Haunted Library of Horror Classics
The Horror Writers Association (HWA) and Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of SourceBooks, present the Haunted Library of Horror Classics, a line of reissued classic horror literature books from over the past 250 years. These books are recognized as literary masterpieces of their era that are either remembered today only through distorted theatrical or movie versions, or have been relegated to academic study, or have otherwise been nearly forgotten entirely.
Series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger now bring back these seminal titles of the genre, making them easily available to modern readers!
The Haunted Library of Horror Classics editions are quality trade paperbacks (and ebooks), carefully curated to follow the definitive text of the original publications, while being presented at reasonable prices for a mass market.
Each volume of this series also includes:
• introduction by a renowned contemporary horror writer, editor, or scholar
• annotations and/or endnotes to define or give context to obscure words and phrases
• a teacher’s guide of discussion questions for classroom use
• an author biography
• a list of similar titles for suggested further reading
• …and more!
Enjoy each volume, and build your own collection of the Haunted Library of Horror Classics!
** Read the official SourceBooks press release HERE!
** Read more about the series on the official SourceBooks landing page HERE!
** Read an interview on Book Reporter with editors, Eric J. Guignard and
Leslie S. Klinger, discussing this series HERE!
REVIEWS AND PRAISE
“…favorite fiction to transport readers out of the terrors of the present and thrust back in time.”
—NY Times
“Modern readers will find the texts greatly enhanced for their convenience by prefacing notes and a short essay on the books’ importance. Helpful footnotes keep readers immersed in the narrative but do not overwhelm the text. A brief note about the author caps things off and leads into the back matter, where discussion questions and further suggested reading of the era are offered. Perfectly poised to be useful for group as well as individual reading, this series is a fun new way to encounter the spine-tinglers of yesteryear.”
—Booklist
“Fans of literate horror… will be gratified.”
—Publishers Weekly
“…set pieces waiting for Cecil B. DeMille or Industrial Light and Magic to bring them to life!”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Like many Victorian-era gothic tales, these books will appeal to a wide range of readers… ensuring crowdpleasers from the past will continue to strike fear in the hearts and minds of 21st-century readers.”
—Library Journal
SERIES VOLUMES
The Phantom of the Opera (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #1)
by Gaston LeRoux
Introduction by Nancy Holder and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published January 7, 2020
Trade paperback, $14.99
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1492699682
Every night at the Palais Garnier, hundreds of guests wait for opera star La Carlotta to take the stage. But when her voice fails her, La Carlotta is replaced with unknown understudy Christine Daaé, a young soprano whose vibrant singing fills the opera house and wins her numerous admirers, including an old childhood friend who soon professes his love. But unknown to Christine is another man, who lurks out of sight, who can move about the building undetected, who will do anything to make sure Christine will keep singing just for him… (Originally published 1909–1910.)
The Beetle (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #2)
by Richard Marsh
Introduction by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published April 7, 2020
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1492699712
Robert Holt is an out-of-work clerk seeking shelter in an abandoned house. He comes face-to-face with a fantastical creature with supernatural and hypnotic powers, a creature who can transform at will between its human and beetle forms and who wrecks havoc when he preys on young middle-class Britons. Discover the creature that is “Born of neither god nor man,” in this Gothic horror tale of revenge that takes the reader on a dark journey, one that explores the crisis of late imperial England through a fantastical and horrific lens. (Originally published 1897.)
Vathek (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #3)
with introduction to the book by Joe R. Lansdale and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published August 18, 2020
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1492699743
Considered a masterpiece of bizarre invention and sustained fantasy, Vathek was written in French in 1782 and translated into English under the anonymous claim of having been translated from an Arabic original text. Vathek combines Gothic stylings with elemnts of Orientalism. The caliph Vathek is a blasphemous voluptuary who constructs a tower so tall that from it he can survey all the kingdoms of the world. Vathek impiously defies Muhammad in the seventh heaven, thus condemning himself to eternal damnation and expulsion to the netherworld. (Originally published 1786.)
