Explorations in Reading: Dare to be Scared!

Mary Shelley's tragically misunderstood monster turns 200 this year, and he is still lurching along, one of the most influential creations ever committed to the page. While reviewers at the time condemned Shelley's "diseased and wandering imagination," her vision of human knowledge and technological advancement outstripping humanity's ability (or inclination) to use that knowledge responsibly still resonates today.

Bram Stoker's most famous work was the first book to pull together all the qualities we now associate with vampires — except the sparkling: Transylvanian, aristocratic, dangerous to young women, so, basically Bela Lugosi (who was actually Hungarian, but oh, that accent). Much like its monstrous companion Frankenstein, Dracula wasn't initially regarded as a classic — but once the film adaptations began to appear, it quickly achieved legendary status.

Poe is best known for his works of the macabre, including such infamous titles as The Raven, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Murders in the Rue Morgue, Lenore, and The Fall of the House of Usher.

The turn of the screw is the terrifying tale of a governess in love with her employer, and two children influenced by evil spirits. Daisy Miller is a young American woman traveling in Europe who flouts European convention, with tragic consequences.

Known primarily for her classic and haunting story "The Yellow Wallpaper," Charlotte Perkins Gilman was an enormously influential American feminist and sociologist. Her early-twentieth-century writings continue to inspire writers and activists today. This collection includes selections from both her fiction and nonfiction work. In addition to the title story, there are seven short stories collected here that combine humor, anger, and startling vision to suggest how women's "place" in society should be changed to benefit all.

Choice collection of short fiction by one of the masters of the genre. In addition to the title story, this volume includes "The Birthmark," "Rappaccini's Daughter," "Roger Malvin's Burial," "The Artist of the Beautiful," "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment" and "My Kinsman, Major Molineux." Tales deal with scientific experiment, witchcraft, revenge, more.

This edition contains the classical horror story 'The Monkey's Paw' as well as the following other gothic tales by William Wymark Jacobs : Jerry Bundler, The Toll-House, The Well, A Black Affair, The Three Sisters, Keeping Up Appearances.

Robert Neville may well be the last living man on Earth . . . but he is not alone. An incurable plague has mutated every other man, woman, and child into bloodthirsty, nocturnal creatures who are determined to destroy him. By day, he is a hunter, stalking the infected monstrosities through the abandoned ruins of civilization. By night, he barricades himself in his home and prays for dawn....

Twelve-year-old schoolboy Oskar, who is bullied at school in Stockholm and obsesses about gruesome murders, meets Eli, a child who moves in next door and appears to be the same age, but only goes out at night; when the killings start, Oskar learns that his friend is a vampire.

The spellbinding classic that started it all - Book I of the Vampire Chronicles Here are the confessions of a vampire. Hypnotic, shocking, and chillingly erotic, this is a novel of mesmerizing beauty and astonishing force--a story of danger and flight, of love and loss, of suspense and resolution, and of the extraordinary power of the senses.

In an apocalyptic near-future world, a mother and her two small children are followed by something as they make their way down a river, blindfolded, in order to avoid seeing a terrifying entity that will drive them to deadly violence.

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beat the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop. The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED. Now, twenty years after the Rising, Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives-the dark conspiracy behind the infected. The truth will out, even if it kills them.

We survived the zombie apocalypse, but how many of us are still haunted by that terrible time? We have (temporarily?) defeated the living dead, but at what cost? Told in the haunting and riveting voices of the men and women who witnessed the horror firsthand.

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr Caldwell calls her "our little genius." Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Featuring H.P. Lovecraft's The Shadow Over Innsmouth, this collection of macabre stories also features Ramsey Campbell, Neil Gaiman, Brian Stableford, and Brian Lumley.

Wong, a video-store clerk, and his friend John, embark on a funny and frightening adventure when they get involved with soy sauce, a substance that gives them entrance into another dimension.

Few writers can evoke such nightmarish visions as H. P. Lovecraft--and few of his stories are as chilling as these canonical tales of terror.

Thus begins the most astonishing true-life odyssey ever recorded--one man's riveting account of his extraordinary experiences with visitors from "elsewhere" . . . how they found him, where they took him, what they did to him, and why. Believe it. Or don't believe it. But read it--for this gripping story will move you like no other. It will fascinate you, terrify you, and alter the way you experience your world.

Four seekers look for haunting evidence at the abandoned old mansion called Hill House. Their stay begins as a spooky encounter, but the house is gathering its powers and will choose one of them to make its own.

For the Torrance family, the Overlook Hotel is a place where horrors come to life and where those who have the shining battle evil.

A series of narrators examine a strange house that is larger on the inside than on the outside, and as each person investigates, the next evaluates the discoveries of the previous.

A ghost story. Arthur Kipps comes to attend the funeral and settle the estate of Mrs. Alice Drablow. Routine events give way to sinister events and secrets.

In the wild interior of the Yucatán, far from the lazy beaches of Cancún, two young couples and some new-found friends venture to the site of an ancient Mayan temple, in pursuit of another in their group. What started out as a day trip spirals into a nightmare when they reach the ruins . . . and discover the terrifying presence that lurks there.

The second Mrs. Maxim de Winter finds it difficult and frightening to live in the shadow of her predecessor, a situation that is exacerbated by her husband's moodiness, and the presence of sinister housekeeper, Mrs. Danvers.

In a wasteland born of rage and fear, populated by monstrous creatures and marauding armies, earth's last survivors have been drawn into the final battle between good and evil, that will decide the fate of humanity.

The author spins subversively dark and sensual versions of familiar fairy tales and legends like "Little Red Riding Hood," "Bluebeard," "Puss in Boots," and "Beauty and the Beast," giving them exhilarating new life in a style steeped in the romantic trappings of the gothic tradition.

Journey through the woods in this sinister, compellingly spooky collection that features four brand-new stories and one phenomenally popular tale in print for the first time. These are fairy tales gone seriously wrong.

"Amnesty" is a story of a woman named Noah who works to negotiate the tense and co-dependent relationship between humans and a species of invaders. Also new to this collection is "The Book of Martha" which asks: What would you do if God granted you the ability—and responsibility—to save humanity from itself?