicable things that go bump in the night have long exercised creative imaginations and provided source material for our greatest story-tellers. Included here are: The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelley A Vine on a House by Ambrose Bierce Hurst of Hurstcote by Edith Nesbit The Bottle Imp by R. L. Stevenson Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker Wandering Willie's Tale by Sir Walter Scott The Lifted Veil by George Eliot Clarimonde by Théophile Gautier Thurlow's Christmas Story by John Kendrick Bangs
Classic Tales of Horror: A collection of spine-tingling short stories
by Robin BrockmanEerily vivid and yet never devoid of the beat of the human heart, Classic Tales of Horror presents the work of some of the world's most celebrated horror writers. This compilation is designed to provide both a gripping read and glimpses of life beyond the realm of the everyday. Spooks and inexplicable things that go bump in the night have long exercised creative imaginations and provided source material for our greatest story-tellers, as this memorable collection confirms. Included here are: The Mortal Immortal by Mary Shelley A Vine on a House by Ambrose Bierce Hurst of Hurstcote by Edith Nesbit The Bottle Imp by R. L. Stevenson Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker Wandering Willie's Tale by Sir Walter Scott The Lifted Veil by George Eliot Clarimonde by Théophile Gautier Thurlow's Christmas Story by John Kendrick Bangs
Classic Tales of the Supernatural
by Robin BrockmanSpooks and inexplicable things that go bump in the night have long exercised creative imaginations and provided source material for our greatest story-tellers.Included in this collection are tales from the heyday of supernatural fiction, when the great names of literature contributed to the genre as a matter of course - authors such as Collins, Conan Doyle, Dickens, Gaskell, Hardy, Hawthorne, O. Henry, James, Jerome, de Maupassant, Poe, Stevenson, Thackeray, and Wilde.You will also find within these pages forgotten gems by unjustly neglected authors, who deserve this opportunity to find a new readership.So, settle back, and let these Classic Tales of the Supernatural guide you through the perils of the unknowable.
The Claygate Hound: The Claygate Hound (Tremors #62)
by Jan DeanThese ghostly adventures and spine-chilling stories are great for reads for reluctant readers. Written by well-known authors and illustrated by much-loved illustrators, this series will appeal to boys and girls.
The Claygate Hound: Tremors (Tremors #62)
by Jan DeanThese ghostly adventures and spine-chilling stories are great for reads for reluctant readers. Written by well-known authors and illustrated by much-loved illustrators, this series will appeal to boys and girls.
The Clock of Dreams: The Clock Of Dreams (Titus Crow Ser. #Vol. 3)
by Brian LumleyIn the Clock of Dreams, Cthulhu, one of the Elder Gods, sleeps and dreams - dreams so potent, so powerful, that they can warp reality itself. The mysterious Clock that is capable of hurling men through space and time, even into the monster's dreams, is de Marigny's only hope of finding Titus Crow and saving him from a soul destroying fate.
Clone Camp! (Tales from the Scaremaster #3)
by B. A. FradeClones on the loose spell double trouble at camp in the third book in a spooky new series that's Goosebumps meets Wayside SchoolKaitlyn and Noah are arch-enemies at their summer camp, and with good reason. They are rivals in everything, and both are determined to come out on top. But when they suddenly start to see double and it turns out that their camp counselors have doppelgangers running amok, they have to work together to get to the bottom of the strangely replicating counselors and save their camp from the Scaremaster--who seems to be pulling the strings from inside the pages of his creepy book. Will Kaitlyn and Noah learn that it takes two to outwit the Scaremaster and save their campmates, or will the clones win this round? For fans of Goosebumps, Eerie Elementary, and the Haunted Library series, B.A. Frade brings frightfully funny tales to life in this thrilling new series.
The Cloven: Book Three in the Vorrh Trilogy (Vorrh Trilogy)
by Brian CatlingIn the tradition of China Miéville, Michael Moorcock and Alasdair Gray, B. Catling's The Vorrh is literary dark fantasy which wilfully ignores boundaries, crossing over into surrealism, magic-realism, horror and steampunk.The Cloven is the final book in the Vorrh trilogy.
