Best of
Gothic

1960

The Complete Tales and Poems


Edgar Allan Poe - 1960
    Some of the most notable are:Tales:"The Fall of the House of Usher""The Masque of the Red Death""The Pit and the Pendulum""The Premature Burial""The Purloined Letter""The Tell-Tale Heart"Poems:"Annabel Lee""The Bells""The City in the Sea""A Dream Within a Dream""To Helen""Lenore""The Raven""Ulalume"Other Works:The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket—Poe's only complete novelCollected EssaysAdditional Fan ResourcesAlso included are special features for any Poe enthusiast, including:A list of films and television series, both directly and indirectly inspired by the works of Edgar Allan Poe.A Reading Guide to fictional works that feature the historical Edgar Allan Poe as a character.Links to free, full-length audio recordings of the major poems and short stories in this collection.

The Violent Bear It Away


Flannery O'Connor - 1960
    It is a dark and absorbing example of the Gothic sensibility and bracing satirical voice that are united in Flannery O'Conner's work. In it, the orphaned Francis Marion Tarwater and his cousins, the schoolteacher Rayber, defy the prophecy of their dead uncle--that Tarwater will become a prophet and will baptize Rayber's young son, Bishop. A series of struggles ensues: Tarwater fights an internal battle against his innate faith and the voices calling him to be a prophet while Rayber tries to draw Tarwater into a more "reasonable" modern world. Both wrestle with the legacy of their dead relatives and lay claim to Bishop's soul.O'Connor observes all this with an astonishing combination of irony and compassion, humor and pathos, resulting in a novel where range and depth reveal a brilliant and innovative writers acutely alert to where the sacred lives and to where it does not.

The Fatal Lozenge


Edward Gorey - 1960
    

Mistress of Mellyn


Victoria Holt - 1960
    But what about its master--Connan TreMellyn? Was Martha Leigh's new employer as romantic as his name sounded? As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her. TreMellyn's young daugher, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered. But it was the girl's father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil--even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha's life. Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets--as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love--and the freedom to find a golden promise forever...

Three Novels of Suspense: Madam, Will You Talk?, Nine Coaches Waiting & My Brother Michael


Mary Stewart - 1960
    

Thunder Heights / Window on the Square


Phyllis A. Whitney - 1960
    From there her grandfather, Orrin Judd, the financier, ran his vast empire. When Camilla had been a child her mother had returned there for a visit and mysteriously died. From that point on, for reasons she had never understood, Camilla's father had cut himself off completely from the Judd family. And later Camilla, now an orphan and quite alone, had been making her way as a governess in New York City.The summons from the old man had come as a complete surprise. Yet Camilla obeyed it willingly, half out of curiosity, half in the hope of discovering a home and family of her own. She found a sick old man anxious to make his peace with her before he died. She found two extraordinary aunts--imperious Aunt Hortense, dressed in bygone fashions, and fey, ghostlike Aunt Letty, haunted by some strange guilt or sorrow. She found also Hortense's adopted son, Booth, a strange, sardonic young man who seemed content to idle away his considerable talents as a painter, and Ross Granger, who had been brought there as an aide to her grandfather and who treated her with the most rigid formality.Over the enormous house hung an atmosphere of gloom, impending danger, and strange crosscurrents. And out of these elements Phyllis Whitney has fashioned an extraordinarily holding story. Old Orrin Judd's amazing will, young Booth's unfinished portrait of Camilla's mother, the house itself, which took on a character of its own, and one near-accident after another, seemingly aimed at driving Camilla away, all play their parts.The Window on the SquareTHE SCENE IS NEW YORK CITY IN THE 1870's. A letter summons young Megan Kincaid to the house on Washington Square. In a startling interview the master of the house, Brandon Reid, informs her that he wishes her to devote herself to moody, unbalanced Jeremy, Mrs. Reid's son by her previous husband, Brandon's younger brother Dwight. Dwight Reid's brilliant career as New York District Attorney had been ended by a shocking and tragic accident with a gun--or so the newspapers had claimed--at the hands of this same guilt-ridden child, then aged seven. Against her better judgment, Megan accepts the challenge.From the beginning Megan feels uneasy in the house; she senses the presence of lurking evil, of mysterious emotional undercurrents, of relationships that are not what they appear to be. She does not know whom to trust--the haughty yet strangely sad beauty, Leslie Reid, or the somber, fascinating master of the house, whose warm voice belies his cold, grave manner. She finds herself irresistibly drawn toward him, and their growing mutual attraction is duly noted by interested members of the household. When Megan realizes fully the extent of her own feelings, she knows she cannot honorably remain in the Reid home. Yet she also knows that if she goes, Jeremy will be left alone in world, irretrievably lost.

