by Edgar Poe
First published 2017
Victor Frankenstein assembles his creature from corpses in his laboratory, unleashing consequences that will haunt him forever. Dr. Jekyll swallows his experimental potion and transforms into the brutal Mr. Hyde, splitting his soul between good and evil. Dorian Gray gazes at his portrait and makes a devil's bargain for eternal youth while his painted image bears the marks of his sins. Count Dracula arrives in London from Transylvania, bringing ancient vampire hunger to Victorian England. The narrator visits Roderick Usher in his decaying mansion as both house and family face their final collapse. These five tales from Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson, Oscar Wilde, and Bram Stoker capture the fears that defined 19th century horror. Each story explores what happens when science, desire, or curiosity pushes beyond safe boundaries. The collection examines how evil emerges from within ordinary people and how the past refuses to stay buried.
Genres: classic-literature, horror, 19th-century, gothic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: dark-bargain, monsters, split-personality
Setting: Transylvania, London, Usher Mansion
Period: 19th Century
532 pages · Paperback · Independently published
Content warnings: body-horror, death, violence