The Cockatrice Boys
by Joan Aiken"What does a cockatrice enjoy most for dinner? Anyone it can find." So the alarmed inhabitants of England discover when a plague of monsters--known as cockatrices--invade their country and begin gobbling them up. They must be stopped! A plucky band of survivors dubbed the Cockatrice Corps--including youngsters Dakin and Sauna--decide to fight back. But how? A rollicking adventure filled with breathtaking twists and turns, The Cockatrice Boys is Joan Aiken at her comic best.But there is also a powerful message in her only full length Sci- Fi (or even Cli-Fi!) YA novel as Joan Aiken imagines the result of human folly, in an earlier version of global warming, with the hole created in the ozone layer becoming a channel for evil to arrive on earth as an invasion of monstrous creatures. Joan Aiken believed in the power of the imagination, and using stories to prepare us for our future. In The Cockatrice Boys she wrote:"People need stories...to remind them that reality is not only what we can see or smell or touch. Reality is in as many layers as the globe we live on itself, going inwards to a central core of red-hot mystery, and outwards to unguessable space. People's minds need detaching, every now and then, from the plain necessities of daily life. People need to be reminded of these other dimensions above us and below us. Stories do that." "Besides being a daringly original, funny, scary, and morally instructive book, it also contains one of the strongest statements of the purpose of fantasy stories and fairy tales . . . This book was excellent, I highly recommend it . . . buy it now!" Mugglenet.com"Readers will be reminded of Alice in Wonderland . . . and the movie trilogy Star Wars" School Library Journal"This one is a real page-turner - as usual for Aiken - and sometimes really quite sinister, with a lot of gallows humour. It's suitable for all adults and most children... just as creepy as anything by M.R. James" Amazon Reviewer"Like all Aiken's best work, there is a deeply scary, nightmare thread running through this book, which makes it thrilling and involving for older readers and adults ...but the monsters are especially entertaining - drawn from Lewis Carroll, ancient mythology, and even Monty Python, they are scary and funny at the same time. A brilliant book" Amazon Reviewer
The Coffin Path: 'The perfect ghost story'
by Katherine Clements**Longlisted for the HWA Gold Crown**An eerie and compelling ghost story set on the dark wilds of the Yorkshire moors. For fans of The Witchfinder's Sister and The Silent Companions, this gothic tale will weave its way into your imagination and chill you to the bone. 'Spine-tingling... the scariest ghost story I have read in a long time' Barbara Erskine 'A wonderful, macabre evocation of a lost way of life' The Times 'Like something from Emily Bronte's nightmares' Andrew Taylor, author of The Ashes of London Maybe you've heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moor top. They say there's something up here, something evil.Mercy Booth isn't afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father's study, the shadowy figure out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can't see it yet. What readers are saying about The Coffin Path: 'A fantastic eerie ghost story to settle down with on a winters night''Compelling and chilling, the slow build-up of tension had me completely on edge''I couldn't put it down. I felt I was there on the moors, being watched by the unseen'
The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (Routledge Revivals)
by Eve Kosofsky SedgwickFirst published in 1986, The Coherence of Gothic Conventions makes the case that the Gothic in English literature has been marked by a distinctive and highly influential set of ambitions about relations of meaning. Through readings of classic Gothic authors as well as of De Quincey and the Brontës, Sedgwick links the most characteristic thematic conventions of the Gothic firmly and usably to the genre’s radical claims for representation. The introduction clarifies the connection between the linguistic or epistemological argument of the Gothic and its epochal crystallization of modern gender and modern homophobia. This book will be of interest to students of literature, cultural studies and psychology.
The Coherence of Gothic Conventions (Routledge Revivals)
by Eve Kosofsky SedgwickFirst published in 1986, The Coherence of Gothic Conventions makes the case that the Gothic in English literature has been marked by a distinctive and highly influential set of ambitions about relations of meaning. Through readings of classic Gothic authors as well as of De Quincey and the Brontës, Sedgwick links the most characteristic thematic conventions of the Gothic firmly and usably to the genre’s radical claims for representation. The introduction clarifies the connection between the linguistic or epistemological argument of the Gothic and its epochal crystallization of modern gender and modern homophobia. This book will be of interest to students of literature, cultural studies and psychology.
