If you’re looking for a scary story, it’s the season for horror and so today we’re making some suggestions that definitely WON’T break the bank. When books are over a certain age, they are out of copyright and thanks to Project Gutenberg, you can read these books for free online.
So today, rather than concentrate on new releases, we’re bringing you ten classic horrors you can read, completely free, thanks to the project with a link at the bottom to even more suggestions too.
The Damned – Algernon Blackwood
First released in 1914, The Damned was shocking for its day, and it’s descriptions of death and dismemberment make it graphic even by today’s standards. Thanks to a group of Project Gutenberg volunteers, you can now read it for free and it’s short enough to make the perfect Halloween read.
The Turn of the Screw – Henry James
Season 2, and the next tale from The Haunting of Hill House adaptation is said to be concentrating on this James classic, and this is likely to thrust this book back into popularity. Read it now for free on your Kindle thanks to Project Gutenberg.
The Shunned House – H. P Lovecraft
The Shunned House is the 1937 Novelette by the American author H. P. Lovecraft. It was first published in Weird Tales. The Shunned House is based on an actual house in Providence, Rhode Island, build in the eighteenth century. Lovecraft wrote, “On the northeast corner of Bridge Street and Elizabeth Avenue is a terrible old house—a hellish place where night-black deeds must have been done in the early seventeen-hundreds—with a blackish unpainted surface, unnaturally steep roof, and an outside flight of stairs leading to the second story, suffocatingly embowered in a tangle of ivy so dense that one cannot but imagine it accursed or corpse-fed. Download it for free now.
Widdershins – Oliver Onions
This collection of spooky and downright weird tales are sure to satisfy you during the spooky season. Worth it for The Beckoning One, the longest novela in this collection, brought to you for free by Project Gutenberg.
The Raven – Edgar Allen Poe
We simply could not have compiled this list without including Poe, and you’ll be pleased to know, all his works are free thanks to Project Gutenberg.
The Vampyre – John William Polidori
The Vampyre is a short work of prose fiction written in 1819 by John William Polidori. The work is often viewed as the progenitor of the romantic vampire genre of fantasy fiction, kinda like the Twilight of its day, and free thanks to the Project Gutenberg team.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Given the various adaptations, and retellings, this is possibly one of the best known horror novellas of all time, and thanks to Project Gutenberg you can read the original text for free.
Dracula – Bram Stoker
The book that spawned an entire genre, many similar novels, and more adaptations than you can count. Have you ever read the original text, though? Because it’s free on Project Gutenberg.
And if you don’t fancy any of those, you can access the full list here at Project Gutenberg.
We hope you find some good suggestions there and we’ll be back with more recommendations lists soon. If you want to ensure you never miss any of these, subscribe now.
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