Today I come with a list of the best horror books in history for children, adolescents and adults from the most recognized authors in history. Among them are Dracula, The Black Cat, The Exorcist, The Shining, The Devil's Seed, among others.

The horror genre is one of the most acclaimed, whether in movies or in books. Over the centuries we have been given great scary books / novels by great authors.

They are not ordered from best to worst, nor in order of preference. They are simply the best for both critics and audiences.

The best horror books ever

Dracula -

The story takes place in 1784, around the Dutch settlement of Tarry Town (Tarrytown, New York), in a secluded valley called Sleepy Hollow known for its ghost stories and the haunted environment that permeates the imagination of its inhabitants and visitors.

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde - RL Stevenson

Jekyll is a scientist who creates a potion or drink that has the ability to separate the most human part from the most evil side of a person. When Jekyll drinks this mixture he turns into Edward Hyde, a criminal capable of any atrocity.

I am Legend - Richard Matheson

The book takes place in a post-apocalyptic version of the city of Los Angeles, between 1976 and 1979. The protagonist, Robert Neville, has survived a pandemic caused by a bacteriological war that has wiped out all the people who were in the earth.

The Shadow of Innsmouth - HP Lovecraft

In the first of the five chapters the narrator describes how the American government took the town of Innsmouth as a result of the denunciation of the events that he witnessed there. It tells how he discovered the town's existence while searching for the cheapest way to get to Arkham.

Carmilla - Joseph Sheridan

The protagonist, Laura, recounts how her life goes from ordinary to bewildering and frightening when Carmilla appears, a beautiful young woman who turns out to be a vampire.

American Psycho - Bret Easton Ellis

The protagonist, Patrick Bateman, is twenty-seven years old and lives in the American Gardens building, amid the wealth and sophistication of the high society of Manhattan and Wall Street.

The Monk - Matthew Lewis

At the crowded church of the monastic order of the Capuchins, located in Madrid, the old woman Leonila and her niece Antonia, a young woman "who knows nothing about the world," arrive.

Mister X

Ned has visions of the crimes of someone he calls Mr. X. When he travels to the town where his mother is dying, she gives him more information about his father, whom he did not know, and decides to find out more about him.

The Mysteries of Udolfo - Ann Radcliffe

The Mysteries of Udolfo is the quintessential Gothic romance, full of incidents of physical and psychological terror; remote and dilapidated castles; supposedly supernatural events; a melancholic and twisted villain; and a hunted heroine.

Complete tales of terror, madness and death

Complete tales of terror, madness and death aims to collect all those tales of Maupassant, more than a hundred, which could be defined thematically as mystery, terror, madness or imaginary world.

Book Demon

A medieval demon addresses the reader directly with a deadly tone at times and seductive at others, it is an autobiography never before published that was written in the year 1438.

Baron Bagge

In the middle of winter 1915, south of the Carpathians, a detachment of 120 horsemen of the Autro-Hungarian army pursues an unreachable enemy beyond its lines.

Ghosts

Imogene is young and pretty. Kiss like an actress and know absolutely each and every movie that has been filmed. The fact is that she is also dead and waiting for Alec Sheldon at the Rosebud Theater one afternoon in 1945

The color that fell from space

The story is told in the first person by an engineer in charge of making a study to build a reservoir in a remote place called Arkham. There he finds an area of ​​land called "cursed wasteland" that is different from all and that causes him unpleasant sensations.

The Golem

The Golem collects an ancient legend related to the great Rabbi Loew of Prague (1512 - 1609) and with vigorous images evokes the mysteries of the Prague ghetto. The Golem is a clay figure animated by the Kabbalah, to defend the Jews, but easily escapes control and causes catastrophes.

Son of the beast

They are harsh, disturbing, strange, exaggerated and terrifying stories, in which Masterton's mastery of mixing the various ingredients in an explosive cocktail brimming with terror and black humor prevails.

