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The Complete Reading List
J. L. Borges |
Outlaws, labyrinthes, doppelgangers, and artifacts from other worlds... Borges the master of literary speculative fiction, creates unpredictable and inventive stories that will perplex and facinate.
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J. L. Borges |
Learn where many imaginary creatures from of folklore, mythology and literature originate and what they symbolize. Centaurs, nymphs, harpies, sirens, banshees, pheonixes, hippogriffs, minotaurs, mandrakes, nagas, and more. Illustrated by Peter Sis.
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Jeff Vandermeer |
A masterpiece of excellent storytelling. This collection includes the World Fantasy Award winning 'Transformation of Martin Lake' and the popular 'The Cage'. Bogus bibliographies and glossaries, wonderful illustrations, great design, and interesting typography.
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Thomas Ligotti |
If you have the patience for existential dread that lingers long after the book is closed, Ligotti's thoughtful nightmares will bring you to the next level in horror. Contains two acclaimed short story collections.
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John Fowles |
Nicholas Urfe is fighting for his sanity and his life in this mysterious novel of chilling surprises and twisting realities. Fowles gives you a chance to come to your own conclusions in this controversal masterwork.
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Arthur Machen |
This is a perfect introduction to the father of weird fiction. Includes "The Novel of the White Powder" as well as the influential "The White People". Trespass into arcane realms with Machen's plain yet literary style. Highly recommended.
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Arthur Machen |
Stephen King called 'The Great God Pan' one of the best horror stories ever written. 'The Hill of Dreams' is a haunting tale of literary obsession and considered Machen's masterpiece.
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Jeffrey Ford |
A mysterious woman engages the services of a portrait painter only to request that he not actually see her. He must create his vision from the many strange stories she tells him. Set in turn of the century New York, this novel is great fun with outlandish mysteries and adventures with the concerns of art and the artist.
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C. L. Moore |
Catherine Moore changed the realms of fantastic fiction forever. This 1953 edition includes the groundbreaking "Shambleau," about a seductive alien predator. One of the greatest contributers to "Weird Tales" magazine of 1930-1940's. Many of the stories are available online.
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Paul Bowles |
The collection is dedicated to Poe, yet the stories go beyond horror tales and into the realm of modern myth and shocking pathologies. The memorable title story, "A Delicate Prey" and the shocking "A Distant Episode" continue to haunt readers today.
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E. F. Watkins |
“At the top of the courtyard, on a kind of porch, stood a dark figure. Robed, with some kind of jeweled headdress. He watched, presided, approved. All of the butchery was at his command.”
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Year's Best Weird Fiction |
Kathe Koja brings her editorial sense to the second volume of the Year's Best Weird Fiction. Contributing authors from all over the world include Julio Cortazar, Jean Muno, Karen Joy Fowler, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Nick Mamatas, Carmen Maria Machado, Nathan Ballingrud, and more. A large number of these stories are by women that blend various genres into unique literature.
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Umberto Eco |
Like a medieval Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson, Friar William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso of Melk are immersed in solving murders with multiple patterns and clues. Recommended for those who like a fascinating, complex, literary mystery novel filled with curious ideas and characters. Click here for summary
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Alan Moore |
The lives of twelve people who lived in Northampton, England over a period of 6000 years are mysteriously linked. Each chapter is a personal story about the area's strange ancestry and traditions. The plot weaves a tapestry, tying threads together from story to story. Alan Moore (Watchmen, From Hell, The League of Extraodinary Gentlemen) presents a dense, engrossing first novel. |
Michael Cisco |
The San Veneficio Canon contains Cisco's debut novel "The Divinity Student" - a surreal gothic fantasy composed of mysterious prose and weird imagery. Includes the ghoulish sequel, "The Golem". Soft on plot but overflowing with mesmerizing narrative.
