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Classic Horror Tales
Curl up with this collection of classic scary stories from the masters of the genre.
With dozens of stories of the macabre, fantastic, and supernatural, Classic Horror Tales is sure to keep readers on the edges of their seats. This collection of works by classic writers spans more than a century—from 19th-century trailblazers such as John William Polidori, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving to 20th-century masters like Saki, Edith Wharton, and Franz Kafka.
The fear of the unknown is a driving force in literature, and the horror genre surpasses all others in bringing this idea to the forefront of the reader's consciousness. A wide range of cultures and classes of society are represented in this volume, reminding us that dark forces lurk all around us—for even in broad daylight, a shadow exists somewhere.
With dozens of stories of the macabre, fantastic, and supernatural, Classic Horror Tales is sure to keep readers on the edges of their seats. This collection of works by classic writers spans more than a century—from 19th-century trailblazers such as John William Polidori, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Washington Irving to 20th-century masters like Saki, Edith Wharton, and Franz Kafka.
The fear of the unknown is a driving force in literature, and the horror genre surpasses all others in bringing this idea to the forefront of the reader's consciousness. A wide range of cultures and classes of society are represented in this volume, reminding us that dark forces lurk all around us—for even in broad daylight, a shadow exists somewhere.
464 pages, Flexibound
First published April 1, 2017
306 people are currently reading
1643 people want to read
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November 30, 2017The fact the cover legit feels like skin is perhaps the most horrific thing about this compilation.
August 21, 2023
My ratings for each of the short stories:
The Tell-Tale Heart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dracula’s Guest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kerfol ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case of Lady Sannox ⭐️⭐️
Young Goodman Brown ⭐️⭐️
The Turn of the Screw ⭐️
The Man Who Found Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pit and the Pendulum ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Vampyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Summer Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For the Blood Is the Life ⭐️⭐️
Count Magnus ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Body-Snatcher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sredni Vashtar ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Horla ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Willows ⭐️⭐️
The Yellow Wallpaper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Masque of the Red Death ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Outsider ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book ⭐️
The Trial for Murder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Succubus ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Damned Thing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the Penal Colony ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Interlopers ⭐️⭐️
The Fall of the House of Usher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Japanned Box ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Tomb ⭐️⭐️
The Tell-Tale Heart ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Dracula’s Guest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kerfol ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case of Lady Sannox ⭐️⭐️
Young Goodman Brown ⭐️⭐️
The Turn of the Screw ⭐️
The Man Who Found Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pit and the Pendulum ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Vampyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
One Summer Night ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
For the Blood Is the Life ⭐️⭐️
Count Magnus ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Body-Snatcher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sredni Vashtar ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Horla ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Willows ⭐️⭐️
The Yellow Wallpaper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Masque of the Red Death ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Outsider ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book ⭐️
The Trial for Murder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Succubus ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Damned Thing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the Penal Colony ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Interlopers ⭐️⭐️
The Fall of the House of Usher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Japanned Box ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Tomb ⭐️⭐️
June 7, 2025
This is a mixed-bag collection of classic horror tales - some popular, and some not-so-well-known. Some stories I'd read previous, but 17 of the 28 stories were new-to-me stories.
👻The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (1843) ★★★★☆
This is a tale of murder and terror as told to the reader by a nameless homicidal madman who tries to convince the reader of his sanity while simultaneously describing a murder he committed because his victim's vulture-eye offended him. Interesting and fairly entertaining.
👻Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker (1914) ★★★★☆
English tourist/solicitor goes sightseeing in the country outside Munich on Walpurgisnacht and stumbles across an impressive marble sepulchre with a massive iron stake driven through the roof.
Full review is HERE. https://www.secretreadingroom.com/202...
👻Kerfol by Edith Wharton (1916) 🆕 ★★⯪☆☆
A lonely bride, a jealous and abusive husband, a murder, or is it canine revenge from the grave? Not particularly terrifying or suspenseful.
👻The Case of Lady Sannox by Arthur Conan Doyle (1893)🆕 ★★⯪☆☆
An arrogant, greedy surgeon operates on the drugged and veiled wife of a Turkish man, who has apparently cut her lip on a poisoned dagger. A bizarre and grisly tale of jealousy and revenge.
👻Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorn (1835)🆕 ★★☆☆☆
The story is set during the Salem witch trials and is something of a criticism of the ideals of Puritan society. This allegorical tale follows Puritan Young Goodman Brown's journey into self-scrutiny, which results in his loss of virtue and belief. Too much religion for my taste.
👻The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)🆕 ★★☆☆☆
This gothic horror novella follows a governess who, caring for two children at a remote country house, becomes convinced that they are haunted. The long-winded writing style does not appeal to me.
👻The Man Who Found Out by Algernon Blackwood (1912)🆕 ★★★★☆
Frustrating ending! I want to know what the man found out about the lost Tablets of the Gods , too!! Be careful what you search for. You may find it... and not like it very much. The wrong bit of knowledge will fill your mind with “the bloom of outer darkness” and the conviction that everything you value is an illusion.
👻The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe (1842) ★★★☆☆
Horrifying torture tale of being stuck in a prison cell with a rat infested pit and a descending bladed pendulum.
👻The Vampyre by John William Polidori (1819)🆕 ★★⯪☆☆
Snooze fest. My word can Polidori drag out the narrative! Foolish young nobleman thinks keeping his word is more important than saving lives, ending in tragedy.