The werewolf in Paris

Published in 1933 by the American writer Guy Endore, we find ourselves before the best narration of the myth of the werewolf, one of the great monsters that emerged from the ancestral thought and experience of the human being.

The yellow king

A generally good book with the most interesting stories, all of which have in common that they all speak of The Yellow King as a forbidden work that should not be read

Transylvania hotel

When young Madelaine de Montalia meets 1740 Paris sensation, the courteous Comte de Saint-Germain, they both know they have found true passion. Even the revelation that Saint-Germain is an immortal vampire won't get Madelaine to question her feelings.

Dunwich Horror

It is a short story written by HP Lovecraft in 1928 and published by Weird Tales in March 1929. It takes place in the fictional town of Dunwich, Massachusetts. It is considered one of the main works of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Here lives the horror

Mr. Anson makes us experience in a masterful way everything that happened to the unfortunate Lutz family during the short month they lived at 212 Ocean Avenue, forever creating a classic within the subgenre of haunted houses.

The mystery of

Ben Mears had entered the Marsten home twenty years ago on a childish gamble, and what he saw then still haunted his nightmares. Now, as a dedicated writer, after the death of his wife he has returned to Jerusalem's Lot, a sleepy and quiet town where nothing extraordinary ever happened.

The country of October

The country of October… where it is always getting late. The country where the hills are mist and the rivers mist; where noon passes quickly, where darkness and twilight linger, and midnight does not move.

The kingdom of the zombies

Due to a strange virus, the recently deceased wake up with an insatiable desire to eat the living. The epidemic is spreading throughout the world and rapidly reaching catastrophic proportions.

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Basil Hallward is an artist who is greatly impressed by the aesthetic beauty of a young man named Dorian Gray and begins to admire him. Basil paints a portrait of the young man. Chatting in Basil's garden, Dorian meets a friend of Basil's and begins to be captivated by Lord Henry's worldview. Exposing a new kind of hedonism.

Hell hole

It is considered by fans and specialists as one of the top works of "supernatural horror" literature (a genre that has given such prominent names as Hodgson, Machen and Lovecraft).

The rite

Donald Miller is a geologist who is torn between living in ignorance or discovering a secret that could drive him crazy.

The silence of the lambs

An FBI agent turns to Hannibal Lecter, a gifted psychiatrist convicted of his ruthless murders.

The vampire tapestry

A well-known and admired New England university professor is an impostor with only one goal: to mercilessly kill humans.

The dead man's suit

An eccentric and retired rocker lives isolated from the world in his mansion with his young girlfriend. His only remaining passion is collecting rarities, so he decides to bid on a ghost auction.

The fair of darkness

Two young people discover that, depending on how the carnival carrousel in their town turns, they can go forward or backward in time.

Threshold

A renowned writer wakes up mutilated at home without knowing who did it. A psychiatrist delves into the drama, uncovering a series of monstrous signs.

John Silence, Occult Investigator

John Silence is a detective and ghost hunter who faces the strangest creatures and the most paranormal events.

The witches tree

A gang of children gather in a tree house on Halloween night, where a mysterious character awaited them to tell them some of the secrets of the terrifying party.

Festive Spirit Ghost Tales

Compilation of some of the stories about ghosts and other paranormal events of the North American author.

Ghosts

The house of leaves

The house with seven roofs

The bloody countess

Suspect X's Devotion

Night of Souls - Mikel Santiago

Jonah's Guard

War of the Worlds

The zombie survival guide

Black woman

The Mummy novel

The doll

Cloostedd's Prophecy

The open door

The dark tower

Caleb Williams

Bloody books

The house and the brain

The walkers

Gothic morbid

At the end of the tunnel

The Baroque Killer

The train of the dead

The house at the end of the earth

The Amontillado barrel

The Fall of the House of Usher

Burn, witch, burn

The devil in the bottle

Lord of the Flies - William Golding

The trail of horror

Infectum