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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 works cited on this Greatest Horror list have been selected based on the same research and surveys that helped create The Greatest Literature of All Time list and all our other "greatest" lists.

For this list, priority is given to major works of horror—mainly novels, novellas and series—although shorter works of significance may also be included.

Latest update: October 29, 2024

1764
missing graphic
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.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

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
missing graphic
Frankenstein
by Mary Shelley, England
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.... CritiqueQuotesTextAt the moviesBuy

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
 
"The Fall of the House of Usher"
Edgar Allan Poe, United States
Story

1843
 
"The Tell-Tale Heart"
Edgar Allan Poe, United States
Story

1864
 
Uncle Silas
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
Novel

1872
 
In a Glass Darkly
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu, Ireland
Story collection

1886
missing graphic
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.... CritiqueQuotesTextAt the moviesBuy

1887
 
She
H. Rider Haggard, England
Novel

1891
missing graphic
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.... CritiqueQuotesAt the moviesBuy

1893
 
"The Damned Thing"
Ambrose Bierce, United States
Story

1896
 
The Island of Doctor Moreau
H.G. Wells, England
Novel

1897
missing graphic
Dracula
by Bram Stoker, Ireland
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.... CritiqueQuotesTextAt the moviesBuy

1898
 
The Turn of the Screw
Henry James, United States
Novella

1902
missing graphic
The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle, England
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.... CritiqueQuotesAt the moviesBuy

 
 
"The Monkey's Paw"
W. W. Jacobs, England
Story

1904
 
Ghost Stories of an Antiquity
M.R. James, England
Story collection

1907
missing graphic
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.... CritiqueQuotesBuy

1910
 
Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux, France
Novel

1911
 
"Casting the Runes"
M.R. James, England
Story

 
 
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

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
missing graphic
I Am Legend
by Richard Matheson, United States
Novella
CritiqueQuotesAt the moviesBuy
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
Ray Bradbury, United States
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

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

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

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

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