👻One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce (1893)🆕 ★★★★☆
"The fact that Henry Armstrong was buried did not seem to him to prove that he was dead." I liked this one. Short and macabre. Grave robbing goes wrong... or right... depending on your perspective.
👻For the Blood Is the Life by F. Marion Crawford (1905) ★★★☆☆
A creepy horror story about two lovers, a murder, and a revenant.
👻Count Magnus by M.R. James (1904)🆕 ★★★★☆
Ominous ghost story. A traveller in Sweden stumbles upon the history of a mysterious and ominous figure, Count Magnus, rumoured to have gone on the "Black Pilgrimage" to Chorazin and involves a salute to the Prince of the Air (aka the Devil). The story provides a description of a rather impressive sarcophagus: made from copper, ornate and bearing carvings carvings of scenes from his life, as well as a depiction of the Count on its top. One of the scenes shows a man being pursued by a cloaked and hooded figure with tentacles, while the Count watches from a hill. The lid is secured with three padlocks, one of which is already unlocked...
👻The Body-Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson (1881) ★★★★☆
Acquiring cadavers for dissection takes a horrible and macabre turn... in more ways than one. The most horrifying element of this tale is that the characters were based on criminals in the employ of the surgeon Robert Knox (1791–1862) around the time of the notorious Burke and Hare murders in 1828.
👻Sredni Vashtar by Saki (1911)🆕 ★★★☆☆
Worshiping a god and asking for miracles definitely works... provided your god is a polecat-ferret!
👻The Horla by Guy de Maupassant (1887) ★★★⯪☆
Insidious creepiness! This story is presented in the form of a diary and energetically details the hallucinatory obsessions of a madman. The narrator becomes convinced that a mysterious invisible parasite is draining away his life force. The ambiguity as to whether the eponymous Horla is an actual malign entity or a symptom of the narrator's mental illness is a key element of the story.
👻The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (1907) ★★★★☆
Somewhere... on the Danube... in some desolate regions between Vienna and Budapest... two tourists have a terrifying supernatural, almost-cosmic horror, experience. This is a tale of atmospheric suspense and psychological terror. The incrementally creeping dread and menace is well written.
👻The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)🆕 ★★★★⯪
This is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustration of the attitudes towards the mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. The story is written as a collection of journal entries narrated by a woman whose physician-husband has decided that he will rent a house in the country so that his wife can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency". The room she is to spend too much of her time in has hideous yellow wallpaper. As the reader continues through the journal entries, they experience the writer's gradual descent into madness with nothing better to do than observe the peeling yellow wallpaper in her room. Very well written.
👻The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe (1845) ★★★★⯪
I liked this one. Evocative writing. I like the sudden appearance of the anthropomorphic personification of the plague.
👻The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft (1926) ★★★⯪☆
A gothic horror story about a mysterious individual who has been living alone in a castle for as long as he can remember but eventually decides to break free in search of human contact and light.
👻Canom Alberic's Scrap-book by M.R. James (1894)🆕 ★★☆☆☆
The story is mainly set in the small decaying cathedral city of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, at the foot of the Pyrenees in southern France. An English tourist spends a day photographing the interior of the cathedral and is encouraged by the sacristan to buy an unusual manuscript, that had been created long ago by Canon Albéric de Mauléon by means of cutting up volumes in the old cathedral library. A disturbing illustration of King Solomon and a demon in the back of the book is a key to the story's suspenseful arc. Unmemorable story. The real horror for me was the cutting up of old manuscripts!
👻The Trial for Murder by Charles Dickens (1865)🆕 ★★★☆☆
A rather drawn out ghost story in which the ghost of a murder victim influences the trial of his murderer. Terror was achieved through ambiguity, obscurity, and possibly, an unreliable narrator (maybe). This is also apparently, Dickens' criticism of the Victorian justice system.
👻The Succubus by Honoré de Balzac🆕 ★★☆☆☆
Long-winded and unmemorable. This is the story of a 1271 trial of a succubus in the guise of a woman, who, amongst other things, could use her hair to entangle victims.
👻The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce (1894)🆕 ★★★☆☆
This story is written in four parts, each with a comical subtitle, and is partially epistolary in nature. The tale begins with an inquest concerning the death of hunter Hugh Morgan. Evidence is provided in the form of a written statement by a witness to the death, and additional (omitted) evidence in the form of Hugh Morgan's journal entries. Fairly entertaining.
👻The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka (1919) ★⯪☆☆☆
The most terrifying part of this story is that someone actually thought it up and put pen to paper. Long-winded and took ages to get to the point.
👻The Interlopers by Saki (1919)🆕 ★★★★☆
I love the ending of this story. Set in the Carpathian Mountains, two men are embroiled in a generations-old land dispute. On this particular night, each hopes to find the other in order to kill him in defense of their property rights. Things don't go as planned.
👻The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (1839) ★★★★⯪
Deliciously creepy, haunting, and atmospheric. I think this is my favourite Poe story.
👻The Japanned Box by Arthur Conan Doyle (1899)🆕 ★★★★☆
This story involves the voice of a woman heard nightly by Sir John Bollamore, a widower of three years with two boys and a girl. The story is told by Frank Colmar who is the boy's tutor. Bollamore also owns a fancy Japanned Box that no-one is allowed to touch. An interesting twist on messages from beyond the grave.
