Sensation!

Gothic/supernatural/horror/thriller/spy novels. (Introductory Post.)

Classics of Gothic & Sensational Literature (c. 1765-1914):

1. Walpole, Horace: The Castle of Otranto (1764)
2. Beckford, William: Vathek (1782)
3. Radcliffe, Ann: The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)
4. Radcliffe, Ann: The Italian (1797)
5. Lewis, M. G.: The Monk (1796)
6. Brown, Charles Brockden Wieland (1798)
7. Godwin, William: St. Leon: A Tale of the Sixteenth Century (1799)
8. Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft: Frankenstein (1818)†
9. Polidori, John William: The Vampyre (1819)
10. Maturin, Charles Robert: Melmoth the Wanderer (1820)
    
11. Hogg, James: The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (1824)
12. Poe, Edgar Allan: Various Stories, including:
    1. “The Fall of the House of Usher” (1839)
    2. “The Pit and the Pendulum” (1843)
13. Braddon, Mary Elizabeth: Lady Audley’s Secret (1862)
14. Le Fanu, Sheridan:  Uncle Silas (1864)
15. Le Fanu, Sheridan: The Wyvern Mystery (1869)
16. Le Fanu, Sheridan: In a Glass Darkly (1872) – includes “Carmilla”
17. Alcott, Louisa May: A Long Fatal Love Chase (1866; published 1995)*
18. Collins, Wilkie: The Haunted Hotel (1878, England)
19. Stoker, Bram: Dracula (1897)*
20. Childers, Erskine: The Riddle of the Sands (1903)
21. Chesterton, G.K.: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
22. Leroux, Gaston: The Phantom of the Opera (1909-10)*

“Northanger Horrid Novels“

1. Parsons, Eliza: Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)
2. Parsons, Eliza: The Mysterious Warning, a German Tale (1796)
3. Flammenberg, Ludwig: The Necromancer; or The Tale of the Black Forest (1794)
4. Marquis de Grosse: Horrid Mysteries (1796)
5. Lathom, Francis: The Midnight Bell (1798)
6. Roche, Regina Maria: Clermont, a Tale (1798)
7. Sleath, Eleanor: Orphan of the Rhine (1798)

Modern Thrills—Gothic, Horror, Thriller, Spy (WWI and after):

1. Buchan, John: The Thirty-Nine Steps (1915)
2. Cain, James M.: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934)
3. du Maurier, Daphne: Jamaica Inn (1936)
4. du Maurier, Daphne: Rebecca (1938)
5. du Maurier, Daphne: My Cousin Rachel (1951)
6. Lovecraft, H.P.: Various Stories (c. 1917-35)
7. Jackson, Shirley: “The Lottery” and other short stories (1948)
8. Jackson, Shirley: The Haunting of Hill House (1959)
9. Jackson, Shirley: We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962)
10. Fleming, Ian: James Bond novels
    1. Casino Royale (1953)†
11. Highsmith, Patricia: The Talented Mr. Ripley (1955)
12. Le Carré, John:
    1. The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1963)
    2. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1974)
    3. Smiley’s People (1979)
    4. The Constant Gardener (2001)
13. Levin, Ira: The Stepford Wives (1972)
14. King, Stephen: ‘Salem’s Lot (1975)
15. King, Stephen: The Shining (1977)
16. Rice, Anne: Interview with the Vampire (1976)
17. Harris, Thomas: Red Dragon (1981)
18. Leonard, Elmore:  LaBrava (1983)
19. Meltzer, Brad:
    1. The Tenth Justice (1998)
    2. The Millionaires (2002)
    3. The Zero Game (2005)
    4. The Inner Circle (2011)
    5. The Fifth Assassin (2013)
    6. The President’s Shadow (2015)
20. Carter, Stephen:
    1. The Emperor of Ocean Park (2002)
    2. New England White (2007)
    3. Palace Council (2008)
    4. Jericho’s Fall (2009)
21. Lehane, Dennis: Shutter Island (2003)
22. Evans, Justin: The White Devil (2011)
23. Ignatius, David: Bloodmoney: A Novel of Espionage (2011)
24. Flynn, Gillian: Gone Girl (2012)

* Indicates a reread
† Indicates read pre-blog and no reread is currently planned.

Last updated 23.01.2016.