10 Classic Horror Novels You Can Read in One Night
I was reading about a book titled 100 One Night Reads: A Book Lover’s Guide, and I thought it might be fun to have a list of horror novels you can read in one night. Here’s a list of 10 horror novels you can read in a single night. All of them are available at the store, and most of them are available in relatively inexpensive editions too:
- Frankenstein, or, the Modern Prometheus – Believe it or not, Mary Shelley was only 18 when she started writing Frankenstein. It’s considered the first science fiction novel, as well as being the beginning of an entire sub-genre of horror movies and books. There have been over 100 films featuring the character of Frankenstein’s monster.
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – This Robert Louis Stevenson novel is the classic tale of a split personality, and everything from the wolfman movies of the 30s and 40s to the movie Psycho have been influenced by this story. There have been over 100 film adaptations of this one also.
- The Picture of Dorian Gray – This is Oscar Wilde’s only published novel, and it’s considered one of the last works of classic Gothic fiction. The Picture of Dorian Gray has decidedly Faustian themes.
- The Turn of the Screw – A ghost story from Henry James that was originally published in 1898. Some call this the most sophisticated ghost story ever written.
- The Case of Charles Dexter Ward – A classic H. P. Lovecraft tale that was originally published in 1927. It’s been filmed at least twice, once starring Vincent Price in The Haunted Palace and again in The Resurrected.
- Conjure Wife – A Fritz Lieber novel from 1943 about a college professor who discovers that his wife is a witch and is using magic against him. It was filmed on 3 separate occasions.
- The Body Snatchers – A Jack Finney novel from 1955 which has been filmed multiple times. Not only was this the inspiration for the 4 movies directly based on it, but it also heavily influenced other movies like The Faculty.
- The Green Man – A 1969 ghost story from Kingsley Amis.
- Some of Your Blood – A 1961 novel from science fiction master Theodore Sturgeon. Like Dracula, it’s an epistolary novel, and also like Dracula, it’s a vampire novel.
- The Haunting of Hill House – Shirley Jackson’s haunted house novel is one of Stephen King’s favorites, and he cites it as being a big influence on his novel The Shining.
I know this was supposed to be a top ten list, but I can’t help but mention that Joe Lansdale’s short novel Bubba Ho-tep is also well worth reading, and it’s also short enough to enjoy in a single evening.
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 30th, 2009 at 11:11 am and is filed under Horror Fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
[...] Classic Horror Novels [...]
A great list, and a great idea for a list. I’d say these are criminally underappreciated novels today, as well.
Adorable list!!
Yet… where’s STEPHEN KING?
Vonderful… but VHERE IS DRACULA! It must belong on zhis list somevhere!