October is finally here! The nights are getting longer, and there’s no better time to curl up with a good book… even one that makes you double check the locks on the house before you fall asleep! Horror and the supernatural have been keeping readers awake for centuries, and the stories that have lasted are the ones that tap into fears we all share – the unknown, the monster within and the things that go bump in the night. In honor of Halloween (commonly considered, by me, the best holiday in the year), we’re counting down five of the spookiest works of fiction ever written, spanning more than 150 years of shivers. Read them with the lights on… or don’t!
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Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)
Mary Shelley was literally a teenager when she dreamed up the story of an ambitious scientist and the creature he brings to life, during a famously gloomy summer spent with friends and a ghost story writing competition between them. It’s part horror, part tragedy and a haunting warning about ambition run amok. More than two centuries later, Frankenstein has never been out of print and its imagery is so woven into our culture that nearly everyone knows the story, even those who have never read it. Not bad for a tale that was stitched together on a dare!
Tales of Mystery and Imagination by Edgar Allan Poe (1840s)
No list of spooky literature would be complete without Poe, the master of the macabre. Stories like “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Black Cat” explore Poe’s common themes of guilt, madness and dread in just a few (unforgettable) pages. Poe’s work has been in print since his own lifetime as well, and it’s still a staple of classrooms and Halloween reading lists everywhere. Nevermore will October feel complete without him! (Too much of a pun? Oh well!)
Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)
Told through letters, diary entries and newspaper clippings, Stoker’s Gothic masterpiece introduces us to Count Dracula, the aristocratic vampire who set the template for nearly every bloodsucker to follow. It was a hit in its day, but its real staying power came later, through what seem like endless stage and film adaptations. Dracula remains the gold standard of vampire fiction, and the Count still shows up each Halloween, always ready to sink his teeth into a new generation of readers. (Are these jokes getting to be too much yet?)
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)
Our favorite Mistress of Terror Shirley Jackson’s novel follows a small group of people invited to investigate a notoriously haunted mansion, and the true horror lies in what the house does to the mind. It is often considered one of the finest “haunted house” stories ever written, and it has influenced generations of authors since its publication. Its popularity has held steady for over six decades, and a recent television adaptation (even though we be book people here, we actually can recommend it, though not to those of the faint of heart!) introduced it to a whole new audience!
The Shining by Stephen King (1977)
Our most modern author Stephen King’s chilling tale of a struggling writer, his family and an isolated hotel with a sinister past made King a household name in the world of horror. Between the bestselling novel and Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film adaptation, The Shining has literally become part of our cultural landscape. Nearly fifty years on, readers are still checking in to the Overlook!
Honorable Mentions (because a good scare deserves a second look):
The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (readers have argued for over a century about whether the ghosts are real or imagined… we vote real)
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (published in 1764, it’s widely considered the very first Gothic novel)
Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin (a bestseller so unsettling it may make you think twice about meeting the neighbors)
From monsters to vampires, from Gothic castles to haunted hotels, these stories prove that a good scare never goes out of style. So dim the lights, pour something warm and happy reading… if you dare!
