Bookishdiary - Artsy Recommendations

20 Haunting Books

It’s spooky season so I’m recommending 20 books that may, or may not, terrify you.

I have linked to free editions where possible and links with an asterisk are affiliate links for UK Bookshop.org. You obviously don’t need to use those links.

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The Monk by Matthew Lewis (1796)

A gothic horror novel that revels in the darkest of taboos

It can still horrify readers over 200 years after it was first published

Project Gutenberg / Oxford World's Classics*

The Italian by Ann Radcliffe (1797)

A response to The Monk

Dark, sombre, and sinister

Public Library UK / Oxford World's Classics*

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Gothic horror with a scientific twist

A story about scientific experimentation, humanity, and monstrosity

Read the 1818 edition!

Project Gutenberg / Oxford World's Classics*

The Vampyre by John Polidori (1819)

A thinly veiled reference to Lord Byron and his tendency to drain the life out of the people that were enamoured with him

Short but creepy

Project Gutenberg / Oxford World's Classics*

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)

Heathcliff, it's me, Cathy I’ve come home, I'm so cold Let me in-a-your window...

A book about awful people doing awful things to each other

Set in the bleak Yorkshire moors (oh, Yorkshire, my beloved)

Project Gutenberg / Penguin English Library*

The Lifted Veil by George Eliot (1859)

Eliot tapped into the emerging tradition of Victorian horror

Very different to her other works

Project Gutenberg / Oxford World's Classics*

The Grey Woman by Elizabeth Gaskell (1861)

A spooky Gothic tale

This would also be perfect as a traditional Christmas Eve read

Public Library UK / Penguin Classics*

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

What could be scarier than the potential evil that lurks in yourself?

A mixture of genres

Project Gutenberg / Penguin Classics*

Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

The most famous vampire book ever written (maybe?)

I always want to make chicken paprikash after reading this book

Project Gutenberg / Penguin Classics*

The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)

This book never loses its edge

Psychological horror

Project Gutenberg / Oxford World's Classics*

Ghost Stories of an Antiquary by M. R. James (1901)

I really like M. R. James' short ghost story collections

A twist on classic Gothic tropes

Project Gutenberg / Oxford World's Classics*

The Lottery and Other Stories by Shirley Jackson (1949)

Suburban horror

Some of these stories still haunt me

Penguin Modern Classics*

I am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954)

Post-apocalyptic horror

A very tense story with a great ending

Orion Publishing Co.*

'Salem's Lot by Stephen King (1975)

Terrifying

Hodder Paperbacks*

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (1979)

Uses traditional stories - fairytales and folklore - and transforms the horror that was always in them into something more potent for a modern audience

Focuses heavily on gender issues

Vintage Publishing*

The Woman in Black by Susan Hill (1984)

One of the best contemporary Gothic novels I've ever read

A Victorian-style ghost story

Vintage Publishing*

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (1994)

A little different to the other books on this list

Haunting and sad

Vintage Publishing*

The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell (2018)

Historical fiction

An unsettling book

Bloomsbury*

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton (2020)

A book that is full of suspense and terror and confusion

Bloomsbury*

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020)

A wonderful, strange mixture of Gothic horror and Gothic terror

Compelling characters and an intriguing mystery

Quercus Publishing*

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Happy reading!

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10 Classic Book Recommendations

I’ve read a lot of non-English classics over the last couple of years (all translated into English because I am not bilingual) and I thought it’d be fun to share some of my favourites!

This post contains affiliate links and they're marked with an asterisk (*) - you obviously don't need to use them.

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The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon (1002)

Originally written in Middle Early Japanese (translated by Meredith McKinney)

A collection of essays, anecdotes, poems, observations and musings from Sei Shōnagon’s time as court lady to Empress Consort Teishi in Heian Japan

This is one of my favourite classics because found myself relating to a woman who lived over 1,000 years ago and it was wonderful. Some things have obviously changed – we’re from different times and places – but this book reminded me of how similar we are to the people that came before us.

Bookshop.org UK*

Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne (1873)

Originally written in French (translated by William Butcher)

An adventure novel

There’s something wonderfully superficial about this book. By this, I mean that the book doesn’t look at anything in depth because Fogg is in a race against the clock and has no time to dwell upon things.

Project Gutenberg (tr. G. M. Towle) | Bookshop.org UK*

The Narrow Road to the Deep North and Other Travel Sketches by Matsuo Bashō (1702)

Originally written in Early Modern Japanese (translated by Yuasa Nobuyuki)

A travelogue interwoven with poetry

The opening lines are stunning and reading this book made me feel free in a time when everyone was restricted.

Bookshop.org UK*

Notes from a Dead House by Fyodor Dostoevsky (1862)

Originally written in Russian (translated by Richard Pevear & Larissa Volokhonsky)

Semi-autobiographical philosophical fiction

Bleak and depressing and so, so interesting. Dostoevsky gives us a real insight into what life was like in exile in Siberia.

This isn’t the translation I read but, apparently, this one is much better and I intend to pick it up myself very soon.

Bookshop.org UK*

The Odyssey by Homer (c. 8th century BCE)

Originally written in Homeric Greek/Ancient Greek (translated by Emily Wilson)

Epic poem

It follows Odysseus, king of Ithaca and Greek hero, and his journey home after the Trojan War.