👻The Tomb by H.P. Lovecraft (1922) ★★★☆☆
An unreliable narrator’s obsession with a tomb.
👻The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe (1843) ★★★★☆
This is a tale of murder and terror as told to the reader by a nameless homicidal madman who tries to convince the reader of his sanity while simultaneously describing a murder he committed because his victim's vulture-eye offended him. Interesting and fairly entertaining.
👻Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker (1914) ★★★★☆
English tourist/solicitor goes sightseeing in the country outside Munich on Walpurgisnacht and stumbles across an impressive marble sepulchre with a massive iron stake driven through the roof.
Full review is HERE. https://www.secretreadingroom.com/202...
👻Kerfol by Edith Wharton (1916) 🆕 ★★⯪☆☆
A lonely bride, a jealous and abusive husband, a murder, or is it canine revenge from the grave? Not particularly terrifying or suspenseful.
👻The Case of Lady Sannox by Arthur Conan Doyle (1893)🆕 ★★⯪☆☆
An arrogant, greedy surgeon operates on the drugged and veiled wife of a Turkish man, who has apparently cut her lip on a poisoned dagger. A bizarre and grisly tale of jealousy and revenge.
👻Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorn (1835)🆕 ★★☆☆☆
The story is set during the Salem witch trials and is something of a criticism of the ideals of Puritan society. This allegorical tale follows Puritan Young Goodman Brown's journey into self-scrutiny, which results in his loss of virtue and belief. Too much religion for my taste.
👻The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)🆕 ★★☆☆☆
This gothic horror novella follows a governess who, caring for two children at a remote country house, becomes convinced that they are haunted. The long-winded writing style does not appeal to me.
👻The Man Who Found Out by Algernon Blackwood (1912)🆕 ★★★★☆
Frustrating ending! I want to know what the man found out about the lost Tablets of the Gods , too!! Be careful what you search for. You may find it... and not like it very much. The wrong bit of knowledge will fill your mind with “the bloom of outer darkness” and the conviction that everything you value is an illusion.
👻The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe (1842) ★★★☆☆
Horrifying torture tale of being stuck in a prison cell with a rat infested pit and a descending bladed pendulum.
👻The Vampyre by John William Polidori (1819)🆕 ★★⯪☆☆
Snooze fest. My word can Polidori drag out the narrative! Foolish young nobleman thinks keeping his word is more important than saving lives, ending in tragedy.
👻One Summer Night by Ambrose Bierce (1893)🆕 ★★★★☆
"The fact that Henry Armstrong was buried did not seem to him to prove that he was dead." I liked this one. Short and macabre. Grave robbing goes wrong... or right... depending on your perspective.
👻For the Blood Is the Life by F. Marion Crawford (1905) ★★★☆☆
A creepy horror story about two lovers, a murder, and a revenant.
👻Count Magnus by M.R. James (1904)🆕 ★★★★☆
Ominous ghost story. A traveller in Sweden stumbles upon the history of a mysterious and ominous figure, Count Magnus, rumoured to have gone on the "Black Pilgrimage" to Chorazin and involves a salute to the Prince of the Air (aka the Devil). The story provides a description of a rather impressive sarcophagus: made from copper, ornate and bearing carvings carvings of scenes from his life, as well as a depiction of the Count on its top. One of the scenes shows a man being pursued by a cloaked and hooded figure with tentacles, while the Count watches from a hill. The lid is secured with three padlocks, one of which is already unlocked...
👻The Body-Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson (1881) ★★★★☆
Acquiring cadavers for dissection takes a horrible and macabre turn... in more ways than one. The most horrifying element of this tale is that the characters were based on criminals in the employ of the surgeon Robert Knox (1791–1862) around the time of the notorious Burke and Hare murders in 1828.
👻Sredni Vashtar by Saki (1911)🆕 ★★★☆☆
Worshiping a god and asking for miracles definitely works... provided your god is a polecat-ferret!
👻The Horla by Guy de Maupassant (1887) ★★★⯪☆
Insidious creepiness! This story is presented in the form of a diary and energetically details the hallucinatory obsessions of a madman. The narrator becomes convinced that a mysterious invisible parasite is draining away his life force. The ambiguity as to whether the eponymous Horla is an actual malign entity or a symptom of the narrator's mental illness is a key element of the story.
👻The Willows by Algernon Blackwood (1907) ★★★★☆
Somewhere... on the Danube... in some desolate regions between Vienna and Budapest... two tourists have a terrifying supernatural, almost-cosmic horror, experience. This is a tale of atmospheric suspense and psychological terror. The incrementally creeping dread and menace is well written.
👻The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1892)🆕 ★★★★⯪
This is regarded as an important early work of American feminist literature for its illustration of the attitudes towards the mental and physical health of women in the 19th century. The story is written as a collection of journal entries narrated by a woman whose physician-husband has decided that he will rent a house in the country so that his wife can recuperate from what he calls a "temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency". The room she is to spend too much of her time in has hideous yellow wallpaper. As the reader continues through the journal entries, they experience the writer's gradual descent into madness with nothing better to do than observe the peeling yellow wallpaper in her room. Very well written.
