Charles Dickens
Edgar Allen Poe
Herman Melville
Mary Shelley
Mr. James
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Virginia Woolf
Fiction
(Updated 6/13/08)
The finest supernatural fiction I’ve ever read is by Charles Dickens, Algernon Blackwood, J. Sheridan LeFanu, and M.R. James. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is in a class by itself.
Different collections or editions of the works of these authors can be found on Amazon, although not always easily. Let me suggest the following:
Frankenstein. Mary Shelley. Ann Arbor Media, 2006.
A Christmas Carol. Charles Dickens. Cheswold, Delaware, Prestwick House Inc, 2005.
Best Ghost Stories of Algernon Blackwood. Algernon Blackwood. Dover Publications, 1974.
The Complete John Silence Stories by Algernon Blackwood. Algernon Blackwood. Dover Publications, 1997.
Best Ghost Stories of J.S. LeFanu. J. Sheridan LeFanu. Dover Publications, 1964.
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary. M.R. James. Dover Publications, 1971.
Count Magnus and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James. Vol. 1. Penguin Classics, 2005.
The Haunted Doll’s House and Other Ghost Stories: The Complete Ghost Stories of M.R. James. Vol. 2. Penguin Classics, 2005.
Nathaniel Hawthorne : Tales and Sketches. The Library of America. 1996.
Complete Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe. Edgar Allan Poe, Doubleday, New York NY, 1998.
Orlando. Virginia Woolf. Harvest Books. 1973.
(Updated 7/27/07)
We receive numerous requests for information from students writing papers on the Vampire Chronicles and other novels by Anne. This is a list of books dealing with the themes of the vampire and/or supernatural literature.
The Blood is Life: Vampires in Literature. Leonard G. Heldreth and Mary Pharr, eds. Bowling Green, Ohio: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, 1999.
Blood Red: The Vampire as a Metaphor in Contemporary Culture. Joan Gordon and Veronica Hollinger, eds. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997.
A Companion to the Gothic. David Punter, ed. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2000.
A Dark Night’s Dreaming: Contemporary American Horror Fiction. Tony Magistrale and Michael Morrison, eds. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 1996.
The Fantastic Vampire: Studies in the Children of the Night, James Craig Holte, ed. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2002.
ADDED 7/27/07 Queer Gothic. George E. Haggerty. Urbana and Chicago: University of
Illinois Press, 2006.
Also offered:
Gothic & Gender: An Introduction. Donna Heiland. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
Fears and Fascinations: Representing Catholicism in the American South. Thomas F. Haddox. New York: Fordham university Press, 2005.
On Writing Horror: A Handbook by the Horror Writers Association. Mort Castle, ed. Cincinnati, Ohio: Writer’s Digest Books, 2007.
Southern Writers: A New Biographical Dictionary. Joseph M. Flora and Amber Vogel, eds. Bryan Giemez, asst. ed. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2006.
Also of possible interest:
The Unauthorized Anne Rice Companion. George Beahm ed. Williamsburg, Virginia: GB Publishing/Ink, 1995.
Conversations With Anne Rice: An Intimate, Enlightening Portrait of Her Life and Work. Michael Riley. New York: Ballantine Books, 1996.
Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers: Anne Rice: A Critical Companion. Jennifer Smith. Westport, Connection: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Haunted City: 3rd Ed: An Authorized Guide to the Magical Magnificent New Orleans of Anne Rice. Joy Dickinson. New York: Kensington Publishing Corp, 2004.
Prism of the Night: A Biography of Anne Rice. Katherine Ramsland. Penguin/Plume, 1994.
The Vampire Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles. Katherine Ramsland. New York: Ballantine Books, 1995.
The Witches Companion: The Official Guide to Anne Rice’s Lives of the Mayfair Witches. Katherine Ramsland. New York: Ballantine Books, 1994.