With the consistent place of the horror genre in the pantheons of literature and other media, works of horror have strived to disturb and annoy their audience from as early as the 18th century. Readers have always loved to be startled and startled. Classic horror novels have offered that opportunity for centuries. Those who love modern horror authors, such as Stephen King, may be interested in exploring the earlier literary works that inspired and prefigured modern horror, forming the foundation for which horror fans have come to crave.
Topics in the list below range from Haunted houses, dead bodies, blood-soaked vampires, unearthly creatures and otherworldly monsters. From as early as Mary Shelley’s FrankensteinPublished in 1818, to Ray Bradbury’s 1962 novel Something bad happens like thatThey have inspired countless retellings, as well as countless horror novel-to-film adaptations. Still, the original novels featured creatures and questions that continue to be explored in today’s most haunting works.
10
Carmilla (1872)
Written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Written in 1872 by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla is one of the earliest works of fiction featuring a vampire. Carmilla has inspired multiple worldwide adaptations in film and television and has been depicted in numerous plays; in 2022, Carmilla Even got his own Dark Horse comic book adaptation. The story of Le Fanu is also credited as an inspiration for Bram Stoker Dracula And the influences on the last novel are clear.
For those interested in childhood relationships, nighttime visits from a girl in a blood-soaked nightgown became terrifying. Carmilla Could be the novel for them. The villain and title character of the story is Carmilla, an archetype for the lesbian vampire figure, as she slowly preys on other females. The story is told from the perspective of an innocent teenage girl named LauraWho is visited at night by a handsome guest, and is stabbed in the breasts. Through strange circumstances and declining health, Laura begins to learn some strange things about her new friend Carmilla.
9
Dracula (1897)
Written by Bram Stoker
Although not the first book on vampires, DraculaWritten in 1897 by Bram Stoker, the vampire is the benchmark. Dracula has been featured in over 80 films And is undoubtedly the most distinguished of all vampires. Despite all the speculation about which historical figure may have inspired Dracula, all that is known is that Stoker chose the name “Dracula” because he thought it meant “devil” in Romanian.
Dracula Is An epistolary novel, meaning that it is a collection of several fictional characters Written by different characters with various perspectives. The writing explores dark castles, Dracula’s brides feeding on infants, illnesses caused by spilled blood, vampiric curses, beheadings and many mortal injuries.
One review of Dracula In 1897 it was mentioned that it had an obsession with dark themes beyond the writings of Mary Shelley or Edgar Allan Poe. The mystery of Dracula and his aversion to all things holy creates a story that truly haunts its readers.
8
Edgar Allan Poe: Collected Works (1827-1849)
Written by Edgar Allan Poe
No list of scary stories is complete without the inclusion of Edgar Allan Poe. One of the cultural icons of horror, Poe’s work has been adapted into many films, television shows and audio dramas. The latest adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe is Netflix The Fall of the House of UsherLoosely based on some of his works.
Intensely interested in death and premature burial, many of Poe’s most disturbing writings succeed through their disturbing psychological effects. Poe specialized in short stories and was able to terrify his readers with just 2,000 words. With titles such as The Mask of the Red Death And The RavenPoe was a master storyteller with over 60 short stories to his name, and among them are some of the greatest horror ever composed.
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Most readers are familiar with The Raven And The telling-part heartBut Poe offers much more. The premature burial Dealing with the fear of being buried alive. The oval portrait is about a man who obsessively paints the portrait of his wife until she dies of neglect. and, The pit and the pendulum Witness the mental state of a tortured prisoner.
7
Frankenstein (1818)
Written by Mary Shelley
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley came into being when Shelley, Lord Byron, and a few other author friends decided to have a competition to write a ghost story. Frankenstein’s monster has become One of the most terrifying cultural icons of horrorBeing represented by several adaptations and known by all.
Frankenstein’s monster has become one of horror’s most terrifying cultural icons, represented by several adaptations and known by all.
However, Frankenstein’s monster is not the green, square-headed beast that people often imagine. Frankenstein’s monster was a combination of dead body parts stretched too tightly over repurposed muscles and veins. Frankenstein Tells the tale of chemist and scientist Victor Frankenstein. Victor discovers how to purify dead matter and applies this to the creation of a large humanoid Composed of dead body parts and organs.
He is afraid of the folly of his creation, he fled the monster. The creature then wanders, hoping to find his place among ordinary people, only to discover that he frightens them. Frankenstein’s monster then swears revenge on his creator by planning to kill anyone Victor loves. A story that explores acceptance and purpose, Frankenstein Examines the horrors of playing God.
6
The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
Written by Shirley Jackson
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a classic 1959 gothic horror that Inspired the 1963 and 1999 film adaptations and the 2018 chilling Netflix miniseries. Jackson supposedly based The Haunting of Hill House On the experiences of paranormal researchers of the 19th century who investigated a haunted house.
