Must-Read Halloween Books : 560+ Horror Classics, Supernatural Mysteries & Macabre Stories

'Must-Read Halloween Books' presents an amalgam of haunting narratives that delve into the supernatural, the mysterious, and the macabre. This anthology boasts a diverse array of literary styles, from the psychological terror of Henry James to the Gothic horrors of Bram Stoker, and the unsettling folkloric tales of Algernon Blackwood. Encapsulating the spirit of Halloween, the collection spans the spectral fictions of the 18th century to the eerie tales of the early 20th century, providing a comprehensive look at the evolution of horror and ghost literature, and including seminal pieces that have shaped the genre. The authors represented in this collection are titans of English literature and pioneers of the horror and mystery genres. Figures such as Edgar Allan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft, whose works have defined and refined the contours of horror, contribute to the anthology's depth. The inclusion of less overtly horrifying, yet equally perturbing stories by Mark Twain and Thomas Hardy, adds layers of psychological intrigue and cultural commentary, reflecting the complex societal anxieties of their times. 'Must-Read Halloween Books' is an essential compendium for aficionados and new readers alike, offering a unique panorama of the most chilling literature. Each story is a gateway into the unexplored corridors of human fear and fascination with the supernatural. This collection not only entertains but also provides a profound understanding of the historical and cultural contexts in which these stories were written, making it a valuable resource for both literary scholars and casual readers interested in the roots and evolution of the horror genre.

More by H. P. Lovecraft

Skip the list

548 books
H. P. Lovecraft
H. P. Lovecraft was an American author of horror, fantasy, and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction.
Read more
1313 books
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) was an American writer, poet, and critic. Best known for his macabre prose work, including the short story “The Tell-Tale Heart,” his writing has influenced literature in the United States and around the world.
Read more
882 books
Henry James
Henry James (1843–1916) was an American writer, highly regarded as one of the key proponents of literary realism, as well as for his contributions to literary criticism. His writing centres on the clash and overlap between Europe and America, and is regarded as his most notable work.
Read more
586 books
Wilkie Collins
Wilkie Collins (1824-1889) began his literary career writing articles and short stories for Dickens' periodicals. He published a biography of his father and a number of plays, but his reputation rests on his novels. Collins is well known for his mystery, suspense, and crime writings. He is best known for his novels in the emerging genres of Sensation and Detective fiction.
Read more
1487 books
Arthur Conan Doyle
Arthur Conan Doyle was a British writer and physician. He is the creator of the Sherlock Holmes character, writing his debut appearance in A Study in Scarlet. Doyle wrote notable books in the fantasy and science fiction genres, as well as plays, romances, poetry, non-fiction, and historical novels.
Read more
711 books
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and biographer. His work centres on his New England home and often features moral allegories with Puritan inspiration, with themes revolving around inherent good and evil. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, Dark romanticism.
Read more
489 books
Mary Shelley
Mary Shelley (1797–1851) was born to well-known parents: author and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft and philosopher William Godwin. When Mary was sixteen, she met the young poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, a devotee of her father’s teachings. In 1816, the two of them travelled to Geneva to stay with Lord Byron. One evening, while they shared ghost stories, Lord Byron proposed that they each write a ghost story of their own. Frankenstein was Mary’s contribution. Other works of hers include Mathilda, The Last Man, and The Fortunes of Perkin Warbeck.
Read more
580 books
Bram Stoker
Bram Stoker was born November 8, 1847, in Dublin, Ireland. Stoker was a sickly child who was frequently bedridden; his mother entertained him by telling frightening stories and fables during his bouts of illness. Stoker studied math at Trinity College Dublin, graduating in 1867. He worked as a civil servant, freelance journalist, drama critic, editor and, most notably, as manager of the Lyceum Theatre. Although best known for Dracula, Stoker wrote eighteen other books, including Under the Sunset, The Snake’s Pass, The Jewel of Seven Stars, The Lady of the Shroud, and The Lair of the White Worm. He died in 1912 at the age of sixty-four.
Read more
560 books
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy was born in 1840 in Dorchester, Dorset. He enrolled as a student in King’s College, London, but never felt at ease there, seeing himself as socially inferior. This preoccupation with society, particularly the declining rural society, featured heavily in Hardy’s novels, with many of his stories set in the fictional county of Wessex. Since his death in 1928, Hardy has been recognised as a significant poet, influencing The Movement poets in the 1950s and 1960s.
Read more
1651 books
Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in poverty. This experience influenced ‘Oliver Twist’, the second of his fourteen major novels, which first appeared in 1837. When he died in 1870, he was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as an indication of his huge popularity as a novelist, which endures to this day.
Read more
694 books
Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling was born in Bombay, India, in 1865. One of the most revered writers in recent history, many of his works are deemed classic literature. To this day, he maintains an avid following and reputation as one of the greatest storytellers of the past two centuries. In 1907, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature. He died in 1936, but his stories live on—even eighty years after his passing.
Read more
259 books
Elizabeth Gaskell
Elizabeth Gaskell (1810–1865) was a British novelist and short-story writer. Her works were Victorian social histories across many strata of society. Her most famous works include Mary Barton, Cranford, North and South, and Wives and Daughters.
Read more
1211 books
Mark Twain
Mark Twain, born Samuel Langhorne Clemens in 1835, left school at age 12. His career encompassed such varied occupations as printer, Mississippi riverboat pilot, journalist, travel writer, and publisher, which furnished him with a wide knowledge of humanity and the perfect grasp of local customs and speech manifested in his writing. It wasn't until The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), that he was recognized by the literary establishment as one of the greatest writers America would ever produce. Toward the end of his life, plagued by personal tragedy and financial failure, Twain grew more and more cynical and pessimistic. Though his fame continued to widen--Yale and Oxford awarded him honorary degrees--he spent his last years in gloom and desperation, but he lives on in American letters as "the Lincoln of our literature."
Read more
505 books
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe was born at the beginning of a period of history known as the English Restoration, so-named because it was when King Charles II restored the monarchy to England following the English Civil War and the brief dictatorship of Oliver Cromwell. Defoe’s contemporaries included Isaac Newton and Samuel Pepys.
Read more
145 books
Jerome K. Jerome
Jerome Klapka Jerome (1859–1927) was an English writer, essayist and humorist. His most famous work is the comic travelogue Three Men in a Boat.
Read more

