Entertainment/Horror Fiction

Clive Barker is an author, playwright, and film director born in Liverpool.

The Damnation Game (1985) – debut novel. Horror novel involving a Faustian pact.

The Hellbound Heart (1986) – is a horror novella and was the basis for the 1987 film Hellraiser (written and directed by Barker) and its franchise.

Books of Blood (1984/85) is a series of six horror fiction anthologies –

The first story of Volume 1 acts as an introduction to the premise of the Books of Blood series. A fake psychic is attacked one night by genuine ghosts and spirits who decide to make him a true messenger by writing stories into his flesh. This makes him a "Book of Blood".

The Forbidden, a story in Volume 5, was adapted and made into the film series starting with Candyman.

The Last Illusion, a story in Volume 6, introduced Barker's occult detective character Harry D'Amour.

William Beckford – Vathek (1786) is a Gothic novel that chronicles the fall from power of the Caliph Vathek, who renounces Islam and engages with his mother, Carathis, in a series of licentious and deplorable activities designed to gain him supernatural powers.

William Peter Blatty – The Exorcist (1971) details the demonic possession of Regan MacNeil and the two priests who attempt to exorcise the demon. Adapted into a 1973 film.

Robert Bloch – Psycho (1959) tells the story of Norman Bates, a caretaker at an isolated motel. Mary Crane is a guest at the motel. Adapted into a 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film.

Ray Bradbury – Something Wicked This Way Comes (1962) – is a dark fantasy novel. In Green Town, Illinois, two young boys deal with sinister members of a travelling carnival and learn how to combat their fears. The novel's title was quoted directly from William Shakespeare's Macbeth: “By the pricking of my thumbs / Something wicked this way comes”

For other works by this author see: Novels - British Isles / Science Fiction and Fantasy

Max Brooks – is the son of Mel Brooks. World War Z (2006) is a zombie apocalyptic novel. Adapted into a 2013 film.

Ramsey Campbell

The Inhabitant of the Lake and Less Welcome Tenants (1964) – is a collection of fantasy and horror short stories. Debut book. The stories are part of the Cthulhu Mythos.

The Hungry Moon (1986) – is a novel in which a moorland village has been taken over by authoritarian fundamentalists.

Alone with the Horrors (1993) – is a collection of 39 fantasy and horror short stories.

Kate Cary - Bloodline (2005) is an unofficial sequel to Dracula and was followed by Bloodline: Reckoning (2007).

Helen Dunmore - A Spell of Winter (1995) is a gothic novel set in England, around the time of World War I. The novel was the first recipient of the Orange Prize for Fiction, in 1996.

For other works by this author see: Novels - British Isles

Charlaine Harris is best known for The Southern Vampire Mysteries series (2001-2014), also known as The True Blood Novels and The Sookie Stackhouse Novels. The series revolves around Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress living in the fictional rural town of Bon Temps, Louisiana. Adapted into the television series True Blood.

Thomas Harris is best known for a series of novels about serial killer Hannibal Lecter

Red Dragon (1981) – Will Graham tries to find and apprehend serial killer Francis Dolarhyde, nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy". First novel featuring Hannibal Lecter, who Graham turns to for advice. Adapted into the film Manhunter.

The Silence of the Lambs (1988) – FBI agent Clarice Starling tries to convince Lecter to help her track down serial killer Jame Gumb, nicknamed “Buffalo Bill”. Adapted into a 1991 film. Includes the quote from Lecter "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti".

Hannibal (1999) – Mason Verger, who was disfigured by Lecter, plans to get revenge by capturing Lecter, using Clarice Starling as bait.

Hannibal Rising (2006) – is a prequel to Red Dragon. Covers Lecter’s early life in Lithuania and France as a vengeful Nazi-hunter.

James Herbert

The Rats (1974) – debut novel. Set in London, the novel concerns man-eating giant black rats. Followed by three sequels: Liar (1979), Domain (1984) and The City (1993) graphic novel.

The Fog (1975) – concerns a deadly fog that had been trapped underground for many years. The fog drives its victims insane when they come into contact with it.

The Survivor (1976) – concerns a man named Keller, who is the sole survivor of an airline crash.

The Secret of Crickley Hall (2006) – presents two parallel dramas. The main storyline, set in 2006, follows the events of the Caleigh family who rent Crickley Hall; the other is set in 1943 when orphans – who have been evacuated from London during World War II – are living at Crickley Hall.

Susan Hill – The Woman in Black (1983) is a ghost story narrated by Arthur Kipps.