👻The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe (1845) ★★★★⯪
I liked this one. Evocative writing. I like the sudden appearance of the anthropomorphic personification of the plague.
👻The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft (1926) ★★★⯪☆
A gothic horror story about a mysterious individual who has been living alone in a castle for as long as he can remember but eventually decides to break free in search of human contact and light.
👻Canom Alberic's Scrap-book by M.R. James (1894)🆕 ★★☆☆☆
The story is mainly set in the small decaying cathedral city of Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges, at the foot of the Pyrenees in southern France. An English tourist spends a day photographing the interior of the cathedral and is encouraged by the sacristan to buy an unusual manuscript, that had been created long ago by Canon Albéric de Mauléon by means of cutting up volumes in the old cathedral library. A disturbing illustration of King Solomon and a demon in the back of the book is a key to the story's suspenseful arc. Unmemorable story. The real horror for me was the cutting up of old manuscripts!
👻The Trial for Murder by Charles Dickens (1865)🆕 ★★★☆☆
A rather drawn out ghost story in which the ghost of a murder victim influences the trial of his murderer. Terror was achieved through ambiguity, obscurity, and possibly, an unreliable narrator (maybe). This is also apparently, Dickens' criticism of the Victorian justice system.
👻The Succubus by Honoré de Balzac🆕 ★★☆☆☆
Long-winded and unmemorable. This is the story of a 1271 trial of a succubus in the guise of a woman, who, amongst other things, could use her hair to entangle victims.
👻The Damned Thing by Ambrose Bierce (1894)🆕 ★★★☆☆
This story is written in four parts, each with a comical subtitle, and is partially epistolary in nature. The tale begins with an inquest concerning the death of hunter Hugh Morgan. Evidence is provided in the form of a written statement by a witness to the death, and additional (omitted) evidence in the form of Hugh Morgan's journal entries. Fairly entertaining.
👻The Penal Colony by Franz Kafka (1919) ★⯪☆☆☆
The most terrifying part of this story is that someone actually thought it up and put pen to paper. Long-winded and took ages to get to the point.
👻The Interlopers by Saki (1919)🆕 ★★★★☆
I love the ending of this story. Set in the Carpathian Mountains, two men are embroiled in a generations-old land dispute. On this particular night, each hopes to find the other in order to kill him in defense of their property rights. Things don't go as planned.
👻The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (1839) ★★★★⯪
Deliciously creepy, haunting, and atmospheric. I think this is my favourite Poe story.
👻The Japanned Box by Arthur Conan Doyle (1899)🆕 ★★★★☆
This story involves the voice of a woman heard nightly by Sir John Bollamore, a widower of three years with two boys and a girl. The story is told by Frank Colmar who is the boy's tutor. Bollamore also owns a fancy Japanned Box that no-one is allowed to touch. An interesting twist on messages from beyond the grave.
👻The Tomb by H.P. Lovecraft (1922) ★★★☆☆
An unreliable narrator’s obsession with a tomb.
June 20, 2020
3.5*
I enjoyed this book but I feel like I disliked more stories than I liked, which I have found is a common problem with short story collections.
I started to lose interest around halfway through as there was a succession of boring and/or plain bad stories in a row however it picked up towards the end with "The Interlopers" by Saki being one of my favourites of the whole collection and it was the 4th last story!
There are 28 stories in the collection and the stories that are the most worthwhile reading in my opinion are;
1). All of the Edgar Allan Poe stories
2). The Interlopers by Saki
3). The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman
4). The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft
5). In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka (I usually hate Kafka but this is my favourite work of his)
6). The Case of Lady Sannox and The Japanned Box both by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
7). Kerfol by Edith Wharton
8). Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
I enjoyed this book but I feel like I disliked more stories than I liked, which I have found is a common problem with short story collections.
I started to lose interest around halfway through as there was a succession of boring and/or plain bad stories in a row however it picked up towards the end with "The Interlopers" by Saki being one of my favourites of the whole collection and it was the 4th last story!
There are 28 stories in the collection and the stories that are the most worthwhile reading in my opinion are;
1). All of the Edgar Allan Poe stories
2). The Interlopers by Saki
3). The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman
4). The Outsider by H.P. Lovecraft
5). In the Penal Colony by Franz Kafka (I usually hate Kafka but this is my favourite work of his)
6). The Case of Lady Sannox and The Japanned Box both by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
7). Kerfol by Edith Wharton
8). Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne
August 27, 2024
Wow this took me almost a year to finish! I would read one or two short stories then pick up a full length novel. I enjoyed every other story in this book. Then the in between stories were just okay. One particular story was basically written by a man who hates women and took me forever to finish. I wanted ghoulish scary stories! I’m still giving it 4 stars because a lot of these short stories I will remember forever. They were so eerie and creepy, I sometimes even slept with a blanket over my head like a child!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 16, 2021
An impressive collection of tales by olden day authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Arthur Conan Doyle and Franz Kafka to name only a few.
Some weird shit stories in this book - yes siree bob.
Most are short but very subtly creepy.
My favourite was The Willows by Algernon Blackwood.
My only problem was to try to understand the yea olde English ( not really that old but sweet baby Jesus they wrote everything in a convoluted manner in the 1800s). Plus the stories that were translations of yea olde français to yea olde English really did my
head in.
Aside from that the book is worth reading.
