The Classic Horror Collection

Spanning 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 Benson Ambrose Bierce Francis Marion Crawford George Allan England William Hope Hodgson W. W. Jacobs M. R. James Vernon Lee Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu H. P. Lovecraft Arthur Machen Guy de Maupassant Edgar Allan Poe Charlotte Riddell Mary Shelley M. P. Shiel Robert Louis Stevenson Bram Stoker Pearl Norton Swet

"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.

Featuring crumbling castles, chilling cathedrals, and haunted manors as their eerie settings, these stories are sure to terrify and entertain in equal measure. Supernatural terrors lurk around every corner. Here you will find tales by landmark gothic writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Sheridan Le Fanu, Sir Walter Scott and many more. Often controversial in their own time, these stories pushed the boundaries of what was possible in fiction and evoked unsettling emotions as they told their tales of mysterious places, lost secrets, and sudden, shocking violence.

'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.

A superb collection of some of the greatest tales of the genre; many are classics while others are lesser-known gems unearthed from the vintage era of the supernatural.

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