Jackson was drawn to the specific personalities of the researchers when reading their studious findings. It is rumored that Jackson’s husband (who read all her works) is also afraid to choose this novel. The Haunting of Hill House takes place in A mansion with a history of gruesome deathsOwned by one Dr. John Montague.
Montague, hoping to find proof of the paranormal, invites four people with experiences in the supernatural to stay in his home and record their findings. Throughout the story, readers are exposed to the unexplainable as they follow Eleanor and her companions on their stay at Hill House, finding that horror lies not in a building but in its inhabitants.
5
The Island of Dr. Mou (1896)
Written by HG Wells
The island of Dr By master science fiction writer HG Wells, the author of classics such as The invisible man And The war of the worldswas published in 1896. Even though The island of Dr Considered a science fiction novel, its themes and discoveries push it far into the terrifying. The character Monreau in The island of Dr is a physiologist who experiments with vivisection (surgical investigations on living beings).
Morneau tries to vaccinate creatures with the hopes of turning them into humans. The story’s protagonist, Edward Prendick, finds himself trapped on Moreau’s lab-like island, trying to escape the title character while befriending the many created beast folk of the island. Explore painful experimentation, human relationships and the concept of exaltation (the height of one race into a more advanced version of itself), The Island of Dr. MurrowThe psychological impact is not for the faint of heart.
4
HP Lovecraft: Collected Works (1916-1936)
Written by Howard Phillips Lovecraft
Writer of some of the weirdest horror stories of all time, HP Lovecraft, has created Creatures as terrifying as the infamous Cthulhu, the Deep Ones, and Azathoth. Lovecraft believed that humanity is insignificant compared to the vastness of the cosmos and could be destroyed at any moment, and his short stories make readers believe it.
Lovecraft even has a genre of horror named after him: Lovecraftian Horror, which explores the unknown through cosmic themes and often features terrifying supernatural creatures. Lovecraft’s most notable work, The Call of CthulhuUnveiled a destructive Cthulhu (a huge anthropoid winged beast), a nightmarish corpse city, and a cult of Cthulhu worshippers.
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With these ingredients, Lovecraft unfolds A haunting tale that challenges humanity’s self-importance. The novel The Dunwich Horror Reveals an inhuman man, born of a monstrous being, and the destruction of a city. Lovecraft often takes the forbidden and occult and craft worlds meant to bend the psyche of his readers.
3
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890)
Written by Oscar Wilde
The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde’s most disturbing and only full-length novel. Wilde was inspired to write The Picture of Dorian Gray When he painted his portrait and wanted the picture to grow old instead of himself.
In Wilde’s take on body horror, The Picture of Dorian Gray Addresses the themes of art, beauty and lust.
Wilde’s novel inspired many filmsIncluding the 1945 film The Picture of Dorian GrayThe 2009 film Dorian Gray With Ben Barnes and Colin Firth, and Stuart Townsend’s Dorian Gray character in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. In Wilde’s take on body horror, The Picture of Dorian Gray Addresses the themes of art, beauty and lust. In the story, Dorian Gray has his portrait painted and wishes it would age instead of him.
The wish was granted, and Gray lives a life of cruelty and hedonistic immoralityWhich leads to the death and suffering of others. Dorian’s portrait absorbs the age and disfigurement that his cruelty must have inflicted on his person, as he remains flawlessly beautiful. As Dorian’s image becomes more and more disfigured, he questions who he has become and what he wants to be.
2
Something Bad This Way Comes (1962)
Written by Ray Bradbury
Something bad happens like that is a dark fantasy written by Ray Bradbury in 1962. Bradbury is best known for Penning Fahrenheit 451 And The Martian Chronicles. The title Something bad happens like that is a vague suggestion of what horrors might come from, but the novel’s original title, Dark Carnivalis a little more telling of what the reader is getting into.
Something bad is coming this way Gets its title from a Shakespearean line uttered by the witches in Macbeth“Through the prick of my thumb, something bad comes this way.” The carnival setting alone will strike fear into many readers’ heartsBut with men driving back carousels and the presence of balloon witches, even the confident reader will turn the pages in horror. One only has to pick up this novel to experience what evil a dark carnival can hold.
1
The Turn of the Screw (1898)
Written by Henry James
The turn of the screw is a novel written by Henry James in 1898. The novel uses ambiguity as its tool of horror and Also inspired several adaptations, including Netflix’s second Mike Flanagan horror entry, The Haunting of Bly Manor In 2020 (the first entry is The Haunting of Hill House in 2018). n The turn of the screwA woman is hired as a governess to care for two young children living in Blay Manor.
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During her stay, the governess sees two anonymous people that no one else can recognize. She eventually learns that the two men who cared for the children before her have died, and she suspects them to be the ghost-like forms she keeps seeing. A novel born to explore the corruption of innocence, The turn of the screw Dives into madness and the supernatural.