I would suggest it’d be best read in a quiet library with a big dictionary close to hand.
Some weird shit stories in this book - yes siree bob.
Most are short but very subtly creepy.
My favourite was The Willows by Algernon Blackwood.
My only problem was to try to understand the yea olde English ( not really that old but sweet baby Jesus they wrote everything in a convoluted manner in the 1800s). Plus the stories that were translations of yea olde français to yea olde English really did my
head in.
Aside from that the book is worth reading.
I would suggest it’d be best read in a quiet library with a big dictionary close to hand.
March 24, 2025
I’ve tried so hard to read this book. Most of the famous stories in here a written archaic and complex. Felt like I wasted hours only understanding parts. Felt shitty to abandon this book. But it’s just to much of a pain to read.
It’s a shame bc a lot of the authors are among the best even Ambrose Bierce one of my favorites.
First few were interesting. Turn of the screw really turned me off. Very tedious and long.
It’s a shame bc a lot of the authors are among the best even Ambrose Bierce one of my favorites.
First few were interesting. Turn of the screw really turned me off. Very tedious and long.
November 4, 2020
A collection of well-known horror stories. I found most of them tedious. Some of them were just characters with stupidly vivid imaginations, some mere murder mysteries. I guess I’m not really a horror guy, classic or otherwise.
November 1, 2025
3.5 ⭐️
Only read some of the stories but I’ll definitely revisit it for another spooky season!
Only read some of the stories but I’ll definitely revisit it for another spooky season!
December 27, 2020
Reviewing a set of short stories is difficult so I am going to comment on my top three:
The Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe - Poe a quick paranoid wonderful ride, In so few words he paints a detailed manic story that is worth hearing.
The man who found out, by Algernon Blackwood - For me despite all the clever ways to tell a horror story this one hit home in an unsettling fashion. The life wrenching impact of knowledge strikes the main character in a way they cannot continue living. The reader never quite knows the full story but can see the lengths gone to by Laidlaw to simply find ease of mind. Last but not least The
Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story is immediately distinct from the other tales present there are no supernatural creatures or immediate sense of fear. The story comes instead with a continuous sense of sinking further from reality into a nightmarish world of the mind.
There are many other gems in this collection and would recommend it as a worthwhile sampling for the curious.
The Tell Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe - Poe a quick paranoid wonderful ride, In so few words he paints a detailed manic story that is worth hearing.
The man who found out, by Algernon Blackwood - For me despite all the clever ways to tell a horror story this one hit home in an unsettling fashion. The life wrenching impact of knowledge strikes the main character in a way they cannot continue living. The reader never quite knows the full story but can see the lengths gone to by Laidlaw to simply find ease of mind. Last but not least The
Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story is immediately distinct from the other tales present there are no supernatural creatures or immediate sense of fear. The story comes instead with a continuous sense of sinking further from reality into a nightmarish world of the mind.
There are many other gems in this collection and would recommend it as a worthwhile sampling for the curious.
April 17, 2020
It took me longer than normal to read this book. The language was, at times, a struggle to get through. Rating a book of short stories is so hard. There were a couple stories that I didn’t care for, and one I didn’t finish, but there were several that I loved. It’s clear how Poe and Lovecraft laid the groundwork for so many successful writers, and I expected to be impressed by their work. I was happy to see that there were other stories I hadn’t heard of, by authors I didn’t know, that were equally as entertaining.
June 7, 2023
horrible. lost interest after like the first 6 pages…
October 26, 2025
I am writing this review as I read each story, so they are fresh in my mind
- The Tell-Tale Heart ⭐️⭐️⭐️It was too short of a story to really be worth anything more or less than three stars in my opinion (as there wasn’t really enough of a story for me to think on whether I really liked or disliked it). Interesting read though, and messages embedded within the short story.
- Dracula’s Guest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I was a fan of this as someone who had just recently finished Dracula. I almost thought that this was a positive, happy ending, but then the letter at the end was a twist!
- Kerfol ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I loved this one! This was a spooky story - I loved the ghost element, and the storytelling.
- Young Goodman Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️I expected more, given how much I liked The Scarlet Letter. This short story did explore similar messages to The Scarlett Letter though, which I did enjoy.
- The Case of Lady Sannox ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️It is horrifying what the doctor was tricked into!!!
- The Turn of the Screw ⭐️⭐️I was underwhelmed by this novella, and glad to see I was not the only one. I wish there was more backstory provided and a conclusive ending, as opposed to not knowing whether the narrator was an unreliable one.
- The Willows ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I liked this story! I wish we had also had the perspective of the Swede, but overall enjoyed the story and the message.
- The Man Who Found Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️A spooky story about forbidden knowledge.
- The Succubus ⭐️⭐️I felt bored throughout most of the telling of this short story, and only felt myself deeply
engaged with the story with the twist of the woman not being the demon she was accused of being.
- The Pit and the Pendulum ⭐️⭐️This story just wasn’t my thing. I felt bored during it, and yet I didn’t feel that way when I read The Tell-Tale Heart.
- The Vampyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️Another spooky story, that fell a bit flat to me because the power of an oath is not the same today as it was at the time this book was written.
- One Summer Night ⭐️⭐️This story was too short to really connect with it in any way (literally 2 pages).
