Classic Horror

Although the first horror or gothic novel (characterized by gloomy settings and sinister events) is agreed to be Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto, published in 1765, the writer's fascination with fear and terror can be traced back to the 13th century. The year 1765 also saw the arrival of the Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe, perhaps the most popular horror novel until the publication of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein in 1818. The following year, one of the first vampire novels appeared, The Vampyre (1819) by John Polidori. Soon the literary world was populated with a new cast of characters including madmen, sadists, vampires, monsters and werewolves lurking in dark woods, secluded castles or haunted houses. Matthew Lewis's novel, The Monk (1796) is described by Stephen King as "a black engine of sex and the supernatural that changed the genre and the novel itself, forever."

The Exorcist (1971) by William Blatty
The inspiration for Blatty's best-known work dated to 1949 when Blatty was a student at Georgetown University and read local newspaper accounts of an exorcism involving a 14-year-old boy in Mount Rainier, Maryland.

Rosemary's Baby (1967) by Ira Levin
Levin's most famous work, in which an apparently average couple find new friends among devil worshippers, was a huge bestseller, and the film version starred Mia Farrow and John Cassavetes.

The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft
Many of Lovecraft's legendary (and weird!) stories, written in a highly distinctive style, feature Cthulhu, whose "pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings."

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
This landmark work, based on a dream and written and printed in 10 weeks, has inspired at least 20 screen adaptations and several sequels by authors such as Loren D. Estelman, Robert Bloch and Valerie Martin.

Dracula (1897) by Bram Stoker
Stoker's novel about the infamous Count Dracula has spawned an enormous and longstanding interest in vampires. The website of Dr. Elizabeth Miller, an internationally recognized expert on Stoker's novel, contains information on the novel, Stoker's life and links to other sites of interest to vampire lovers.

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896) by H.G. Wells
The survivor of a shipwreck is rescued by the infamous Dr. Moreau, whose island is inhabited by half-human and half-animal creatures.

The Picture of Dorian Grey (1891) by Oscar Wilde
As a young man Dorian Grey wished that a portrait of him would grow old and ugly and that he would stay young, innocent and fresh forever. It almost worked.