Halloween is almost here, and what better way to get in the spooky spirit than with an eerie book! Here are some frightful, mysterious recommendations from Canterbury Classics…
Classic Tales of Horror (Leather-bound Classics series)
Classic Tales of Horror is a chilling collection of scary stories will keep you awake for hours! Psychological horrors, disturbing dramas, and gruesome ghosts compose this compendium of confessions made in the dead of night. From vampires and a monkey paw to an unstoppable heart and haunting apparitions, anecdotes of supernatural terror will have you turning pages long past the witching hour. Allow famous authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, H. P. Lovecraft, Henry James, Washington Irving, and more to prey upon your emotions and peace of mind at slumber parties and camping trips, or anytime you want to end the night with a delightful fright!Dracula (Word Cloud Classics series)
Irish author Bram Stoker introduced the character of Count Dracula and provided the basis of modern vampire fiction in his 1897 novel entitled Dracula. Written as a series of letters, newspaper clippings, diary entries, and ships’ logs, the story begins with lawyer Jonathan Harker journeying to meet Dracula at his remote castle to complete a real estate transaction. Harker soon discovers that he is being held prisoner, and that Dracula has a rather disquieting nocturnal life. Touching on themes such as Victorian culture, immigration, and colonialism, among others, this timeless classic is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats!
A Novel Journal: Dracula is also available! With the entire novel in tiny print serving as lines on the journal pages, Bram Stoker’s words offers inspiration for daily thoughts or the next ghoulish best-seller.
Edgar Allan Poe (Leather-bound Classics series)
Edgar Allan Poe was a master of tales of the mysterious and macabre. From the eerie incantations of “The Raven” to the persistent fright of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” his stories and poems are unforgettable explorations of the darker side of life that still offer lessons and insight into human behavior today, making them an integral component of just about any library. This Canterbury Classics edition of Edgar Allan Poe collects some of his best-known work—from “Annabel Lee” to “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “Lenore” to “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and many, many more.
Frankenstein (Word Cloud Classics series)
The idea for the story came to the author, Mary Shelley, in a dream she had about a scientist who had created life and was horrified by what he had made. This Gothic-style romance is among the first of true science fiction novels, if not the first. A young scientist named Victor Frankenstein, after going through his own near-death experience, decides to play God and create life in the form of a grotesque creature, which turns into a nightmare. Through his experience, he learns that the gift of life is precious, not disposable. His journey and personal transformation has deeply affected readers.
Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales (Leather-bound Classics series)
The fairy tales collected by the Brothers Grimm in the early 1800s are not necessarily the versions we grew up hearing before bedtime. They're darker and often don't end very happily — but they're often far more interesting. This elegant edition of Grimm's Complete Fairy Tales includes cherished favorites like Snow White, Rumpelstiltskin, Little Red Cap, and two hundred others in their original versions. They may begin with “once upon a time,” but they end with something unexpected and fascinating!
Don’t miss A Novel Journal: The Brothers Grimm! With the famous Grimm brothers’ stories in tiny print serving as lines of the pages, this journal is sure to spark the inspiration necessary for anything from daily journaling to the first draft of the next great (dark and eerie) novel.
Shelf Awareness asked bookseller friends to recommend some scary reads, and our edition of Grimm’s Complete Fairy Tales made the cut! Check out the review here.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales (Word Cloud Classics series)
The Headless Horseman faces off with Ichabod Crane in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," a ghost story of enduring popularity that takes place at the time of the American Revolution. "Rip Van Winkle," another traditional favorite from the same historic period, tells the tale of man who fell asleep for twenty years and found his small town in the Catskill Mountains much changed by the time he awakened. Both are included—along with many other tales—in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Other Tales, a classic collection by Washington Irving.The Picture of Dorian Gray (Word Cloud Classics series)
The Picture of Dorian Gray is a familiar story of greed, sin, and arrogance. A young man, infatuated with his own handsomeness and youth as depicted in a perfect portrait, makes a bargain he will come to regret. No one can save him from his appetite for pleasure and his awful fate—not the man who idolizes him, not the woman who loves him, and not even himself! Published in 1890, The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde’s only novel. At first the subject of intense controversy, it has endured as a classic for years.
Check out A Novel Journal: The Picture of Dorian Gray as well. This unique journal format allows readers and writers to interact with this classic novel in a new way — by penning their own stories, thoughts, and dilemmas between the lines of Wilde’s tale!
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Word Cloud Classics series)
A book so iconic that its title is synonymous with split personalities, The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, was first released in 1886. The story of a virtuous Dr. Jekyll who mistakenly creates an alter ego of unadulterated evil serves as an examination of the duality of human nature and the battle between good and evil. Full of mystery and fright, this story has remained popular for more than a century and has been adapted countless times—over 132 in film alone.