[Zsinj]

You know, I just recently borrowed some old classic horror movies from the library, namely "House on Haunted Hill" w/Vincent Price, "Tales of Terror" w/Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Peter Lorre (EHEE! EHEE! EHEE! Sorry, just couldn't resist. ;) ), "House of Dark Shadows" and "Night of Dark Shadows."
So this kind of got me in the mood to ask for some recommendations for some good gothic horror novels. and possibly some noteworthy short story collections. The ones I've read and know about are Dracula, Frankenstein, the H.P. Lovecraft tales, Edgar Alan Poe's various tales and poems, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (haven't read it yet, though).
I'd dearly appreciate some help. Thanks! ;)

[Randy M.]

You know, I just recently borrowed some old classic horror movies from the library, namely "House on Haunted Hill" w/Vincent Price, "Tales of Terror" w/Vincent Price, Basil Rathbone, and Peter Lorre (EHEE! EHEE! EHEE! Sorry, just couldn't resist. ;) ), "House of Dark Shadows" and "Night of Dark Shadows."
So this kind of got me in the mood to ask for some recommendations for some good gothic horror novels. and possibly some noteworthy short story collections. The ones I've read and know about are Dracula, Frankenstein, the H.P. Lovecraft tales, Edgar Alan Poe's various tales and poems, and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (haven't read it yet, though).
I'd dearly appreciate some help. Thanks! ;)

Looks like you don't mind short stories, so keep an eye open for Dover Publications. They have reprinted collections by some of the best: Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, M. R. James, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen, Ambrose Bierce, Oliver Onions (his real name), Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (he wrote quite a few good supernatural horror stories) and others. I'd particularly recommend James and Le Fanu.

James, Le Fanu, Lovecraft and, I think, Blackwood and Arthur Machen have all been republished by one of the British publishers, as well, in affordable trade paperbacks. There have also been some reissues of work by William Hope Hodgson over the past decade or so.

Also, Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural edited by Herbert Wise and Phyllis Fraser (Cerf) has some of the great stories: "The Beckoning Fair One," "How Love Came to Professor Gildea," "The Most Dangerous Game," "A Rose for Emily," "Count Magnus," "The Terribly Strange Bed," "Caterpillars," and many other fine stories.

If you like ghost stories, M. R. James is a particular must read. Also, The Collected Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson.

Relatively recent Gothic novels include The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson and Perfume by Patrick Susskind. Christopher Priest's The Prestige flirts around the edge of Gothic.

Two of the early Gothics that have great reputations are Melmouth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin and The Monk by Matthew Lewis. I haven't read them yet, so I can't recommend from personal experience.

Randy M.

[Raule]

F. Marion Crawford has written some very good, spine-tingling short stories. You can find most of them if you google for the Literary Gothic, as well as stories from a host of other authors who have contributed to this genre.

[Randy M.]

F. Marion Crawford has written some very good, spine-tingling short stories. You can find most of them if you google for the Literary Gothic, as well as stories from a host of other authors who have contributed to this genre.

Good suggestions. I'm annoyed with myself that I didn't think of Crawford. While I'm not all that fond of "The Upper Berth," probably his most famous story, "For the Blood is the Life" and "The Screaming Skull" are quite good. There was a collection of his stories out from White Wolf several years ago which, despite leaving off the last page of the last story and having quite a few typos, was a good collection.

Now I'm thinking about the subject more, a reader could do far worse than look up Poppy Z. Brite's first story collection, Wormwood and Caitlin R. Kiernan's novel, Threshold to see how the Southern Gothic has moved into contemporary horror literature.

Randy M.

[bio]

I can recommend You a work of Stefan Grabinski , very oryginal and self standing writer of pre Second War Poland. China Mieville writes about him :
"Early in the last century, this shockingly underrated Polish writer saw the horror that haunted modernity. His ghosts and demons don't inhabit graveyard or ruins, but steam trains, electricity cables, and the rapidly growing cities. The antithesis of nostalgic fantasy. ".
In english are translated :"The Dark domain", and some of stories in "Dedalus book of Polish fantasy ", "100 ghastly little ghost stories" and " 100 tiny tales of terror" . Some of his stories were made into wonderful little TV movies .

[Randy M.]

I can recommend You a work of Stefan Grabinski , very oryginal and self standing writer of pre Second War Poland. China Mieville writes about him :
"Early in the last century, this shockingly underrated Polish writer saw the horror that haunted modernity. His ghosts and demons don't inhabit graveyard or ruins, but steam trains, electricity cables, and the rapidly growing cities. The antithesis of nostalgic fantasy. ".
In english are translated :"The Dark domain", and some of stories in "Dedalus book of Polish fantasy ", "100 ghastly little ghost stories" and " 100 tiny tales of terror" . Some of his stories were made into wonderful little TV movies .

Bio,

Take a look at this website,
http://www.ash-tree.bc.ca/ashtreecurrent.html
for a collection titled, The Motion Demon

This is the first of a projected series collecting all of Grabinski's short work. Ash-Tree volumes are a bit pricey, in the $45-55 (U.S.) range because they are made with collectors in mind. But they are well-made and will last more than a lifetime, and in the case of Grabinski might well be the only venue for readers in the Americas to get the bulk of his work.

Randy M.

[Ouroboros]

Try William Hope Hodgson. HP Lovecraft rated him, and so does China Mieville. Excellent at writing those weird supernatural horror tales that seem to straddle 19th century and 20th century taste.

'The House On The Borderland' and three other novella-sized tales of his have been put together and published as part of the Gollancz Fantasy Masterwork series in the Uk and Ireland. I'm sure comparable omnibus editions exist elsewhere.