For other works by this author see: Novels - British Isles / Crime Fiction

Shirley Jackson – The Haunting of Hill House (1959) is a gothic novel. Dr. Montague hopes to find scientific evidence of the existence of the supernatural. He rents Hill House for a summer and invites as his guests several people whom he has chosen because of their experiences with paranormal events.

W(illiam) W(ymark) Jacobs – The Monkey’s Paw (1902) tells the story of the White family, who are left a monkey’s paw by a friend who served with the Army in India. Three wishes are granted to the owner of the paw but the wishes come with an enormous price for interfering with fate.

Henry James – The Turn of the Screw (1898) follows a governess who becomes convinced that the grounds of a remote estate are haunted.

For other works by this author see: Novels - USA

M(ontague) R(hodes) James is known as the originator of the "antiquarian ghost story".

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904) – first collection of ghost stories.

Stephen King has published 63 novels, including seven under the pen name Richard Bachman.

Castle Rock is a fictional town in Maine, providing the setting for several novels.

Carrie (1974) – debut novel. Tells the story of 16-year-old Carrie White who discovers her latent power of telekinesis and uses it to punish and destroy a town.

‘Salem’s Lot (1975) – Ben Mears, a writer who spent part of his childhood in Jerusalem's Lot, Maine, returns to find that the residents are turning into vampires.

The Shining (1977) – takes place in the fictional Overlook Hotel located in the Colorado Rockies. Jack Torrance takes a job as the off-season caretaker of the haunted hotel. His son, Danny, possesses psychic powers called ‘the shining’. Adapted into a 1980 Stanley Kubrick film.

Cujo (1981) – is set in Castle Rock. Cujo is a Saint Bernard that has become murderous after contracting rabies from a bat bite.

Pet Sematary (1983) – follows Dr. Louis Creed, who, after relocating with his family from Chicago to rural Maine, discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods.

Christine (1983) – tells the story of a red and white 1958 Plymouth Fury apparently possessed by supernatural forces.

It (1986) – is set in the fictional town of Derry, Maine. The title character is an evil entity that appears as Pennywise the Dancing Clown to attract its prey of young children.

Misery (1987) – focuses on Paul Sheldon, a writer famous for Victorian-era romance novels involving the character of Misery Chastain. Sheldon has a car accident and is taken in by a nurse named Annie Wilkes.

Needful Things (1991) – concerns an antiques shop in Castle Rock, managed by Leland Gaunt. Customers are asked to perform a seemingly innocent prank to obtain an item they want to buy.

Doctor Sleep (2013) – is the sequel to The Shining. Danny Torrance struggles with lasting memories of the hotel, while Wendy, his mother, heals from the wounds she sustained helping them escape.

For other works by this author see: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Lady Caroline Lamb - Glenarvon (1816) is a gothic novel. Its rakish title character, Lord Ruthven, is an unflattering depiction of her ex-lover, Lord Byron.

Sheridan Le Fanu was born in Dublin and was a leading ghost story writer.

The House by the Churchyard (1863) – is set in the village of Chapelizod, near Dublin, in the 1760s. Concerns Charles de Cresseron's reconstruction of the history related to the discovery of a skull in a churchyard. Le Fanu had lived in Chapelizod in his childhood.

Uncle Silas (1864) – is narrated by Maud Ruthyn, a 17-year-old orphan left in the care of her fearful uncle, Silas.

In a Glass Darkly (1872) – is a collection of five Gothic horror stories. Title taken from 1 Corinthians in the Bible.

Carmilla – is the fifth story in the In a Glass Darkly collection. The story is narrated by a young woman preyed upon by a lesbian vampire named Carmilla.

Ira Levin – Rosemary’s Baby (1967) sold over four million copies. Guy and Rosemary Woodhouse move into a Gothic apartment building in New York. Rosemary suspects that her elderly neighbours, the Castavets, are members of a Satanic cult. Adapted into a 1968 Roman Polanski film.

For other works by this author see: Science Fiction and Fantasy / Plays

Matthew Lewis – The Monk (1796) concerns the corruption and downfall of the monk Ambrosio, and his interactions with the demon-in-disguise Matilda and the virtuous maiden Antonia.

H(oward) P(hillips) Lovecraft was an American author of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, noted for combining these three genres within single narratives. He has become a cult figure in the horror genre and is noted as creator of the Cthulhu Mythos shared fictional universe.

Arkham is a fictional city situated in Massachusetts and is an integral part of the Lovecraft Country setting.

Necronomicon is a textbook of magic that appears in stories by Lovecraft.

The Call of Cthulhu (1926) – is a short story about a cult which worships a strange and ancient monster called Cthulhu. it was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales

Richard Matheson – I Am Legend (1954) is a post-apocalyptic novel. Robert Neville appears to be the sole survivor of a pandemic that has killed most of the population and turned the remainder into vampires. The novel was adapted to film as The Last Man on Earth in 1964, The Omega Man in 1971, and I Am Legend in 2007.

