The 77 Greatest Works of Horror
This selection of works is based on the continuing research carried out for The Greatest Literature of All Time list and further research into works of horror acclaimed by the world's readers, writers, critics and scholars.
Horror fiction is often considered a subset of fantasy fiction. However, the hallmarks of horror—arousing terror, repulsion or other 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 fearsome features are to the work.
The Greatest Works of Horror list focuses on major creative works—such as novels, novellas, story collections and series.
The list is continually updated as new works are discovered and appreciation of older works evolves. Please note the current revision date when citing the list.
Latest update: March 14, 2025
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
Novel
1794
The Adventures of Caleb Williams
William Godwin, England
Novel, also known as Things as They Are
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe, England
Novel
1796
The Monk
Matthew Lewis, England
Novel
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
Novel
1824
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg, Scotland
Novel
1837
Twice-Told Tales
Nathaniel Hawthorne, United States
Story collection
1839
Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque
Story collection includes "The Fall of the House of Usher", "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall", "MS. Found in a Bottle", and others.
First, put this book's title aside. No one really knows what "tales of the grotesque and arabesque" means. Poe himself indicated he intended more than the usual meanings of bizarre and fanciful writing; his theories on.... Critique • Quotes • Buy
1864
Uncle Silas
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
Novel
1872
In a Glass Darkly
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
Story collection
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
Novel
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
1896
The Island of Doctor Moreau
H.G. Wells, England
Novel
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
Novella
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
1904
Ghost Stories of an Antiquity
M.R. James, England
Story collection
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
Novel
Fantômas
Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre, France
Novel
1928
Story of the Eye
Georges Bataille, France
Novella
1931
At the Mountains of Madness
H.P. Lovecraft, United States
Novel
1937
The Blind Owl
Sadegh Hedayat, Iran
Novel, originally Boof-e Koor
1938
Who Goes There?
John W. Campbell, United States
Novella
1939
The Outsider and Others
H.P. Lovecraft, United States
Story collection
1943
Conjure Wife
Fritz Leiber, United States
Novella
1946
The House on the Borderland and Other Novels
William Hope Hodgson, England
Novel collection
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
Novel
Tales Of Horror and the Supernatural
Arthur Machen, Wales
Story collection
1949
The Lottery and Other Stories
Shirley Jackson, United States
Story collection
1951
The Day of the Triffids
John Wyndham, England
Novel
1952
The Killer Inside Me
Jim Thompson, United States
Novel
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
1955
The October Country
Story collection
1957
The Midwich Cuckoos
John Wyndham, England
Novel
1959
Psycho
Robert Bloch, United States
Novel
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson, United States
Novel
1962
Something Wicked This Way Comes
Novel
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson, United States
Novel
1967
Rosemary's Baby
Ira Levin, United States
Novel
1970
The Cabin at the End of the World
Paul G. Tremblay, United States
Novel
1971
The Exorcist
William Peter Blatty, United States
Novel
The Other
Thomas Tryon, United States
Novel
1974
The Rats
James Herbert, England
Novel
Carrie
Stephen King, United States
Novel
1975
Salem's Lot
Stephen King, United States
Novel
1976
Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice, United States
Novel
1977
The Shining
Stephen King, United States
Novel
1979
Flowers in the Attic
V.C. Andrews, United States
Novel
Kindred
Octavia E. Butler, United States
Novel
Ghost Story
Peter Straub, United States
Novel
1981
Red Dragon
Thomas Harris, United States
Novel
1983
Pet Sematary
Stephen King, United States
Novel
Phantoms
Dean Koontz, United States
Novel
1984
The Wasp Factory
Iain Banks, Scotland
Novel
1984–1985
Books of Blood
Clive Barker, England
Story collection
1985
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Patrick Suskind, Germany
Novel, originally Das Parfum
1986
It
Stephen King, United States
Novel
The Hellbound Heart
Clive Barker, England
Novella
1987
Beloved
Toni Morrison, United States
Novel
Misery
Stephen King, United States
Novel
1988
The Silence of the Lambs
Thomas Harris, United States
Novel
1989–1896
Sasndman
Neil Gaiman, England
Graphic novel series
1991
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis, United States
Novel
1995
Intensity
Dean Koontz, United States
Novel
2000
The House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski, United States
Novel
2001
American Gods
Neil Gaiman, England
Novel
2002
Coraline
Neil Gaiman, England
Novella
2005
Haunted
Chuck Palahniuk, United States
Novel
2006
World War Z
Max Brooks, United States
Novel
2007
The Terror
Dan Simmons, United States
Novel
2020
The Only Good Indians
Stephen Graham Jones, United States
Novel
