Classics Literature Horror

The new Jim Carrey movie, Me, Myself, and Irene, hits theaters this weekend! We recommend listening to the original tale of a man with an evil twin, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as a warm-up for this summer blockbuster.

Writing to her only friend from her deathbed, Mathilda finally reveals the history that led to her isolated life of despairing melancholy. Of her mother dying in childbirth, her father's confession of his incestuous desire and subsequent suicide, and her relationship with a handsome young poet that fails to reverse Matilda's emotional withdrawal or prevent her lonely death. The haunting and relentlessly self-examining voice of Mary Shelley's protagonist is a bare narrative of trauma of a brave woman's failed search for love, atonement, and redemption.

Rediscover the classics you hold dear, reborn with haunting and thrilling twists. This collection will transport you to a world where the known meets the unknown, where the familiar becomes strange, and where the literature come alive with a bone-chilling and exhilarating flair.

The Evil Clergyman is a brief but chilling work by H.P. Lovecraft, written in 1933 and published posthumously in 1939. Unlike many of Lovecraft's stories that delve into cosmic horror and elaborate mythologies, this tale presents a deeply personal and mysterious vision, drawing readers into an unsettling encounter with the unknown. Originally conceived as a vivid nightmare that Lovecraft recounted in a letter to fellow writer Bernard Austin Dwyer, this story unfolds with an eerie immediacy that reflects its dreamlike origins.

The Beast in the Jungle is a 1903 novella by Henry James, first published in the collection titled The Better Sort. The story addresses themes like fate, loneliness, love and death. The protagonist, John Marcher, anticipates an event that he believes will set him apart from other people. Marcher is frozen by his fears and a sense of impending doom. A haunting tale of egotism, fear of the unknown and unrequited love, the story warns that the only thing one has to fear is fear itself. John’s failure to reciprocate May Bartram’s love condemns him.

Based on Japanese literature and foldlore, Kwaidan contains 17 stories. The story of Loichi, the blind biwa player who was called to perform for the dead; of Muso, the journeying priest who encountered a man eating goblin; of the samurai who outwitted the ghost of a dead man. All these plus 14 other spooly tales are included in this collection.

A London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr. Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. The work is commonly associated with the rare mental condition often called "split personality", referred to in psychiatry as dissociative identity disorder, where within the same body there exists more than one distinct personality. In this case, there are two personalities within Dr. Jekyll, one apparently good and the other evil.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is about a London lawyer named Gabriel John Utterson who investigates strange occurrences between his old friend, Dr Henry Jekyll, and the evil Edward Hyde. The novella's impact is such that it has become a part of the language, with the very phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" coming to mean a person who is vastly different in moral character from one situation to the next.

Esta apasionante obra de 1897, escrita en forma de novela epistolar, plasma de modo artístico las investigaciones de Bram Stoker acerca de los vampiros en el folclore europeo. Así vemos como el letrado británico Jonathan Harker emprende una fatigosa jornada hacia la región de Transilvania, en los montes Cárpatos, para dar consejo legal al tenebroso conde Drácula, quien pretende comprar tierras en Gran Bretania como paso inicial de un malévolo plan de dominación del mundo.

The tale follows an unnamed narrator, an intern at a mental hospital, who becomes intrigued by a patient, Joe Slater, a troubled man from the backwoods of the Catskills. Slater’s violent outbursts and visions of a celestial battle suggest a connection to a higher, otherworldly plane. Using a fictional “etheric wave” device, the narrator attempts to link his consciousness with Slater’s, embarking on a journey into an ethereal world where thoughts and dreams take on cosmic significance.

Vincentio di Vivaldi has fallen in love with Ellena Rosalba. However, his proud and noble family vehemently oppose the match: they cannot allow him to wed someone with no money or social standing. Thus, his mother, the mean-spirited Marchesa, and her minion, the evil monk Father Schedoni, set in motion a malign plot that has Ellena kidnapped and imprisoned in a convent, to prevent a hasty marriage.

William Wilson est poursuivi, son existence durant, par son double (un pantin moraliste, sa conscience ?) qui intervient pour le remettre sur la bonne voie, chaque fois qu'il s'égare dans le mal... or, William Wilson est las de ce harcèlement. Il va donc réagir, mais tragiquement.

"The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" is the most famous supernatural wild chase in all of literature. One of the best-known American short stories, this tale has been produced countless times for television and film. A Halloween classic!

Long acknowledged as a master of nightmarish vision, H.P. Lovecraft established the genuineness and dignity of his own pioneering fiction in 1931 with his quintessential work of supernatural horror, "At the Mountains of Madness". The deliberately told and increasingly chilling recollection of an Antarctic expedition's uncanny discoveries - and their encounter with an untold menace in the ruins of a lost civilization - is a milestone of macabre literature.

Nestled off the coast of Cuba and shielded by impenetrable reefs of razor-sharp rock, stands Diablo Caldera. To the rest of the world, the extinct, bowl-shaped volcano is hardly worth exploring. But the caldera has a secret. Its isolated saltwater lake has remained untouched since the fall of the dinosaurs.

This choice collection of spine tingling tales runs the gamut from slightly spooky to "I'm sleeping with all the lights on tonight!" A splendid grouping of tales from the pens of some of the great writers of the past. Enjoy these classic stories alone or with a friend, whenever your ears are free.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (originally titled Notre Dame de Paris) is a Gothic novel by Victor Hugo, published in 1831. It focuses on the unfortunate story of Quasimodo, the Gypsy street dancer Esmeralda and Quasimodo's guardian the Archdeacon Claude Frollo in 15th century Paris. The novel sought to preserve values of French culture in a time period of great change, which resulted in the destruction of many French Gothic structures. The novel made Notre Dame de Paris a national icon and served as a catalyst for renewed interest in the restoration of Gothic form.

La novela nos presenta a un monje español, llamado Ambrosio, un religioso profundamente virtuoso que es tentado por el demonio bajo la apariencia de la doncella Matilde.

Il romanzo si apre con Jonathan Harker che si reca in Transilvania presso il Castello del Conte Dracula per fargli firmare dei documenti per l'acquisto di una casa in Inghilterra. Si accorge subito che il conte ha qualcosa di sovrumano e di diabolico e soprattutto discutibili abitudini notturne ma nello stesso tempo ne è attratto e non riesce a fuggire. Così come tutti quelli che entrano in contatto con il conte e che vengono, inesorabilmente, coinvolti in un'avventura mostruosa.

"Uncle Silas" is a Gothic locked-room mystery novel by Sheridan Le Fanu. Maud Ruthyn is an orphan, left in the care of her mysterious and evil uncle Silas. The latter keeps thinking up new and creative ways to get rid of his niece. In a similar vein to Wilkie Collins’ novels, Le Fanu’s "Uncle Silas" depicts a heroine in danger, who moves from one hair-raising adventure to the next, making it a perfect, terrifying, horror tale of greed and vile intentions. B. J.