Happy Goat Horror

Dark bleatings, my gothic tribe! Over the last few years, I’ve made more of an effort to delve back in time, into our literary horror history. I’d read a couple of the heavy hitters, but not nearly enough! I continue this journey, but now also have finally read enough to comfortably make a list of my favourite classic horror, as opposed to a short list of the only classic horror I knew.

So here it is!

10. The Castle of Otranto – by Horace Walpole

If I’m not mistaken, this is the first gothic horror novel. It is a hoot – a strange hoot written in the kind of classic English that did require me to read it quite slowly and with extreme focus – but a hoot nonetheless!

It’s a ghosty kind of story with some (I’m sure, for the time) shocking scenes, including the heir to the castle getting squashed by an enormous helmet. Some people consider this melodramatic, old-fashioned rubbish, but I see it as the trail-blazer that ignited a genre of fiction that simply didn’t exist in literature before its publication.

9. We Have Always Lived in the Castle – by Shirley Jackson

I didn’t think I initially liked this story of two sisters living in their stately home, parentless after the death of their father. But it has grown on me over time because I couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s light on the horror in the traditional sense, but it’s certainly an anxiety-inducing story about being isolated and trapped, and loving certain people despite their… er… let’s say “questionable” antics.

8. The Turn of the Screw – by Henry James

There have been several screen adaptations of this story, and for good reason. It’s a labyrinth of lies and devious plots on a backdrop of hauntings, set in a classic creepy location.

7. Frankenstein – by Mary Shelley

Until this year, I was going against the grain by really REALLY disliking this book, actually. Despite acknowledging that Shelley more-or-less invented the sci-fi genre (certainly the sci-fi/horror genre), I found some of the writing to just not be to my tastes, and the story itself I felt could have actually been cut down a fair bit. I found it verbose and pretentious, I guess.

However, after reading many more classics and getting to grips with the writing of this particular century, I’ve since changed my mind. The reason I decided to re-read this, I should add, is because of the excellent non-fiction book A Vindication of Monsters, which is a collection of essays about Mary Shelley and her mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and their work. It recontextualised the entire novel for me and made me want to revisit it, and I’m so glad I did because I found that this time around, I loved it.

6. Carmilla – by Sheridan Le Fanu

Carmilla is the story of an ordinary woman called Laura, who one day meets the mysterious and enigmatic Carmilla, and they form a relationship. It’s a vampire story – one of the originals, in fact, and a much celebrated work of gay fiction. It’s also a quick but surprisingly tense read.

5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – by Robert Louis Stevenson

There’s something about older sci-fi/horror that I love. These days, science fiction tends to cover space travel, time travel, and AI, but back in yester-year, it felt focused on the smaller scale of medical “potions” and about mans’ war with itself. This is the era of sci-fi horror that I really love – I don’t know why but I’m so attached to the image of men hunched over green liquids in test tubes, surrounded by all manner of old-school practical science paraphernalia. Everyone knows the basic plot, or at least the concept, of this one.

4. The Woman in Black – by Susan Hill

This creeps me out so much (especially when listening to the audiobook!). A man goes to sort through the estate of a recently deceased woman, to find himself isolated in a creepy ass house, seeing and hearing all sorts of scary shit. It’s a brilliant ghost story.

3. Dracula – by Bram Stoker

I tried not to be so stereotypical as to have this very predictable entry this high up on my list, but damn it! I can’t help it, I love it. I’ve read this fabled tale of this absolute count several times, and it never gets old. Lucy Westenra has been one of my favourite fictional characters for almost twenty years, and there’s something sweetly pure about such an open and shut good vs evil story as this.

2. The Yellow Wallpaper – by Charlotte Perkins-Gilman

I’ve talked about this book a lot, and thought about it even more. It’s not a novel by the way, more like a short (or a novelette, if we’re pushing it). Ghosts, vampires, and hideous scifi disasters are all good and scary and everything, but the idea of being locked up in total isolation, under the control and mercy (or lack thereof) of my husband and physician, left with absolutely no stimuli or agency at all… now THAT is a true thing of nightmares. Paired with the fact that this story is the somewhat autobiographical experience of the author, it’s horrific.

And my absolute favourite classic horror novel is…

The Picture of Dorian Gray – by Oscar Wilde

It’s the writing in this one, for me. Before reading Oscar Wilde, I had no idea what I was missing – his prose, his style, his use of language, and his hilarious (sometimes hilariously insulting, actually…) sense of humour – in my opinion – it’s unparalleled. And what a great story – the ultimate tale of narcissistic self-obsession, and also cause and consequence. I’m just so in love with this story and absolutely everything about the way it was told, I can’t imagine that I’m going to discover anything that will knock it off its throne.

I’d love to know what your favourite classic horror stories are – especially if they’re scary! Please hit me up with your recommendations ❤

Bleeeat!