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The Hound of the Baskervilles
By Arthur Conan Doyle. 2008
Sherlock Holmes stars in Doyle’s most famous detective story.WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY RUTH RENDELLINCLUDES 'THE ADVENTURE OF THE SPECKLED BAND'The…
Baskerville family curse tells of how a terrifying, supernatural hound roams the moors around Baskerville Hall and preys on members of the family in revenge for a ghastly crime committed by one of their ancestors. When Sir Charles Baskerville is found dead in the grounds, with a large animal footprint near his lifeless body, the locals are convinced that the hound is back. It is up to Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson to uncover the truth and keep the new heir to the hall safe from danger.**One of the BBC’s 100 Novels That Shaped Our World**The Haunted Hotel
By Wilkie Collins. 2015
An enjoyable 19th century read following doomed happenings and grisly, secret premonitions. An eminent doctor is visited by a desperate…
woman with a question: am I evil, or insane?When the letters from Italian servant to his wife in London suddenly cease, she is convinced he has been murdered.In the darkened bedroom of a mouldering palazzo by the Grand Canal, an English lord sickens and suddenly dies.How are these little mysteries connected? Spend the night in Room 14 of Venice’s finest hotel, and find out the truth – if you dare…INCLUDES THE GHOST STORY ‘THE DREAM WOMAN’Gothic Tales
By Elizabeth Gaskell. 2000
Elizabeth Gaskell's chilling Gothic tales blend the real and the supernatural to eerie, compelling effect. 'Disappearances', inspired by local legends…
of mysterious vanishings, mixes gossip and fact; 'Lois the Witch', a novella based on an account of the Salem witch hunts, shows how sexual desire and jealousy lead to hysteria; while in 'The Old Nurse's Story' a mysterious child roams the freezing Northumberland moors. Whether darkly surreal, such as 'The Poor Clare', where an evil doppelgänger is formed by a woman's bitter curse, or mischievous like 'Curious, if True', a playful reworking of fairy tales, all the stories in this volume form a stark contrast to the social realism of Gaskell's novels, revealing a darker and more unsettling style of writing.Full Steam Ahead
By Tabitha Flyte. 2001
Sophie wants money, big money. After twelve years working as a croupier on the Carribean cruise ships, she has devised…
a scheme that is her ticket to Freedomsville. But she can't do it alone; she has to encourage her colleagues to help her, and some of them are a little reluctant. Persuasion turns to seduction, which turns to blackmail. Then there are prying passengers, tropical storms and an angry, jealous girlfriend to contend with. And what happens when the lascivious Captain decides to stick his oar in, too?A French Affair
By Susan Lewis. 2009
Some secrets are too devastating to be told...When Natalie Moore is killed in a freak accident in France her mother…
- the very poised and elegant Jessica - knows instinctively there is more to it.However, Natalie's father - the glamorous, high-flying Charlie - is so paralysed by the horror of losing his daughter, that he refuses even to discuss his wife's suspicions.In the end, when their marriage is rocked by yet another terrible shock, Jessica decides to go back to France alone in search of some answers.When she gets to the idyllic vineyard in the heart of Burgundy she soon finds a great deal more than she was expecting in a love that is totally forbidden and a truth that will almost certainly devastate her life.Set during one long hot summer in a sleepy world of wine, food and romance, A French Affair is a deeply sensual and passionate story of love, resistance, loyalty and betrayal.Frankenstein (The Penguin English Library)
By Mary Shelley. 1984
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World'The Penguin English Library Edition of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley'Never did…
I behold a vision so horrible as his face, of such loathsome, yet appalling hideousness'A twisted, upside-down creation myth, Mary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale lays bare the dark side of science, and the horror within us all. It tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, who plunders graveyards to create a new being from the bodies of the dead - but whose botched creature causes nothing but murder and destruction. Written after a nightmare when its author was only eighteen, Frankenstein gave birth to the modern science fiction novel.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.Frankenstein
By Mary Shelley. 2003