The House on the Borderland (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #4)
with introduction to the book by Ramsey Campbell and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published November 3, 2020
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1492699774
On a fishing holiday to the remote Irish village of Kraighten, two friends stumble upon the ruins of a strangely shaped house on a large lake. They discover the moldering journal of the “Recluse,” an unidentified man who recorded his last days in the house before its destruction. So begins a hallucinatory account of a man’s experiences of supernatural creatures and otherworldly dimensions… (Originally published 1908.)
Of One Blood: or, The Hidden Self (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #5)
with introduction to the book by Nisi Shawl and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published February 9, 2021
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1464215063
An uncanny tale of identity, race, and spirituality by groundbreaking Black author Pauline Hopkins, Of One Blood follows the adventures of Reuel Briggs, a mixed-race American as he travels to Ethiopia from America searching for treasure and, ultimately, his heritage. First serialized in Colored American Magazine, this narrative exemplifies Pauline Hopkins’s incisive writing and interrogates issues of race and history that remain contemporary today. (Originally published 1902–1903.)
The Parasite and Other Tales of Terror (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #6)
with introduction to the book by Daniel Stashower and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published May 4, 2021
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1492699804
Even before he created Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle terrified and delighted readers with tales of mysterious forces that defy rational explanation. These stories capture the unique draw of the uncanny and the curiosity that compels us all to ask, “Could it be true?” Included within are nine spine-tingling tales, such as: mournful cries in an ice-bound sea; a potion that allows the user to commune with ghosts; an Egyptian priest who cannot die; and a mesmerist of unrivaled power. Brace yourself for these and other chilling encounters! (Stories originally published between 1879–1921.)
The King in Yellow (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #7)
with introduction to the book by Nic Pizzolatto and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published August 3, 2021
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: 978-1464213717
Identified as a classic in the field of supernatural fiction (both horror and Victorian Gothic), The King in Yellow is a collection of ten stories with running motifs throughout, most notably the first four, which each reference the same-named play, a forbidden work that “induces despair or madness in those who read it.” First published in 1895, this book has since continued to inspire a canon of supernatural, cosmic fiction (most famously by H.P. Lovecraft who linked much of his Cthulhu Mythos work to these tales). (Originally published 1895.)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #8)
by M.R. James
with introduction to the book by David Morrell and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published October 5, 2021
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13:978-1464215155
A collection of eight of the earliest short stories of M.R. James, these eerie tales of apparitions and other supernatural horrors are now considered classics widely heralded as influential upon later authors of the strange, as well as being a turning point in the “ghost story genre.” Of recognizable note are the stories “The Ash-tree,” “The Mezzotint,” “Canon Alberic’s Scrap-book,” and “’Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad,” each which thrill with wit, suspense, and literary valor. (Originally published 1904.)
Gothic Classics: The Castle of Otranto and The Old English Baron (an Omnibus) (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #9)
The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole; The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve
with introduction to the book by Robert McCammon and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published January 11, 2022
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13:978-1464215377
ebook ASIN: <…PENDING>
An omnibus of two classics of Gothic Fiction—The Castle of Otranto, named as “The first Gothic novel,” in which an evil lord seeks to avert an ancient foretelling by marrying his dead son’s fiancée in order to attempt birthing another male heir; and paired with The Old English Baron, written as a reaction to Otranto from a female author’s point of view, in which a peasant boy, living in a royal family’s castle, begins to show his superiority, much to the enmity of those in “higher stations.” (Originally published 1764 and 1778, respectively.)
The Mummy! A Tale of the Twenty-Second Century (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #10)
by Jane Webb
with introduction to the book by Lisa Tuttle and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
Published April 12, 2022
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13:978-1464215285
ebook ASIN: <…PENDING>
(Description coming!)
Fantasmagoriana (Tales of the Dead) (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #11)
translated into English by Sarah Elizabeth Utterson
with introduction to the book by Lisa Morton and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
To be published July, 2022
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: <…PENDING>
ebook ASIN: <…PENDING>
(Description coming!)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Haunted Library of Horror Classics, Vol. #12)
by Oscar Wilde
with introduction to the book by <…PENDING> and additional material by series editors Eric J. Guignard and Leslie S. Klinger
To be published October, 2022
$14.99 trade paper
Paperback ISBN-13: <…PENDING>
ebook ASIN: <…PENDING>
(Description coming!)