Daphne Du Maurier – The Birds (1952) is a horror story that was the inspiration for Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film of the same name. Set in Cornwall shortly after the end of the Second World War.

For other works by this author see: Novels - British Isles

Audrey Niffenegger – Her Fearful Symmetry (2009) is set in Highgate Cemetery. Title is inspired by William Blake's poem The Tyger.

For other works by this author see: Novels - USA

Edgar Allen Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre.

The Fall of the House of Usher (1840) – concerns Roderick and his sister Madeline, the only remaining members of the Usher family. Madeline dies and is interred in the family tomb.

The Pit and the Pendulum (1842) – tells the story of a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition who is sentenced to death. He is strapped to a wooden frame and a razor-sharp pendulum is swinging above him, slowly descending.

The Masque of the Red Death (1842) – follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague, known as the Red Death, by hiding in his abbey. Prospero holds a masquerade ball one night to entertain his guests in seven coloured rooms of the abbey. Last line: “And Darkness and Decay and the Red Death held illimitable dominion over all”.

The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) – is a story in which the narrator attempts to prove his own sanity in the wake of having murdered an old man.

The Black Cat (1843) – is told from the perspective of an insane narrator who kills Pluto, his black cat. He tries to kill another cat but ends up killing his wife.

The Cask of Amontillado (1846) – is narrated by Montresor, who is seeking revenge on his former friend, Fortunato.

For other works by this author see: Novels - USA / Crime Fiction / Poetry

John William Polidori – The Vampyre (1819) is the first published modern vampire story. Polidori was for a time Lord Byron’s personal physician.

Ann Radcliffe – The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) is a gothic novel which features in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey.

Clara Reeve – The Old English Baron (1777) follows the adventures of Sir Philip Harclay, who returns to medieval England to find that Arthur Lord Lovel, the friend of his youth, is dead.

Anne Rice

The Vampire Chronicles (1976-2018) is a series of novels that revolves around the fictional character Lestat de Lioncourt, a French nobleman made into a vampire in the 18th century.

Interview with the Vampire (1976) – debut novel. Follows vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac, who tells the story of his life to a reporter. Adapted into a 1994 film starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.

Lives of the Mayfair Witches – is a trilogy of horror novels. The novels are The Witching Hour (1990), Lasher (1993), and Taltos (1994).

Mary Shelley was born Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin. She edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus (1818) – is a novel about eccentric scientist Victor Frankenstein who creates an 8 feet tall monster in his laboratory. The title compares Frankenstein to Prometheus, who fashioned humans out of clay and gave them fire.

For other works by this author see: Science Fiction and Fantasy

Bram Stoker was born in Dublin. He was the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned.

Dracula (1897) – solicitor Jonathan Harker takes a business trip to stay at the castle of a Transylvanian noble, Count Dracula. Harker escapes the castle after discovering that Dracula is a vampire, and the Count moves to England and plagues the seaside town of Whitby. A small group, led by Abraham Van Helsing, hunt Dracula and, in the end, kill him.

The Jewel of the Seven Stars (1903) – is narrated by Malcolm Ross, who is drawn into the mystery of Queen Tera, an ancient Egyptian mummy.

The Lair of the White Worm (1911) – is partly based on the legend of the Lambton Worm.

Peter Straub

Julia (1975) – first novel by Straub to deal with the supernatural.

Ghost Story (1979) – is the story of four men who get together every now and then to tell each other haunting stories from their past. The four men's bond is stronger than ever since the mysterious death of their friend Edward Wanderley.

The Talisman (1984) – was co-written with Stephen King. It follows twelve-year-old Jack Sawyer who goes on a mystical journey to save his mother from terminal cancer with an artifact known as “the Talisman”.

Horace Walpole – Castle of Otranto (1764) is considered to be the first Gothic novel. Tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family. Horace Walpole was the son of the first British Prime Minister, Robert Walpole.

Dennis Wheatley

The Devil Rides Out (1934) – is a novel in the Duke de Richleau series. Set in 1930s England, Duc de Richleau and Rex van Ryn rescue their friend Simon Aron from a devil-worshipping cult.

The Haunting of Toby Jugg (1948) – is an occult novel incorporating themes of satanic possession and madness. The title character is a disabled British airman recovering from his experiences in World War II.

To the Devil, a Daughter (1953) – concerns a group of Satanists, led by an excommunicated priest, who plan on using a young girl as the representative of the Devil on Earth.

For other works by this author see: Novels - British Isles / Historical Fiction