Deftly uses Egar Allen Poe as a young cadet. Not one, but TWO jaw-dropping finales. Masterfully written. Truly a keeper. The dust jacket on the hard back is much cooler than the cover of this paper back.

What a knock-out this book is! I had to finish it in two days. A heart-thumper and mind puzzler. I still think about the plot months later.

An old classic. This has the best opening paragrah of any horror novel.

Elegant in its romantic despair.

Very sexy fairy tales told in a perverse but beautiful way.

Tennesse Williams practically invented Southern Gothic and this is a fantastically bizarre and cruel movie that's true to the book. There's never been anything else like it. You almost feel sorry for Elizabeth Taylor... almost.

Mammoth selection of super natural tales. More imaginative and skillful than a lot of other anthologies of the same genre. Some consider the second edition, below, to be even better than the first.

A surprisingly effective rendition of James' Turn of the Screw that stays true to the book. Even if you didn't love the book - I found it too vague (yes, I know he meant it to be vague but COME ON) - The Innocents is creepy and convincing. Beautiful cinematography, especially in its black and white glory. Deborah Kerr is perfection.

Eberhart was a nurse in the 1930s and prolific mystery writer. This is her best book. It takes place in a setting she knew well... the graveyard shift of a small hospital in the suffocating, claustophobic heat of summer. A killer is on the loose within the confines of the building but what scares you even more is the hospital itself, like a haunted house with dying patients and morphine.

Crawford came before Lovecraft (who had nothing but praise for him), before M.R. James, before Arthur Machen. He only wrote eight ghost stories but each one is delicious in its straightforward terror. No filler or artifice here. 'The Dead Smile' is my favorite.

It's gothic, it's camp, it's a soap opera from the '70s! This series ran for years and is totally addictive. For months on end I had to watch at least 4 shows in a row before calling it a night. Blantantly ripping off everyone from Bronte and Shelley on up yet with its own unique spin complete with avocado green fashions, the cast is like the family you never had. This is the first dvd set.

A depression-era travelling circus & a possessed priest do battle leading to possible armageddon in this addictive and as yet unresolved Showtime mini-series. Season 2 is just as awesome as season 1. If David Lynch did Stephen King's The Stand, this is what you'd get.

I've read at least a dozen ghost story anthologies and this is the best, in my mind. Not just the victorian stuff, it's a good sampling of more modern writers as well, who tended to think outside traditional settings and conflicts. Each story was chosen for its impact. Elizabeth Bowen's are among my favorites. The editor did a great job.

Post-mod gothic. This is David Lynch's dream/nightmare masterpiece. Plot can be summarized as follows: "What the Smurf is going on?!?!"

Edogawa Rampo (phonetic Japanese for Edgar Allen Poe!) had some interesting ideas. For example, how about a deranged man who secretly fashions himself into an armchair... that women sit in...

Really memorable "macabres" from the likes of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, Patricia Highsmith, Flannery O'Conner, etc. I particularly liked Joyce Carol Oates's satirical take on the classic Victorian Gothic "penny dreadful", called The Virgin in the Rose-Bower. I found this surprising because I've never liked anything written by Oates before. I won't be letting this book go.

For women who have dark circles under their eyes from re-reading Jane Eyre/Rebecca/Wuthering Heights over and over again, try this book. It's fast paced, greatly described and the arrogant hero/villian (who has a wee bit of an opium addiction) is truly a force to reckon with.