I have read many a translation of the Odyssey over the years and I love (almost) all iterations of it but Emily Wilson’s translation is beautiful.

Bookshop.org UK*

Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri (1320)

Originally written in Italian (translated by C. H. Sisson)

Poetry and religious philosophy

Dante travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise with Virgil and Beatrice as his guides. Inferno will always be my favourite section of the poem but I really love Paradisio too.

Bookshop.org UK*

Poetic Edda (c.985)

Originally written in Old Norse (translated by Carolyne Larrington)

A collection of anonymous Old Norse narrative poems that tell mythological and historical stories.

This is the only translation I’ve read because I wanted something relatively accessible for my first foray into the Poetic Edda but I’ve also heard good things about the Hollander translation.

Bookshop.org UK*

Metamorphoses by Ovid (8 AD)

Originally written in Latin (translated by Rolfe Humphries)

A narrative poem that chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar. It includes various myths, such as Diana and Actaeon, Arachne, and Orpheus and Eurydice.

Although I’ve recommended the Humphries translation, you could pick up any verse translation and still enjoy it. I personally love Arthur Golding’s translation* from 1567 because it was the first direct translation from Latin to English and it’s a reflection of the poetry of its time.

Bookshop.org UK*

The Outsider by Albert Camus (1942)

Originally written in French (translated by Sandra Smith)

Also published as The Stranger in English

A philosophical novel

Camus wrote the best absurdist novels and this one is fantastic. I can’t really describe it but it had a great impact on 18-year-old me and it was my introduction to absurdism and existentialism (but don't tell Camus I described his novel as existentialist).

Bookshop.org UK*

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin (1921)

Originally written in Russian (translated by Bela Shayevich)

Dystopian novel – inspired Huxley’s Brave New World and Orwell’s 1984

The book depicts a world of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state. Everyone is a number and the city’s buildings are constructed almost entirely of glass. It’s such an unnerving book.

Bookshop.org UK*

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If you pick up any of these books based on this post, please let me know what you think!

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My favourite dark mystery / horror movies

The secret window (2004)

This Stephen King adaptation starring a brilliant Johnny Depp is a hugely underrated psychological thriller. You will be glued to your seat an constantly question what is true and what's not.

Identity (2003)

If you like unexpected twists and turns, this is the one for you: the film follows ten strangers in an isolated hotel, who are temporarily cut off from the rest of the world, and are mysteriously killed off one by one

Life (2017)

A crew of the International space station is looking for evidence of life on mars. What they don't know is, that they are about to discover something that will threaten their lives and the whole human existence.

10 cloverfield lane (2016)

After surviving an accident, Michelle wakes up to find herself in an underground bunker. A man who lives there tells her that a massive chemical attack has left the air unbreathable, and their only hope of survival is to remain inside. Over time Michelle seems to question what is true and what's not.

Sunshine (2007)

This one has to be one of the most underrated science fiction movies ever. The soundtrack and cinematography are breathtakingly gorgeous: Taking place in the year 2057, the story follows a group of astronauts on a dangerous mission to reignite the dying Sun.

Room 1408 (2007)

A highly underrated adaptation of Stephen King's works starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson: Ignoring the warnings of the hotel manager , a succesfull writer learns the meaning of real terror when he spends the night in a reputedly haunted room

Crimson peak (2015)

A great ghostly tale by the master of horror himself, Guillermo del Toro. Starring Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain and Mia Wasikoswka this story is a great take on classic gothic Fiction. The set-design is phenomenal!

To all theatre and book nerds out there: Who is your favourite play writer? (Expect for the good old Willy shakes of course) I need more recommendations.

I think Goethe is hugely underrated!

Actors and their favourite books

Tom Hiddleston - Any human heart

Hiddleston mentioned in a tweet, that this was one of his favourite novels.

Colin Firth - The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge

"I don't think I've ever read such descriptions of what it would be like to lose your grip. He has a vision that makes you less sure of your surroundings—and I find that stimulating."

Natalie Portman - Cloud Atlas

"This was the present I gave everyone I knew for three years. It's six different stories told in different time periods and genres: One is historical fiction, another is a '70s thriller mystery, the sixth is a post¬apocalyptic story"

Daniel Radcliffe - The Master and Margarita

"It's now my favorite novel—it's just the greatest explosion of imagination, craziness, satire, humor, and heart."

Timothee Chalamet - And then the End will come

Chalamet mentioned in an interview, that he really loved this book

Morgan Freeman - The Poisonwood Bible

“Some of the best writers are women writers – Barbara Kingsolver, Joyce Carol Oates. They just don’t get enough play.”

Margot Robbie - The five poeple you meet in heaven

I love that book. It felt very different, moving and heartfelt. It made me think. It’s a quick read, it’s a good one to recommend over the holidays.”

Cate Blanchett - The true history of the Kelly Gang

"Carey is one of my favorite writers. In Kelly Gang, the narrative voice is so unique. We Australians all know about Ned Kelly, but what Carey does is get inside his character's mind in such an illuminating and heartrending way. Aand there's not a trace of sentimentality in it. I so admire that as an actor, because I realize how difficult it is to do."