- Sredni Vashtar ⭐️⭐️⭐️A short story about revenge. I liked it, but it was too short to be worth anything more than an average amount of stars, in my opinion.
- For the Blood is the Life ⭐️⭐️⭐️I liked this story, but felt confused at the ending - it was rather ambiguous, which I don’t love.
- Count Magnus ⭐️⭐️A vampire book - a bit boring
- The Body Snatcher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was so creepy, I loved it!
- The Horla ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Again, this one was really spooky!!! Another kind of vampire inspired story.
- The Yellow Wallpaper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A creepy story about. a wife’s descent into mania.
- The Penal Colony ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Creepy story about execution
- The Masque of the Red Death ⭐️⭐️I wasn’t the biggest fan of this story - I don’t tend to like a very symbolic, metaphoric story.
- The Outsider ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was a really interesting short story about isolation!
- Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook ⭐️⭐️⭐️A spooky story about demons
- The Trial for Murder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A spooky ghost story that involved murder, as the name suggests
- The Damned Thing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A creepy story about the things we can’t see.
- The Interlopers ⭐️⭐️⭐️Such a short story, but that ending!!!
- The Fall of the House of Usher ⭐️⭐️Maybe my expectations were simply too high after hearing about this story for years, but this one fell flat for me.
- The Japanned Box ⭐️⭐️I normally loved Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but this one was boring to me.
- The Tomb ⭐️⭐️A bit boring
- The Tell-Tale Heart ⭐️⭐️⭐️It was too short of a story to really be worth anything more or less than three stars in my opinion (as there wasn’t really enough of a story for me to think on whether I really liked or disliked it). Interesting read though, and messages embedded within the short story.
- Dracula’s Guest ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I was a fan of this as someone who had just recently finished Dracula. I almost thought that this was a positive, happy ending, but then the letter at the end was a twist!
- Kerfol ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I loved this one! This was a spooky story - I loved the ghost element, and the storytelling.
- Young Goodman Brown ⭐️⭐️⭐️I expected more, given how much I liked The Scarlet Letter. This short story did explore similar messages to The Scarlett Letter though, which I did enjoy.
- The Case of Lady Sannox ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️It is horrifying what the doctor was tricked into!!!
- The Turn of the Screw ⭐️⭐️I was underwhelmed by this novella, and glad to see I was not the only one. I wish there was more backstory provided and a conclusive ending, as opposed to not knowing whether the narrator was an unreliable one.
- The Willows ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️I liked this story! I wish we had also had the perspective of the Swede, but overall enjoyed the story and the message.
- The Man Who Found Out ⭐️⭐️⭐️A spooky story about forbidden knowledge.
- The Succubus ⭐️⭐️I felt bored throughout most of the telling of this short story, and only felt myself deeply
engaged with the story with the twist of the woman not being the demon she was accused of being.
- The Pit and the Pendulum ⭐️⭐️This story just wasn’t my thing. I felt bored during it, and yet I didn’t feel that way when I read The Tell-Tale Heart.
- The Vampyre ⭐️⭐️⭐️Another spooky story, that fell a bit flat to me because the power of an oath is not the same today as it was at the time this book was written.
- One Summer Night ⭐️⭐️This story was too short to really connect with it in any way (literally 2 pages).
- Sredni Vashtar ⭐️⭐️⭐️A short story about revenge. I liked it, but it was too short to be worth anything more than an average amount of stars, in my opinion.
- For the Blood is the Life ⭐️⭐️⭐️I liked this story, but felt confused at the ending - it was rather ambiguous, which I don’t love.
- Count Magnus ⭐️⭐️A vampire book - a bit boring
- The Body Snatcher ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was so creepy, I loved it!
- The Horla ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Again, this one was really spooky!!! Another kind of vampire inspired story.
- The Yellow Wallpaper ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A creepy story about. a wife’s descent into mania.
- The Penal Colony ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Creepy story about execution
- The Masque of the Red Death ⭐️⭐️I wasn’t the biggest fan of this story - I don’t tend to like a very symbolic, metaphoric story.
- The Outsider ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was a really interesting short story about isolation!
- Canon Alberic’s Scrapbook ⭐️⭐️⭐️A spooky story about demons
- The Trial for Murder ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A spooky ghost story that involved murder, as the name suggests
- The Damned Thing ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️A creepy story about the things we can’t see.
- The Interlopers ⭐️⭐️⭐️Such a short story, but that ending!!!
- The Fall of the House of Usher ⭐️⭐️Maybe my expectations were simply too high after hearing about this story for years, but this one fell flat for me.
- The Japanned Box ⭐️⭐️I normally loved Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, but this one was boring to me.
- The Tomb ⭐️⭐️A bit boring
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 18, 2025
Overall: 3.75 ⭐️
I'm not going to lie, it was tough getting through some of these stories. It took me five months to finish this book because some of these old-school tales just dragged for me. Overall, I'm happy I picked up this book because there were some gems in it that I will remember forever. Here are my ratings for each story.