One of the BBC's '100 Novels That Shaped Our World''That rare story to pass from literature into myth' The New…
York TimesMary Shelley's chilling Gothic tale was conceived when she was only eighteen, living with her lover Percy Shelley on Lake Geneva. The story of Victor Frankenstein who, obsessed with creating life itself, plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, but whose botched creature sets out to destroy his maker, would become the world's most famous work of horror fiction, and remains a devastating exploration of the limits of human creativity. Based on the third edition of 1831, this volume contains all Mary Shelley's revisions to her story, and also includes 'A Fragment' by Lord Byron and Dr John Polidori's 'The Vampyre: A Tale'. Edited with an Introduction and notes by MAURICE HINDLEDracula (The Penguin English Library)
By Bram Stoker. 1996
With an essay by John Sutherland.'Alone with the dead! I dare not go out, for I can hear the low…
howl of the wolf through the broken window'A chilling masterpiece of the horror genre, Dracula also illuminated dark corners of Victorian sexuality. When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to advise Count Dracula on a London home, he makes a horrifying discovery. Soon afterwards, a number of disturbing incidents unfold in England: an unmanned ship is wrecked at Whitby; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the arrival of his 'Master', while a determined group of adversaries prepares to face the terrifying Count.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.Dracula
By Bram Stoker. 2003
'The very best story of diablerie which I have read for many years' Arthur Conan DoyleA masterpiece of the horror…
genre, Dracula also probes identity, sanity and the dark corners of Victorian sexuality and desire. It begins when Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula purchase a London house, and makes horrifying discoveries in his client's castle. Soon afterwards, disturbing incidents unfold in England - an unmanned ship is wrecked; strange puncture marks appear on a young woman's neck; a lunatic asylum inmate raves about the imminent arrival of his 'Master' - and a determined group of adversaries prepare to battle the Count. Edited with an Introduction and notes by MAURICE HINDLEWith a Preface by CHRISTOPHER FRAYLINGDr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Stories
By Robert Louis Stevenson. 2008
How thin is the line between good and evil? Discover the classic tale of gothic horrorDr Jekyll has been experimenting…
with his identity. He has developed a drug which separates the two sides of his nature and allows him occasionally to abandon himself to his most corrupt inclinations as the monstrous Mr Hyde. But gradually he begins to find that the journey back to goodness becomes more and more difficult, and the risk that Mr Hyde will break free entirely from Dr Jekyll's control puts all of London in grave peril.Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (The Penguin English Library)
By Robert Louis Stevenson. 2012
The Penguin English Library Edition of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson'All human beings, as we meet…
them, are commingled out of good and evil: and Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil'Published as a 'shilling shocker', Robert Louis Stevenson's dark psychological fantasy gave birth to the idea of the split personality. The story of respectable Dr Jekyll's strange association with 'damnable young man' Edward Hyde; the hunt through fog-bound London for a killer; and the final revelation of Hyde's true identity is a chilling exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil.This edition also includes Stevenson's chilling story 'The Bottle Imp'.The Penguin English Library - 100 editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century and the very first novels to the beginning of the First World War.The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings: Poems, Tales, Essays, And Reviews
By Edgar Allan Poe. 2003
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Writings is a collection that displays the full force of Edgar…
