Gothic Classics

The beautiful young Dorian Gray has his portrait painted by society artist Basil Hallward. Admired by all, the dazzling, wealthy, handsome young man has everything anyone could wish for, or so it appears. Oscar Wilde's novel is a masterly study of moral corruption, a tour-de-force of suspense and surprise.

Almost anyone who has read or written science fiction or fantasy has been inspired by the work of Michael Moorcock. His literary flair and grand sense of adventure have been evident since his controversial first novel Behold the Man, from the stories and novels featuring his most famous character, Elric of Melniboné, to his fantasy masterpiece, Gloriana, winner of both the Campbell Memorial and World Fantasy awards for best novel.

This is a story from the Fall of the House of Usher collection. The horrors of the Spanish Inquisition, with its dungeon of death, and the overhanging gloom on the House of Usher demonstrate unforgettably the unique imagination of Edgar Allan Poe. Unerringly, he touches upon some of our greatest nightmares: Premature burial, ghostly transformation, words from beyond the grave. Written in the 1840s, they have retained their power to shock and frighten even now.

H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, and M.R. James: The Ultimate Collection is a fully indexed collection containing over 75 stories and poems from the three most beloved horror and ghost writers in modern literature. Read by three Audie-winning narrators.

Written in 1786, this Asian fantasy tells the story of a dissolute and debauched Caliph, Vathek. Having become obsessed with power and immortality, Vathek embarks on a journey to obtain supernatural powers, in pursuit of which he proves willing to renounce his religion and sacrifice both his children and his soul. We follow Vathek’s remarkable travels to the subterranean palace of Eblis, where his ultimate fate awaits him. Among the themes explored in Vathek are ambition, desire and the consequence of unbridled power

Wuthering Heights is Emily Brontë's only novel. It was first published in 1847 under the pseudonym Ellis Bell, and a posthumous second edition was edited by her sister Charlotte. The name of the novel comes from the Yorkshire manor on the moors on which the story centres (as an adjective, wuthering is a Yorkshire word referring to turbulent weather). The narrative tells the tale of the all-encompassing and passionate, yet thwarted, love between Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw, and how this unresolved passion eventually destroys them and many around them.

Beneath the brilliance that was behind The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome was a dark side. A dark side which produced magnificent tales of the unseen influences in our lives, such as "Mr. Jones", "The Eyes", "Kerfol", "The Ladie's Maid's Bell", and "The Looking Glass".

The Castle of Otranto is regarded as the first Gothic novel. The son of Manfred, Prince of Otranto, is mysteriously killed on his wedding day by a huge helmet. The event leads to a fast-paced story of jealous passion, intrigue, murder and supernatural phenomena unfolding in an atmosphere of thunderclaps, moonlight, and dark castle walls mirroring the inner turmoil of the characters themselves.

Heathcliff was to serve as the name for the ragged orphan whom Mr. Earnshaw found abandoned in the streets of Liverpool and took home to live with his own children, Cathy and Hindley, at Wuthering Heights. The stormy life of the mysterious Heathcliff, his love for Cathy and his relationships with the people who lived at Wuthering Heights and at nearby Thrushcross Grange make up Emily Bronte's classic novel.

As Pip unravels the truth behind his own "great expectations" in his quest to become a gentleman, the mysteries of the past and the convolutions of fate through a series of thrilling adventures serve to steer him toward maturity and his most important discovery of all - the truth about himself.

In 1897, at the age of 50, Bram Stoker was touring manager to the actor Henry Irving and was enjoying a modest success as a journalist and writer. Publication in that year of Dracula was to bring him international and lasting fame.

Known for his looks and charm, a young man obsessed with wealth and status will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He sets his sights on a beautiful and innocent college student named Dorothy, intent on marrying her for her family’s money. But when Dorothy becomes pregnant, his careful plans start to unravel, and he begins to take cold, calculating, and drastic measures to protect his future.

Après un périple éprouvant en Europe centrale, Jonathan Harker, un jeune homme de loi anglais parvient au château du comte Dracula, une bâtisse isolée dans les montagnes de Transylvanie. Il s'y rend à la demande de l'inquiétant aristocrate qui souhaite l'assistance de son cabinet pour s'installer à Londres. Durant son séjour, des évènements effarants font bientôt comprendre à Jonathan Harker qu'il est probablement perdu pour sa fiancée Mina Murray qui attend son retour à Londres.

"With the roar of thunder and the speed of a galloping horse comes the tide to Mont St. Michel", goes the old nursery song. So when the aged patriarch of the du Rocher family falls victim to the perilous tide, even the old man's family accepts the verdict of accidental drowning. But too quickly, this "accident" is followed by a bizarre discovery in the ancient du Rocher chateau: a human skeleton, wrapped in butcher paper, beneath the old stone flooring. Professor Gideon Oliver, lecturing on forensic anthropology at nearby St. Malo, is asked to examine the bones.

Our story begins in 1785 when a young seafarer, Captain Thornhill, disappears while visiting the shop of a barber in London, a certain Sweeney Todd whose shop in Fleet Street is situated by St. Dunstan's church, just round the corner from the famous and popular meat pie shop run by Mrs. Lovett. Thornhill was carrying a string of pearls as a gift for Johanna Oakley, the sweetheart of his friend Mark Ingestrie who is missing, presumed lost at sea.

The house called Sunset has been Marcia's summer home for her entire life. Both of her parents died there, and she and her brother spent their youth exploring its rambling hallways and seaside grounds. They love the old house, but Marcia's sister-in-law has never taken to it. Juliette loathes the sea, and soon comes to loathe her husband as well. After they divorce, Juliette pays a final visit to Sunset, demanding alimony. She is there for a few tense days before she disappears. It takes them a week to find her body.

From the number one best-selling author of The American Boy and The Ashes of London comes a collection of three Gothic novellas - Broken Voices, The Leper House and The Scratch - perfect for fans of The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley.

The Phantom of the Opera is Gaston Leroux's exquisite blend of Gothic horror and tragic romance that formed the basis for a world-renowned stage musical. This Penguin Classics edition is translated with notes by Mireille Ribiere and an introduction by Jann Matlock.

In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers - a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure. A beguiling story that proves that Gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live - and even thrive - under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces listeners to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” whispers secrets from its peeling edges, a silent witness to a woman’s descent into madness. In the dim light of her secluded room, she grapples with more than just faded wallpaper; it’s her sanity that unravels thread by thread. As the moon casts eerie shadows, the yellow hue takes on a life of its own, revealing cryptic patterns—a dance of confinement and rebellion.