Thunder Heights


Phyllis A. Whitney - 1960
    Before her summons to his deathbed, she had never met any of her late mother's relatives. Although the rest of the family clearly does not want her there, Camilla honors her grandfather's wish and becomes the mistress of the magnificent Thunder Heights.But along with the grand house, Camilla has inherited a legacy of hatred and secrets. Not knowing who, if anyone, she can trust, Camilla searches for the truth about her mother's death. Soon she begins to suspect that it was no accident, but rather murder.

Ghelderode: Seven Plays, Vol. 1


Michel de Ghelderode - 1960
    Also includes excerpts from an interview with the author. First of two volumes.Plays included in this volume:- The Women at the Tomb- Barabbas- Three Actors and Their Drama- Pantagleize- The Blind Men- Chronicles of Hell- Lord Halewyn

Each Man in His Darkness


Julien Green - 1960
    As his origins are poor, his relatives only send a rude young coachman in a cart to fetch him and take him to his dying uncle's opulent home in Virginia. On the way, he loses a glove: an act of defiance which destiny is there to meet.Two principle themes are the problems of Christianity and homosexuality. The characters in this book all struggle with their emotions, their sensuality, their age, their appearance, their faith and their emptiness in the earthly night which flares up at the end of the book, as if the door opened by death allows in the hope of resurrection.This novel describes the journey of a soul which hides, which tears itself apart and saves itself, an éducation sentimentale in which the heart is the final arbiter when it understands that love is not just a question of sex.The background is America - landscapes, big cities and New York, where the author confuses his memories and dreams.

Tales to be Told in the Dark


Basil Davenport - 1960
    On Telling Stories • (1953) • Basil DavenportThe Beast with Five Fingers • (1919) • William Fryer HarveyBy One, by Two, and by Three • (1913) • Adrian RossSredni Vashtar • (1910) • SakiThe Two Bottles of Relish • (1932) • Lord DunsanyThe Book • (1930) • Margaret IrwinThus I Refute Beelzy • (1940) • John CollierMujina • (1904) • Lafcadio HearnThe Open Window • (1911) • SakiTwo Anecdotes • (1953) • AnonymousThe Closed Cabinet • (1915) • Anonymous

Lady of Mallow


Dorothy Eden - 1960
    She was not really a governess. But she alone knew that Blane, the man acting as Lord of Mallow, was not really a lord either. Each was seeking to unmask the other. She thought she knew why she was playing this dangerous double game. But why was Blane? Soon she began to doubt her own claim as Blane asserted his - over her. Set in Victorian England.

Sleep In The Woods


Dorothy Eden - 1960
    So it was that Briar went to live with Saul Whitmore in his beautiful house in the heart of Maori county....

The Brides of Dracula


Dean Owen - 1960
    But how can you find you quarry if you don't know who he is and your suspects are many. There's a dark-complexioned Latour, given to wandering at night and sleeping during the day. . . and handsome Baron Meinster, supposedly traveling in the Orient but rumored to be hiding in his ancient chateau. . . and the stranger, Professor Van Helsing . . . it could be anyone.Meanwhile, the victims multiply - all female, all young, and all marked with the telltale sign of the vampire. This is the first volume of "The NightMare Series" from noted film historian and author, Philip J Riley. The purpose of the series is to preserve the 50s and 60s Horror Film, movie tie-in novels that are printed on old crumbling pulp paper; to bring them in this new format for a new century. These are the original novels by various authors, not the scripts as in the editor's "Filmonster Series" and the MagicImage Filmbook series.