Allen Poe's mastery of both Gothic horror and the short story form. This Penguin Classics edition is edited with an introduction and notes by David Galloway.This selection of Poe's critical writings, short fiction and poetry demonstrates his intense interest in aesthetic issues, and the astonishing power and imagination with which he probed the darkest corners of the human mind. 'The Fall of the House of Usher' is a slow-burning Gothic horror, describing the final hours of a family tormented by tragedy and the legacy of the past. In 'The Tell-Tale Heart', a murderer's insane delusions threaten to betray him, while stories such as 'The Pit and the Pendulum', 'The Raven' and 'The Cask of Amontillado' explore extreme states of decadence, fear and hate. In his introduction David Galloway re-examines the myths surrounding Poe's life and reputation. This edition includes a new chronology and suggestions for further reading.Although dissipated in his youth and plagued by mental instability towards the end of his life, Boston-born Edgar Allan Poe (1809-49) had a variety of occupations, including service in the US army and magazine editor, as well as his remarkable literary output.If you enjoyed The Fall of the House of Usher, you might like Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, also available in Penguin Classics.'The most original genius that America has produced'Alfred, Lord Tennyson'Poe has entered our popular consciousness as no other American writer'The New York Times Book ReviewThe Fall of the House of Usher and Other Stories
By Edgar Allan Poe. 2010
Edgar Allan Poe was a writer of uncommon talent; in The Murders in the Rue Morgue he created the genre…
of detective fiction while his genius for finding the strangeness lurking within us all has been an influence on everyone from Freud to Hollywood. This complete collection of all his short stories and novellas contains well-known tales 'The Pit and the Pendulum' and 'The Tell-Tale Heart' alongside hidden gems that both unsettle and enthrall the reader.'This is a thrilling story with a compelling hook' Adele Parks, author of One Last Secret'Grabs the reader by the…
heart from the first pages and ramps up the tension to the last. A stellar, shivers-down-the-spine debut' Erin Kelly, author of The Skeleton Key THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH: FIRST, DO NO HARM...Dr Rea Dharmasena is devastated when she loses out on her dream research job to her med-school rival and best friend, Dr Julia Stone.To add insult to injury, Julia used Rea's own cutting-edge research to get it.But just as Rea finds it in her to forgive the betrayal, Julia, after a life-changing medical discovery, is found murdered.Now Rea has the dream job she's always wanted.But at what cost?Perfect for fans of The Silent Patient and The Holiday, this is a heart-stopping thriller of betrayal, secrets and ruthless ambition that will leave you breathless.Day of the Accident: The compelling and emotional thriller with a twist you won't believe
By Nuala Ellwood. 2019
WHAT DID YOU SEE? WHAT DID YOU DO? 'Gripping, poignant...I read it in one sitting' ROSAMUND LUPTON'Brilliantly compulsive and with…
one hell of a twist!' CLAIRE DOUGLAS____________________________Sixty seconds after she wakes from a coma, Maggie's world is torn apart.The police tell her that her daughter Elspeth is dead. That she drowned when the car Maggie had been driving plunged into the river. Maggie remembers nothing.When Maggie begs to see her husband Sean, the police tell her that he has disappeared. He was last seen on the day of her daughter's funeral.What really happened that day at the river?Where is Maggie's husband?And why can't she shake the suspicion that somewhere, somehow... her daughter is still alive? An emotional page-turner with amazing characters from the Top Ten bestselling author of My Sister's Bones, this thriller is perfect for fans of Clare Mackintosh's I Let You Go and Lisa Jewell's Watching You. ______________________________WHAT AUTHORS AND READERS ARE SAYING:'Rivals The Girl on the Train (and beats it for style)' The Guardian'A clever, twisty plot that takes psychological mind games to a new level. Nuala Ellwood has done it again!' Jane Corry 'This clever, multi- layered novel is simply stunning' Dinah Jefferies'Wow! What a fantastic book that completely sucked me in. 5 stars' ***** Amazon reviewerA riveting story of love and loss set in wartime Britain from the million copy and Sunday Times bestselling author…
Charlotte Bingham, for fans of Louise Douglas and Dinah Jefferies.'One of Britain's most bankable novelists.' - THE DAILY EXPRESS'A rip-roaring combination of high romance and breathless excitement' - MAIL ON SUNDAY'Compelling.' - WOMAN & HOME******************************************************************AS WAR BREAKS OUT, FOUR GIRLS WILL BE CHANGED FOREVER...DAUGHTERS OF EDEN focuses on the lives and fortunes of four very different young women at the outbreak of the Second World War.Marjorie, left at a boarding school by her emigrating mother; plain Poppy, pushed into marriage with a mean-spirited aristocrat; Kate, despised by her father, but determined to prove herself; and man-mad Lily, who turns out to be the bravest of them all.That all of them are chosen to work undercover for the espionage unit at a beautiful stately home is a surprise, not least to them. At Eden Park they meet four unusual young men - Eugene, the feckless Irishman; Robert, Kate's brother; and Scott, the undisputed favourite of the unit. Only Jack Ward, the mysterious spymaster, manages to remain aloof as he guides their destinies.They will look back on this time as having felt more alive than ever before...The Castle of Otranto