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Shirley Jackson |
One of the great modern haunted house novels. “…the menace of the supernatural is that it attacks where modern minds are weakest, were we have abandoned our protective armor of superstition and have no substitute defense.” Click here for summary
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American Supernatural Tales |
Great introduction to some of the best american supernatural horror fiction. Stories by Shirley Jackson, Ray Bradbury, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Fritz Leiber, T. E. D. Klien, Robert Block, Thomas Ligotti, Clark Ashton Smith, H. P. Lovecraft, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stephen King, Ambrose Bierce and more.
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Clark Ashton Smith |
Encounter Smith's phantasmagorical worlds and inventive prose that has influenced such masters of fantasy as Ray Bradbury, Harlan Ellison, Fritz Lieber, Michael Moorcock and Robert Silverberg. Both Bradbury and Ellison cited Smith's "The City of the Singing Flame" an inspiration in becoming writers. This edition also includes some of Smith's best poetry of the fantastic.
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Algernon Blackwood |
Bizzare, unsettling, spooky, and sublime. Nine stories including the classics 'The Willows' and 'The Wendigo'.
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Ray Bradbury |
Includes the classic tales "The Next in Line", "The Small Assassin", and "The Scythe". If you're a fan of imaginative writing, gather some October Country. You won't be dissapointed.
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Tales of Terror and the Supernatural |
This classic collection has many of the greatest supernatural horror tales ever written including Edith Wharton's "Afterword", F. Marion Crawford's "The Screaming Skull", Walter de la Mare's "Out of the Deep", Dorothy L. Sayers' "Suspicion", E. M. Forster's "The Celestial Omnibus", E. F. Benson's "Caterpillars", Arthur Machen's "The Great God Pan", and the first modern haunted house story of mesmerism and time-shifting: Edward Bulwer-Lytton's "The Haunters and the Haunted". Highly recommended!
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Charlotte Perkins Stetson |
Charlotte Perkins Gilman said the story was, "not intended to drive people crazy, but to save people from being driven crazy, and it worked." Does she escape? The ending depends on how you interpret the story...
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Robert Chambers |
Set against the background of Chambers' mythology about a fictional two-act play that brings hallucinations and madness to the reader, this volume collects all ten macabre stories including "The Repairer of Reputations" and "The Yellow Sign." The King in Yellow has inspired the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft and the strange fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith.
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A Connoiseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories |
A Connoiseur's Collection of Victorian Ghost Stories is a great introduction to the classic ghost story. Includes Amelia B. Edward's "The Phantom Coach", Elizabeth's Gaskell's "The Old Nurse's Story", Margaret Oliphant's "The Library Window", W. W. Jacob's "The Monkey's Paw", Henry James' "Sir Edmund Orme", Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Captian of the Pole Star", Ambrose Bierce's "The Moonlit Road", and Robery W. Chamber's "The Yellow Sign". Major Themes of women's rights and social injustice give these stories lasting depth.
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Edward Bulwer-Lytton |
A man of science confronts the supernatural and is humbled. If you're interested in where the ideas of Victorian occultism came from, read this influencial novel.
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H. P. Lovecraft |
Stephen King calls Lovecraft "the 20th Century's greatest practitioner of the classic horror tale." This edition has it all. Includes the influencial essay "Supernatual Horror in Literature".
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Edgar Allan Poe |
Intense and beautifully written stories on the macabre, Poe had a talent for unveiling a character's descent into madness. He was one of the first writers to make his living exclusively through his writing, working for literary journals and as a literary critic.
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Bram Stoker |
"... the walls of my castle are broken. The shadows are many, and the wind breathes cold through the broken battlements and casements. I love the shade and the shadow, and would be alone with my thoughts when I may." I recommend that you read the book... many of the movies don't tell the entire story. Click here for summary
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M. R. James |
This excellent edition presents all of James's ghost stories, including 'Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad," "Casting the Runes" and "Count Magnus." plus an extensive appendix. Click here for summary
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