The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Dracula’s Guest, Bram Stoker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kerfol,Edith Wharton ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case of Lady Sannox, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne1 ⭐️⭐️
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Man Who Found Out, Algernon Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐️⭐️.5
The Vampyre, John William Polidori ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
One Summer Night, Ambrose Bierce ⭐️⭐️⭐️
For the Blood Is the Life, E. Marion Crawford ⭐️⭐️
Count Magnus, M.R. James⭐️⭐️
The Body-Snatcher, Robert Louis Stevenson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sredni Vashtar, Saki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Horla, Guy de Maupassant ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Willows, Algernon Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allen Poe ⭐️⭐️.5
The Outsider, H.P. Lovecraft⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book ⭐️⭐️.5
The Trial for Murder, Charles Dickens ⭐️⭐️.5
The Succubus, Honore de Balzac⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Damned Thing, Ambrose Bierce ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the Penal Colony, Franz Kafka ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Interlopers, Saki ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐️⭐️
The Japanned Box, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️⭐️.5
The Tomb, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️
I'm not going to lie, it was tough getting through some of these stories. It took me five months to finish this book because some of these old-school tales just dragged for me. Overall, I'm happy I picked up this book because there were some gems in it that I will remember forever. Here are my ratings for each story.
The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Dracula’s Guest, Bram Stoker ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Kerfol,Edith Wharton ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case of Lady Sannox, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Young Goodman Brown, Nathaniel Hawthorne1 ⭐️⭐️
The Turn of the Screw, Henry James ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Man Who Found Out, Algernon Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pit and the Pendulum, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐️⭐️.5
The Vampyre, John William Polidori ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
One Summer Night, Ambrose Bierce ⭐️⭐️⭐️
For the Blood Is the Life, E. Marion Crawford ⭐️⭐️
Count Magnus, M.R. James⭐️⭐️
The Body-Snatcher, Robert Louis Stevenson ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sredni Vashtar, Saki ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Horla, Guy de Maupassant ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Willows, Algernon Blackwood ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Masque of the Red Death, Edgar Allen Poe ⭐️⭐️.5
The Outsider, H.P. Lovecraft⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-Book ⭐️⭐️.5
The Trial for Murder, Charles Dickens ⭐️⭐️.5
The Succubus, Honore de Balzac⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The Damned Thing, Ambrose Bierce ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
In the Penal Colony, Franz Kafka ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Interlopers, Saki ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe ⭐️⭐️
The Japanned Box, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️⭐️.5
The Tomb, Arthur Conan Doyle ⭐️
April 26, 2020
This is obviously a collection of Classic Horror Tales, most of them British or American folklore, but also a few international authors who had to be translated, like Kafka, for example. Many of these were stories I had heard of, and the list of authors included many famous names: Edgar Allen Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Washington Irving, H.P. Lovecraft, etc. This was a very different read for me, as I'm not normally into short stories. I enjoyed the change of pace, and I noticed a pattern among the entries: All the authors are male, many of the stories are told by a narrator who is rich, Anglo-Saxon, and has nothing better to do than travel the world meeting unique people and exploring his interests! The setting often consists of him sitting around with his friends, relaying a parable of his own or another's. This can be a little repetitive, but if you take into consideration the time in which these were written, you should be able to get past that and just enjoy, as long as you understand the olde English vernacular, of course!
November 14, 2020
This collection was a perfect read for October, but it would do equally as well for any other time. Many of the stories included are famous for their spooky and horrifying themes and plots, and they were written by well-known authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Ambrose Bierce, HP Lovecraft, Arthur Conan Doyle, Saki, and Algernon Blackwood.
I can confess I did not read every story in this book, however I did try to. I only skipped 2 of the 28. The stories range from the 1810s to the 1920s so some stories were just hard to understand because of the writing style while others were just too long (Turn of the Screw was both of those). These are not a problem for everyone though.
The stories I did read certainly fit the horror theme. I often found myself quite nervous after finishing the last words.
I can confess I did not read every story in this book, however I did try to. I only skipped 2 of the 28. The stories range from the 1810s to the 1920s so some stories were just hard to understand because of the writing style while others were just too long (Turn of the Screw was both of those). These are not a problem for everyone though.
The stories I did read certainly fit the horror theme. I often found myself quite nervous after finishing the last words.
January 7, 2023
I’ve always thought it’s important to read the classics at least once in any of a favourite genre - if only to understand “how it all started” and how some of the common tropes evolved. This anthology is quite good, having four well-known stories from Poe, a couple each from Lovecraft and Blackwood, and then a host of others I’d never heard of - some from the early 19th century.
The stories weren’t what I would call “scary”, but then again horror is quite subjective. Most were atmospheric, and some of them (such as James’ “Turn of the Screw”) were plodding at best. However, literary styles were different in Victorian times.
Overall, not bad, but your mileage may vary. The book is attractively made, though.
The stories weren’t what I would call “scary”, but then again horror is quite subjective. Most were atmospheric, and some of them (such as James’ “Turn of the Screw”) were plodding at best. However, literary styles were different in Victorian times.
Overall, not bad, but your mileage may vary. The book is attractively made, though.
October 7, 2023
A great collection, some I preferred more than others, and the reviews below are the ones that I enjoyed the most.