By Horace Walpole. 2001
On the day of his wedding, Conrad, heir to the house of Otranto, is killed in mysterious circumstances. His calculating…
father Manfred fears that his dynasty will now come to an end and determines to marry his son's bride himself - despite the fact he is already married. But a series of terrifying supernatural omens soon threaten this unlawful union, as the curse placed on Manfred's ancestor, who usurped the lawful Prince of Otranto, begins to unfold. First published pseudonymously in 1764, purporting to be an ancient Italian text from the time of the crusades, The Castle of Otranto is a founding work of Gothic fiction. With its compelling blend of sinister portents, tempestuous passions and ghostly visitations, it spawned an entire literary tradition and influenced such writers as Ann Radcliffe and Bram Stoker.The Book Lover's Tale
By Ivo Stourton. 2011
He collects books: Interior designer for the rich and powerful, Matt de Voy lends his tasteful eye to the households…
of his wealthy female clients. He also advises on which books should adorn their shelves. His deep knowledge of literature becomes his sharpest tool of seduction.He collects women:Despite himself, Matt begins to fall in love with one of his most beautiful clients, Claudia. She is modest, clever and married.But is he a murderer?Matt's fixation on the unavailable Claudia threatens to drive him over the edge.Set at the cusp of the City of London's financial meltdown, THE BOOK LOVER'S TALE opens a door into the extravagant world of the filthy rich, the smart and the debauched. This chilling encounter between old money and new, between the real world and the imagined, is also a moving portrayal of a confused hero's battle to know himself.The Underhistory
By Kaaron Warren. 2024
People come to visit my home and I love to show them around. Of course it's not the original house…
where it happened. That was destroyed when my entire family died. But I don't think their ghosts know the difference.Pera Sinclair was nine the day the pilot intentionally crashed his plane into her family's grand home, killing everyone inside. She was the girl who survived the tragedy, a sympathetic oddity, growing stranger by the day. Over the decades she rebuilt the huge and rambling building on the original site, recreating what she had lost, each room telling a piece of the story of her life and that of the many people who died, both before and after the disaster. Her sister, murdered a hundred miles away. The soldier, broken by war. Death follows Pera, and she welcomes it in as an old friend. And while she doesn't believe in ghosts, she's not above telling a ghost story or two to those who come to visit Sinclair House.On the day of her last haunted house tour of the season, an unexpected group of men arrive. One Pera recognises, but the others are strangers. But she knows their type all too well. Dangerous men, who will keep an old woman alive only so long as she is useful. But as she begins to show them around her home and reveal its secrets, the dangerous men will learn that she is far from helpless. After all, death seems to followher wherever she goes...Sinister and lyrical, The Underhistory is a haunting tale of loss, self-preservation and the darkness beneath.Angel of Brooklyn
By Janette Jenkins. 2008
It is January, 1914 and Jonathan Crane returns home from his travels with a new American bride, former Coney Island…
showgirl Beatrice. In the remote Lancashire village Beatrice is the focus of attention, the men captivated by her beauty, the women initially charmed by tales of her upbringing in Normal, Illinois with her father, an amateur taxidermist, and her brother, a preacher, although she will take the story of how she became the Angel of Brooklyn to her grave. But when the men head off to fight in the Great War the glamorous newcomer slowly becomes an object of suspicion and jealousy for the women who are left behind and as the years pass, and their resentment grows, Beatrice's secret proves to be her undoing.Beautifully observed, tragic, funny and so evocative that you can taste the candy floss at Coney Island and feel the chill of wartime England, Angel of Brooklyn is an extraordinary, heartbreaking story.