Cold Boy's Wood
by Carol BirchFusing the ghost story with sharp, psychological insight, this is a brilliant and timely novel about loneliness, buried secrets and the havoc they play on the mind from Booker-shortlisted author Carol Birch. Did you hear? Big landslip over by Ercol. Last night. The road into Gully's closed off. They found a body. Got police tape. All that stuff. They only do that for murder, don't they? Murder! A body has been uncovered in a mudslide just outside the village of Andwiston. In the pub they talk of murder, but Dan – sometime mechanic, constant drunk – is finding it hard to sift through his jumbled memories. Watching him from the dark is Lorna, a lost soul living in the woods, haunted by ghosts and a vision from her childhood: a cold boy standing alone in Gallinger's field.Fusing the ghost story with sharp, psychological insight, Cold Boy's Wood is an arresting, timely novel about loneliness, buried secrets and the havoc they play on the mind.'A naturally literary writer who can, with a simple image, evoke the deepest emotion' Guardian'A haunting murder mystery, Cold Boy's Wood is also a double portrait of damaged souls' Sunday Times Crime Club'Fusing the supernatural with the psychological, Birch's story is, at its heart, a human one' Big Issue'Her prose has an irresistible vigour... Her words sing on the page' Financial Times
Cold Days: The Dresden Files, Book Fourteen (Dresden Files #14)
by Jim ButcherYou can't keep a good wizard down - even when he wants to stay that way.For years, Harry Dresden has been Chicago's only professional wizard, but a bargain made in desperation with the Queen of Air and Darkness has forced him into a new job: professional killer.Mab, the mother of wicked faeries, has restored the mostly-dead wizard to health, and dispatches him upon his first mission - to bring death to an immortal. Even as he grapples with the impossible task, Dresden learns of a looming danger to Demonreach, the living island hidden upon Lake Michigan, a place whose true purpose and dark potential have the potential to destroy billions and to land Dresden in the deepest trouble he has ever known - even deeper than being dead. How messed up is that?Beset by his new enemies and hounded by the old, Dresden has only twenty four hours to reconnect with his old allies, prevent a cataclysm and do the impossible - all while the power he bargained to get - but never meant to keep - lays siege to his very soul.Magic. It can get a guy killed.
Cold Fire: An unmissable thriller of suspense and the occult
by Dean KoontzA man with a rare gift. A cynical journalist. A dangerous enemy. Breath-taking and unique, Cold Fire is bestselling author Dean Koontz at his mesmerising best. Perfect for fans of Stephen King and Richard Laymon.'Solid, satisfying, hair-raising Koontz barely lets the reader come up for air between terrors' - The Washington Post 'There is an Enemy. It is coming. It is relentless.'Schoolteacher Jim Ironheart flies on an impulse to Portland, Oregon. There he risks his life to save a child from being killed. Reporter Holly Thorne witnesses his heroism, and is impressed by his self-effacement when he declines to be interviewed.Burnt out, cynical, and looking for a life beyond journalism, Holly finds her newshound's instincts rekindled when she discovers Jim has quietly performed twelve last-minute rescues in twelve far-flung places over the past four months. Realising she is on to the biggest story of her life, Holly traces Jim to California. He insists he is not a psychic; he simply believes God is working through him. Holly thinks his explanation is too easy, that there is no wonder in life, no great mystery.She is dead wrong. For she and Jim are soon plunged into a dark sea of wonder, mystery - and stark terror. And, on the run for their lives, they will be forced to confront a savage and uncannily powerful adversary... What readers are saying about Cold Fire: 'From the first line I was swept away in the story. Twisting and turning to an unexpected ending!''Gripping, thrilling reading''Don't read with the light off!'
Cold Hand in Mine: Strange Stories
by Robert AickmanFor fans of Inside Number 9 and The League of Gentlemen -- with an introduction by Reece ShearsmithAickman's 'strange stories' (his preferred term) are constructed immaculately, the neuroses of his characters painted in subtle shades. He builds dread by the steady accrual of realistic detail, until the reader realises that the protagonist is heading towards their doom as if in a dream. Cold Hand in Mine, first published in 1975, stands as one of Aickman's finest collections and contains eight tales including 'Pages from a Young Girl's Journal' which won the World Fantasy Award. 'He had the ability to invest the daylight world with all the terrors of the night, and specialised in subverting notions of safety and sunshine into something sinister and unforgiving.' Christopher Fowler, Independent
A Cold Legacy: The Madman's Daughter, Her Dark Curiosity, A Cold Legacy (Madman's Daughter Ser. #3)
by Megan ShepherdWith inspiration from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, this breathless conclusion to the Madman's Daughter trilogy explores the things we'll sacrifice to save those we love . . . even our own humanity.