Where to find horror classics?

[j d worthington]

While these days a lot of the older or more obscure horror classics have been picked up by POD publishers, small presses, and the like, there are still quite a few that are not that easy to come by. So I decided, having come across a place or two that has an enormous library of the things online, to begin a thread to help find resources for the horror fan who would like to dip into the classics as well as the modern stuff, but has trouble finding them.

One such site, which has entire collections and anthologies, as well as numerous individual short stories, poems, etc., is Horror Masters... they have enough work there to last a couple of lifetimes, I'd say. Here's the page for the collections, but if you go to the "Horror Library", you'll see even more choices:

HorrorMasters -- Short Story Collections

Another that was mentioned sometime back is The Literary Gothic, which covers a wide range of material, but also has an enormous library of the more obscure Goths, as well:

The Literary Gothic - the premier webguide to pre-1950 Gothic-tradition literature

I'll post some others as we go along but, in the meantime... does anyone else have any such resources they'd care to bring in?

 

[ravenus]

Whoa the HorrorMasters link is cool indeed. Thanks much for that

 

[j d worthington]

Yes... when I came across it (I was looking for information on Stoneground Ghost Tales, by E. G. Swain), and saw all that was on there, I just about dropped my eye-teeth.... The Literary Gothic has one heck of a lot of material that's worth looking into, too... for the Goth fan, especially, it's several years' worth of excellent reading....

Glad you like... and enjoy!

 

[j d worthington]

I also came across this discussion when looking up something about R. H. Malden's Nine Ghosts, which will help to track down books containing some of the best classic supernatural fiction:

Amazon.com: "read the world's 50 greatest stories of the supernatural"

Incidentally... I heartily recommend Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural... even though published back in the '40s, it still remains in print today, and continues as one of the best anthologies in the field ever published; over 1000 pages of great reading:

Amazon Online Reader : Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural (Modern Library)

Also, The Haunted Omnibus, ed. by Alexander Lang:

The Haunted omnibus [WorldCat.org]

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

You can find some here -- among others that might be classified as Gothics or Ghost Stories -- as well:

http://www.arthursclassicnovels.com/arthurs/gothic.html

 

[j d worthington]

Oh, indeed... and no few aren't available on the sites previously posted... not to mention quite a lot of Haggard, Wells, etc....

Many thanks, Teresa!

 

[ravenus]

Not sure if this fits in here but:

Radio Plays of the Strange & Fantastic

 

[j d worthington]

Not quite what I had in mind, but more than glad to have it. I hadn't realized they'd done Donovan's Brain as a radio play....

 

[ravenus]

Heh following that page's links, I downloaded a zip of 50 episodes of Dimension X
I just love that old-skool radio atmosphere, even when the actual stories aren't boffo. And some of them are quite awesome...check out A Dream of Armageddon. I ended up making a 10$ paypal donation to http://archive.org as a small thanks for hosting this stuff. I just revel in it.

 

[j d worthington]

Well, for those interested (and who can afford it), there have been some new things editions of classics from the horror and pulp horror field lately:

Passing of a God

Cold Harbour

(though I have to admit that the synopsis given above by no means does justice to Cold Harbour, which is a very enjoyable and evocative work... also a very quick read, for those disinclined to the more stately writers....)

Dreads and Drolls by Arthur Machen, published by Tartarus Press

Not quite truly a horror piece, but certainly by one of the masters of, and probably of interest to those who enjoy his other work....

 

[Serin]

Thanks so much, JD, those links are great. I have taken note of some titles that I like the sound of and will be putting them on my Christmas list, as well as buying some myself. Once again, thanks. Don't know why I haven't looked on here before, oh well better late than never as they say.

 

[Nesacat]

Thank you for the links especially HorrorMasters and Literary Gothic. Have them bookmarked at work now. One way to read while at work and one way to read much that is otherwise unavailable, at least to me and my purse.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Why haven't I clicked on these links before? Well, needless to say that I've also added the HorrorMasters page to my handy 'favourites' bar on my browser and will have a good peruse when I get some spare time. Thankee sai.

 

[j d worthington]

Well, as this hasn't remained just for online sources:

The Triumph of Night by Edith Wharton, published by Tartarus Press

A Natural Body and A Spiritual Body

 

[nomadman]

Here's a place you can download free ebooks, including some classic horror and pulp.

:: Munseys : Over 20,000 rare and hard to find titles in 10 formats!

 

[j d worthington]

Oh, thank you very much for that... Haven't had a chance to look at all the titles (pffffft! hardly any, to be frank), but from what I've seen, it could allow me to track down some things that I've had the devil of a time finding....

 

[nomadman]

I just downloaded some Sarban from there.

 

[j d worthington]

Hippocampus Press has now released their edition of Cold Harbour, by Francis Brett Young, coupled with Sinister House, by Leland Hall:

Cold Harbour: Francis Brett Young AND Sinister House: Leland Hall - Hippocampus Press

While avoiding the "blood-and-thunder" of so much modern horror, these are quite well-told tales, quick and easy reads, and well worth looking up...

 

[Lobolover]

Weird thing is,it doesnt apear to BE at amazon or any other international bookshop at all.

 

[Rammenoth]

Have you tried in Internet Archives? there it is Nosferatu along a lot others.