The Black Cat is one of Edgar Allan Poe's most memorable stories. This haunting tale centers around a black cat and the subsequent deterioration of a man. The story is often linked with The Tell-Tale Heart because of the profound psychological elements these two works share.

The narrative delves into the dark recesses of human psychology and explores themes of guilt, madness, and the supernatural. An unnamed narrator begins with a strong affection for pets but perversely turns to abusing them, particularly focusing on his favorite, the eponymous Black Cat. What will the cat do?

This classic horror short story combines elements of mystery and suspense, leaving readers with an eerie sense of dread and questioning the boundaries between reality and the supernatural.

On a split of land cut off by the Gulf, three Victorian summer houses stand against the encroaching sand. Two of the houses at Beldame are still used. The third house, filling with sand, is empty... except for the vicious horror which is shaping nightmares from the nothingness that hangs in the dank, fetid air.

The McCrays and Savages, two fine Mobile families allied by marriage, have been coming to Beldame for years. This summer, with a terrible funeral behind them and a messy divorce coming up, even Luker McCray and little India down from New York are looking forward to being alone at Beldame.

But they won't be alone. For something there, something they don't like to think about, is thinking about them... and about all the ways to make them die.

Carmilla stands as a pioneering work in the vampire genre, predating even Bram Stoker’s Dracula and influencing generations of Gothic literature. Le Fanu’s narrative, with its haunting beauty and sensuous dread, explores themes of love, identity, and the macabre, leaving an indelible mark on the landscape of horror fiction. Prepare to be seduced and unnerved by this timeless tale of forbidden passion and the darkness that lurks within the shadows.

JOSEPH SHERIDAN LE FANU [1814-1873] was an Irish mystery and horror author. He had an enormous influence on the horror genre in the 19th and 20th century, especially through his championing of tone and effect rather than shock factor. Among his most noted work is the lesbian vampire novella Carmilla [1872] and mystery Uncle Silas [1864].

The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is a thrilling tale of incantations and black magic that unearth unspeakable horrors in Providence, Rhode Island. Evil spirits are being resurrected from beyond the grave, presenting a supernatural force so twisted that it kills without offering the mercy of death!

Set in 1928, this novel describes how Charles Dexter Ward becomes obsessed with his distant ancestor, Joseph Curwen, an alleged wizard with unsavory habits. Ward physically resembles Curwen and attempts to duplicate his ancestor's Qabalistic and alchemical feats. He eventually uses this knowledge to physically resurrect Curwen. Ward's doctor, Marinus Bicknell Willett, investigates Ward's activities and is horrified by what he finds.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Stevenson's famous exploration of humanity's basest capacity for evil, has become synonymous with the idea of a split personality. More than a moral tale, this dark psychological fantasy is also a product of its time, drawing on contemporary theories of class, evolution, criminality, and secret lives.

Also in this volume are The Body Snatcher, which charts the murky underside of Victorian medical practice, and Olalla, a tale of vampirism and The Beast Within which features a beautiful woman at its center.

This new edition features a critical introduction, chronology, suggestions for further reading, explanatory notes, and appendixes, including an abridged extract from A Chapter on Dreams and an essay on the scientific context of Jekyll and Hyde.

Last summer, four terrified friends made a desperate pact to conceal a shocking secret. But now, someone has learned the truth and is determined to get even.

The horror is starting again. There is an unknown avenger out there who is stalking them in a deadly game. Will he stop at terror or is he out for revenge?

The Pit and the Pendulum is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe and first published in 1842 in the literary annual The Gift: A Christmas and New Year's Present for 1843. The story is about the torments endured by a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, though Poe skews historical facts. The narrator of the story describes his experience of being tortured. The story is especially effective at inspiring fear in the reader because of its heavy focus on the senses, such as sound, emphasizing its reality, unlike many of Poe's stories which are aided by the supernatural. The traditional elements established in popular horror tales at the time are followed, but critical reception has been mixed. The tale has been adapted to film several times.