Must-Read Halloween Books : 560+ Horror Classics, Supernatural Mysteries & Macabre Stories

Authors:

Format:

Duration:

Language:

Categories:

90 Masterpieces You Must Read (Vol.1) : Novels, Poetry, Plays, Short Stories, Essays, Psychology & Philosophy: The Madman, Moby-Dick, Siddhartha, Crime and Punishment, Hamlet, Great Expectations, Little Women, Meditations, The Einstein Theory, Heart of Darkness, The Red Badge of Courage

At the Mountains of Madness

H. P. Lovecraft

Under the Pyramids

H. P. Lovecraft

B. J. Harrison Reads At The Mountains of Madness

H. P. Lovecraft

The Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

The Greatest Writers of All Time: Series 3 : Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Alexandre Dumas, Bram Stoker, Walter Scott, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Frances Burney, Émile Zola, Anthony Trollope, Frances Hodgson Burnett

Alexandre Dumas, Walter Scott, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Bram Stoker, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Anthony Trollope, Frances Burney, Émile Zola

Necronomicon

H. P. Lovecraft

Necronomicon

H. P. Lovecraft

The Alchemist

H. P. Lovecraft

Old Bugs

H. P. Lovecraft

Celephaïs

H. P. Lovecraft

The Terrible Old Man

H. P. Lovecraft

H. P. Lovecraft

Edgar Allan Poe

Henry James

Wilkie Collins

Arthur Conan Doyle

Nathaniel Hawthorne

Mary Shelley

Bram Stoker

Thomas Hardy

Charles Dickens

Rudyard Kipling

Elizabeth Gaskell

Mark Twain

Daniel Defoe

Jerome K. Jerome