The 77 Greatest Works of Horror
Horror fiction is often considered a subset of fantasy fiction. However, the hallmarks of horror—arousing terror, repulsion or other extreme psychological disturbance—are found to some degree in literature right across genres. Whether a fiction is thought to fall into the horror subgenre may be a matter of how central these fearful features are to the work.
The selection of horror literature is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time list, as well as additional views of readers, writers, critics and scholars in this genre.
This list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, novellas and series—although some shorter works of literary significance may also be considered.
Latest update: October 29, 2024
1764
The Castle of Otranto
Horace Walpole, England
Novella
Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto is one of those "classic" works that is better known for its impact in its time that for its subsequent readability. It's more influential than admired. In fact, any reader today is likely.... Critique • Quotes • Buy
1786
Vathek
William Beckford, England
1794
The Adventures of Caleb Williams
William Godwin, England
Novel, also known as
Things as They Are
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe, England
1796
The Monk
Matthew Lewis, England
1805–1847
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa
Jan Potocki, Poland
Novel, also known as
The Saragossa Manuscript
1818
Frankenstein
Novel, also known as
Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus
By several standards Frankenstein is a very poorly written novel. The narrative wanders all over, bogging down in irrelevant subplots and extraneous characters, the characters (except for one) are thinly and.... Critique • Quotes • Text • At the movies • Buy
1820
Melmoth the Wanderer
Charles Maturin, Ireland
1824
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg, Scotland
1837
Twice-Told Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne, United States
1839
"The Fall of the House of Usher"
Edgar Allan Poe, United States
1843
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
Edgar Allan Poe, United States
1864
Uncle Silas
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
1872
In a Glass Darkly
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
1886
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Novella
The surprising thing about Robert Louis Stevenson's horror story, if you had previously known the Jekyll and Hyde character only indirectly through popular culture, is that it's so brief. Not only is the novella short.... Critique • Quotes • Text • At the movies • Buy
1887
She
H. Rider Haggard, England
1891
The Picture of Dorian Gray
by Oscar Wilde, Ireland
Novel
Everyone knows the central conceit of The Picture of Dorian Gray: a beautiful young man remains unblemished by age, while his painted portrait, hidden from public sight, grows older and corrupted by moral degradation.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
1893
"The Damned Thing"
Ambrose Bierce, United States
1896
The Island of Doctor Moreau
H.G. Wells, England
1897
Dracula
Novel
The first part of Dracula, when Britisher Jonathan Harker travels to Transylvania to inform his firm's mysterious client about its purchase of real estate in London on his behalf, has got to be some of the most entrancing.... Critique • Quotes • Text • At the movies • Buy
1898
The Turn of the Screw
Henry James, United States
1902
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Novel
First thing you have to do is forget all the movie and television productions you might have seen of this tale. Those misty, moody scenes on the moors.... The horror of the hound from hell, eyes blazing as it attacks.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
"The Monkey's Paw"
by W.W. Jacobs, England
Story
"The Monkey's Paw" is a story so well known for its plot that its writing and style are sometimes forgotten. In fact, it seems not to have been written by anyone at all, but must have filtered down to us as folk tale or.... Critique • Quotes • Text • Buy
1904
Ghost Stories of an Antiquity
M.R. James, England
1907
The Willows
by Algernon Blackwood, England
Novella
With a few exceptions, I dislike the kind of horror and fantasy that's in your face—tales that start with incredible, supernatural phenomena and then keep building on it, getting wilder and wilder. It just seems...well.... Critique • Quotes • Buy
1910
Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux, France
1911
"Casting the Runes"
M.R. James, England
Fantômas
Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre, France
1928
Story of the Eye
Georges Bataille, France
1931
At the Mountains of Madness
H.P. Lovecraft, United States
1937
The Blind Owl
Sadegh Hedayat, Iran
1938
Who Goes There?
John W. Campbell, United States
1939
The Outsider and Others
H.P. Lovecraft, United States
1943
Conjure Wife
Fritz Leiber, United States
1946
The House on the Borderland and Other Novels
William Hope Hodgson, England
1946–1959
Gormenghast series
Mervyn Peake, England
Novel series includes
Titus Groan,
Gormenghast, and
Titus Alone.
1948
Darker Than You Think
Jack Williamson, United States
Tales Of Horror and the Supernatural
Arthur Machen, Wales
1949
The Lottery and Other Stories
Shirley Jackson, United States
1951
The Day of the Triffids
John Wyndham, England
1952
The Killer Inside Me
Jim Thompson, United States
1954
I Am Legend
by Richard Matheson, United States
Novella
Critics may not have known what to make of it when it came out in 1954, but what has been made of I Am Legend since then has been several fields of popular fiction, multiple movie adaptations, lots of knockoffs, and.... Critique • Quotes • At the movies • Buy
1957
The Midwich Cuckoos
John Wyndham, England
1959
Psycho
Robert Bloch, United States
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson, United States
1962
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Ray Bradbury, United States
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson, United States
1967
Rosemary's Baby
Ira Levin, United States
1970
The Cabin at the End of the World
Paul G. Tremblay, United States
1971
The Exorcist
William Peter Blatty, United States
The Other
Thomas Tryon, United States
1974
The Rats
James Herbert, England
Carrie
Stephen King, United States
1975
Salem's Lot
Stephen King, United States
1976
Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice, United States
1977
The Shining
Stephen King, United States
1979
Flowers in the Attic
V.C. Andrews, United States
Kindred
Octavia E. Butler, United States
Ghost Story
Peter Straub, United States
1981
Red Dragon
Thomas Harris, United States
1983
Pet Sematary
Stephen King, United States
1984
The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks, Scotland
1984–1985
Books of Blood
Clive Barker, England
1985
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Suskind, Germany
Novel, originally Das Parfum
