Book picks similar to
The Story of the Late Mr. Elvesham by H.G. Wells
short-stories
horror
fiction
fantasy
Schalken the Painter
J. Sheridan Le Fanu - 1839
His work is credited with turning the Gothic's focus from the external sources of horror to the inward effects of terror, thus helping to create the psychological basis for supernaturalist literature that continues to this day. Inspired by the Dutch painter Godfried Schalcken, 'Schalken the Painter' is a timeless Gothic tale. Many of the earliest occult stories, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive.
Year of the Big Thaw
Marion Zimmer Bradley - 1954
Moore, and Leigh Brackett, especially when they wrote about "the glint of strange suns on worlds that never were and never would be." In this warm and fanciful story of a Connecticut farmer, Marion Zimmer Bradley has caught some of the glory that is man's love for man -- no matter who he is nor whence he's from. By heck, you'll like little Matt.
The Shuttered Room and Other Tales of Terror
August Derleth - 1959
The Willows
Algernon Blackwood - 1907
Throughout the story Blackwood personifies the surrounding environment—river, sun, wind—and imbues them with a powerful and ultimately threatening character. Most ominous are the masses of dense, desultory, menacing willows, which "moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible.""The Willows" is one of Algernon Blackwood's best known short stories. American horror author H.P. Lovecraft considered it to be the finest supernatural tale in English literature. "The Willows" is an example of early modern horror and is connected within the literary tradition of weird fiction.
The Concrete Jungle
Charles Stross - 2004
Bob gets called out on account of a monster program called SATAN STARE, that ties back into some past work for the Laundry and others.He has to recruit, quickly, a pretty with it cop, and she helps him combat the beast, and the odd zombie.
The Castle of the Carpathians (Extraordinary Voyages, #37)
Jules Verne - 1892
The Travelling Bag And Other Ghostly Stories
Susan Hill - 2016
In the title story, on a murky evening in a warmly lit club off St James, a bishop listens closely as a paranormal detective recounts his most memorable case, one whose horrifying denouement took place in that very building. In 'The Front Room', a devoutly Christian mother tries to protect her children from the evil influence of their grandmother, both when she is alive and when she is dead. A lonely boy finds a friend in 'Boy Number 21', but years later he is forced to question the nature of that friendship, and to ask whether ghosts can perish in fires.This is Susan Hill at her best, telling characteristically flesh-creeping and startling tales of thwarted ambition, terrifying revenge and supernatural stirrings that will leave readers wide-awake long into the night.
The Lottery
Shirley Jackson - 1948
Everything has been prepared for the town’s annual tradition—a lottery in which every family must participate, and no one wants to win. “The Lottery” stands out as one of the most famous short stories in American literary history. Originally published in The New Yorker, the author immediately began receiving letters from readers who demanded an explanation of the story’s meaning. “The Lottery” has been adapted for stage, television, radio and film.
The Pear Shaped Man
George R.R. Martin - 1991
Jessie meets hers when she and her friend Angela move into their new apartment--he lives in the rotten-smelling basement apartment--wet lips, whiny voice, eating Cheez Doodles with warm Coke. He's always waiting for her, inviting her down to his apartment ... he has 'things' to show her. When Jessie's obsession with this repulsive man turns to paranoia, it takes over more than just her life. Locus Poll Award Nominee, World Fantasy Award Nominee, Bram Stoker Award Winner
The Haunted and the Haunters
Edward Bulwer-Lytton - 1859
A rationalist Victorian visits a haunted house in order to explain the nature of its ghostly inhabitants.First published in Blackwood's, August 1859.
Arena
Fredric Brown - 1944
He rolled over to his side, off the rock, and then pushed himself up to a sitting position.'I'm crazy,' he thought. 'Crazy -- or dead -- or something.' The sand was blue, bright blue. And there wasn't any such thing as bright blue sand on Earth or any of the planets. Blue sand under a blue dome that wasn't the sky nor yet a room, but a circumscribed area -- somehow he knew it was circumscribed and finite even though he couldn't see to the top of it.He picked up some of the sand in his hand and let it run through his fingers. It trickled down on to his bare leg. Bare?
The Abbot's Ghost: A Christmas Story
A.M. Barnard - 1867
Traherne is temporarily crippled saving the life of his well-born friend, Jaspar. Thus, Jaspar is assured of inheriting his father's estate, but it is expected that Traherne will inherit great wealth as gratitude for saving the heir. But--surprise!--on the death of Jaspar's father all are shocked to learn that Traherne has been disinherited: the will has been changed at the last minute and only the suffering Traherne knows why but won't tell and then he falls in love with Jaspar's sister, the fair Octavia. However, Octavia is forbidden to marry, as Traherne is penniless.
Deadlocked
A.R. Wise - 2011
His wife and daughters were at home, stranded on the roof as zombies waited below. He would have to fight through hordes of undead, merciless other survivors, and a series of death defying stunts to get home. However, even if he makes it there, how can he be sure they're safe?Deadlocked puts you into David's head as he struggles to get home. Then a final confrontation occurs that will guarantee his family's survival, but at what cost?