Ah, spooky season. A time for pumpkins, parties, poltergeists, and pages on pages of creepy, spine-chilling stories that will have you sleeping with the lights on.
In lieu of traditional Halloween decorations, we've picked out the best hardback horror books from Penguin's Clothbound Classics collection that will look great on your bookshelf year-round. Whether you're looking to hunker down with a Victorian novel packed with heart-stopping twists and turns, or in search of the perfect ghost story to scare you and your friends under torch light, we have the perfect read for you.
We'd be remiss not to start with Mary Shelley, who practically invented the horror science-fiction genre with Frankenstein. Initially subtitled The Modern Prometheus , this classic novel is a chilling tale of man playing God with devastating consequences, as the eponymous Dr. Frankenstein fashions a creature out of human remains and a jolt of electricity. But is it nature or nurture that makes his creation a monster?
The story of how Mary Shelley created Frankenstein – in the midst of an opium-fuelled ghost story challenge on a trip to Switzerland – also makes for a fascinating read . This clothbound edition includes the stories created by two of her travel companions, Lord Byron and John Polidori.
Part spooky story, part psychological thriller, this 'sensation' novel by Wilkie Collins was the first to blend gothic horror with the realism of Victorian domesticity and the (then-emerging) science of psychology. It begins with one of the most famous moments in Victorian literature: Walter Hartright, strolling home through Hampstead Heath after midnight, suddenly encounters a lone woman dressed head-to-toe in white, asking for the way to London. What unfolds from there is a twisty and compelling tale of deception, conspiracy, insanity, and intrigue.
Writer and translator Lafcadio Hearn helped introduce Japanese culture and literature to the Western World at the turn of the 20th Century, when he worked as an English professor in Tokyo. In this collection of delightfully disturbing ghost stories, he draws from Japanese folklore and customs along with experiences and tales from his own childhood spent in Ireland. Expect samurai men trying to woo a beautiful but terrifying woman, an abandoned slope from which no one returns alive, a man who must protect himself from the corpse of his embittered ex-wife, and more.
Henry Jekyll seems to be in the thrall of Edward Hyde, a "damnable young man" whose disturbing bloodlust and lack of moral scruples alarms the lawyer and longtime friend of Jekyll's, Gabriel John Utterson. What ensues is a twisty, winding bid to capture the murderous Mr Hyde, which all comes to a head in a shocking and tragic revelation. This Victorian novella about vice, morality, and human nature is a classic for a reason.
This short story collection includes some of the best horror tales by American poet, author, and master of the macabre Edgar Allan Poe. Expect beloved stories like The Tell-Tale Heart and the titular Masque of Red Death , about a lavish party that flies in the face of a deadly plague, as well as slightly lesser-known works like the gothic and bewitching Legeia and The Cask of Amontillado , told from the perspective of a nobleman seeking deadly revenge after being insulted by his friend.
The Turn of the Screw is one of the most famous ghost stories of all time – and with good reason. It follows a young governess as she descends into madness and obsession, convinced that the country house she has just moved into is haunted by deadly forces that threaten the two orphan children in her charge. Other stories in this collection include The Romance of Certain Old Clothes , about a sibling rivalry that extends into the afterlife, and the twisted and chilling Owen Wingrave .
Often dubbed the "queen of gothic horror", Shirley Jackson was a master of the genre with her dark, bewitching short stories and novels. Named after one of her most famous works, The Lottery is a collection of eerie tales that will transport you to the uncanny, from a village with a barbaric monthly ritual, to an encounter between an imaginative young boy and old man on a train.
Find out more about where to start reading Shirley Jackson's books here .
If you love Shirley Jackson’s command of the uncanny in her short stories, then this beautifully written genre-defining horror novel should be your next port of call. The story centres around Dr John Montague, an anthropologist, and the three guests he invites to stay with him at the dark and eerie Hill House – all in the name of studying the occult. As the House’s chilling effects take hold of its inhabitants, the line blurs between imagination and reality, demons literal and psychological. For the reader, this amounts to both a terrifying ghost story and a no-holds-barred exploration of the human condition.
Perhaps one of the most iconic, enduring, and pastiched characters in our collective imagination, Bram Stoker's Dracula is the epitome of a great classic horror story. Told through letters, news clippings, and diary entries, this epistolary novel follows lawyer Jonathan Harker from an eerie visit to his client's castle in Transylvania to the shores of England, where a strange series of events begin to unfold...
If horror stories or novels aren't your thing, consider this anthology your perfect poetry fix for spooky season. Part of the Penguin Clothbound Poetry series, this edition of Christina Rossetti's first full published poetry collection contains haunting musings on mortality, desire, religion, ghosts (mostly metaphorical), and, of course, The Goblin Market . This eerie, euphemism-laden tale follows two sisters as they succumb to the temptation and forbidden fruit of the "goblin men", and losing their innocence in the process.
Oscar Wilde's only novel has a touch of the fantastical in its premise: a handsome young man trades his soul to preserve his beauty and youth. Instead, a once-flattering portrait of him changes over time, showing the marks of ageing and a guilty, tortured soul. This deceptively deep book about morality and Wilde's philosophy of art for art's sake is also a twisted Victorian tale – perfect for those who prefer horror without the jump scares.