The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allan Poe - 3.5
Dracula's Guest - Bram Stoker - 4.5
Kerfol - Edith Wharton - 4.5
The Vampyre - John William Polidori - 3.5
One Summer Night - Ambrose Bierce - 3.5
For the Blood is Life - F. Marion Crawford - 4
Sredni Vashtar - Saki - 4
The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gillman - 5
The Trail for Murder - Charles Dickens - 4
In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka - 3.5
The Japanned Box - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 3.5
The Tomb - H. P. Lovecraft - 4
The Tell-Tale Heart - Edgar Allan Poe - 3.5
Dracula's Guest - Bram Stoker - 4.5
Kerfol - Edith Wharton - 4.5
The Vampyre - John William Polidori - 3.5
One Summer Night - Ambrose Bierce - 3.5
For the Blood is Life - F. Marion Crawford - 4
Sredni Vashtar - Saki - 4
The Yellow Wallpaper - Charlotte Perkins Gillman - 5
The Trail for Murder - Charles Dickens - 4
In the Penal Colony - Franz Kafka - 3.5
The Japanned Box - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - 3.5
The Tomb - H. P. Lovecraft - 4
August 27, 2024
Dracula’s Guest: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Tell-Tale Heart: ⭐️⭐️.5
Kerfol (my favorite): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case of Lady Sannox: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Horla: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Man Who Found Out: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Body Snatcher: ⭐️
Sredni Vashtar: ⭐️⭐️
One Summer Night: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pit and the Pendulum: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Young Goodman Brown: ⭐️
The Vampyer: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
For The Blood Is The Life: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Turn of the Screw: ⭐️⭐️
Count Magnus: ⭐️
The Willows: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book: ⭐️⭐️
The Yellow Wallpaper: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Masque of the Red Death: ⭐️⭐️
The Trial For Murder: ⭐️⭐️.5
The Succubus: ⭐️
The Tell-Tale Heart: ⭐️⭐️.5
Kerfol (my favorite): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Case of Lady Sannox: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Horla: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Man Who Found Out: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Body Snatcher: ⭐️
Sredni Vashtar: ⭐️⭐️
One Summer Night: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Pit and the Pendulum: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Young Goodman Brown: ⭐️
The Vampyer: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
For The Blood Is The Life: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Turn of the Screw: ⭐️⭐️
Count Magnus: ⭐️
The Willows: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book: ⭐️⭐️
The Yellow Wallpaper: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Masque of the Red Death: ⭐️⭐️
The Trial For Murder: ⭐️⭐️.5
The Succubus: ⭐️
October 30, 2024
I read the first half of this for Halloween of 2024, and found that I disliked more of the stories than I have liked so far. There are a couple of really good ones mixed into what I've read so far but I had read more of them than I hadn't at this point and I decided to save the second half of the stories for next Halloween. The Turning of the Screw was my breaking point. I've heard great things, but I just could not get into that story and it is looong. Hopefully the back half of the collection has more that I haven't read, and is made up of more that I like.
May 7, 2023
All of the stories contained in this collection are also in Canterbury Classics' Classic Tales of Horror, with one exception: The Interlopers by Saki (1919). But the leatherbound volume contains many more stories in addition to these. I wish the two anthologies contained different stories so that they were both worth owning.
May 17, 2025
Out of 38 stories I only found 6 boring. My favorites were: Kerfol, The Case of Lady Sannox, The Man Who Found Out, One Summer Night, For the Blood Is the Life, Sredni Vashtar, The Yellow Wallpaper, The Outsider, The Trial for Murder, The Interlopers, and The Tomb. It’s definitely packed full of gothic horror stories, full of classic authors like HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. Be prepared for long descriptive words, I had to frequently google to definition of some words.
November 20, 2021
Really enjoyed this collection. Read it over the month of October to have a nice spooky celebration of the spooky season.
For me, the stories were a great mix of some I’d read before but wanted to revisit, ones I’ve wanted to read for some time but just didn’t have a chance, and some I’d never heard of before.
Also, I enjoyed being able to dip in and out of the collection as I wished.
For me, the stories were a great mix of some I’d read before but wanted to revisit, ones I’ve wanted to read for some time but just didn’t have a chance, and some I’d never heard of before.
Also, I enjoyed being able to dip in and out of the collection as I wished.
October 16, 2022
Great collection for October. My favorites were The Vampyre, One Summer Night, For the Blood is the Life, and The Damned Thing. Honorable mention to The Yellow Wallpaper though for a seriously out of the box idea.
4 stars for the favorites, most were 3 star stories but a solid collection nonetheless.
4 stars for the favorites, most were 3 star stories but a solid collection nonetheless.
October 31, 2024
I started this last October, read it for the month and didn’t finish. So I started it back up where I left off this year in October and finished it right before Halloween. I enjoyed the majority of the short stories. My favorite was one that I had never read before: Young Goodman Brown by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
July 2, 2021
Would go 3.5 if I could. Like any collection of short stories, some are better than others. Overall a pretty good selection though, and found several new ones surprisingly gripping (The Willows, The Case of Lady Sannox, Kerfol)
January 2, 2024
This took me way longer to get through than I would have liked. My original plan was to read one story a day leading up to Halloween and that turned into a three month ordeal. The stories in here ranged from 1 star reads I hated to multiple 5 star reads I loved.
June 24, 2025
A very thoughtful collection of classic horror short stories. Some absolute gems like Sredni Vashtar and In the Penal Colony along with all time favorites like the Yellow Wallpaper and the Turn of the Screw. Could read this over and over.
August 16, 2019
This is a great collection, better than most I've read.
August 23, 2019
My favorite short stories from this collection: "The Turn of the Screw" by Henry James, "The Willows" by Algernon Blackwood, and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
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