Each year, our social media feeds are filled with news of the latest books in horror, true crime, and paranormal.
So many chilling new books come out each year—and our TBRs are often stacked with delectable spooky books by the latest emerging authors. We truly are in a golden age of horror fiction.
But sometimes we're in the mood for something older—books that have stood the test of time.
These are the classics that are the most disturbing. They’re strange and unnerving in uncanny ways—often calling us back to something old and ancient and unsettling.
Every month, we’re bringing you a selection of free ebooks to read that are perfect for lovers of all things spooky, mysterious, gruesome, strange, and macabre.
Rope
Convinced they have committed the perfect murder, university students Wyndham Brandon and Charles Granillo host a dinner party for the victim’s friends and family, with the corpse hidden inside a wooden chest serving as their table.
As their guests gather, the tension mounts and the pair’s confidence begins to unravel. Inspired by a true crime, Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 play explores the psychology of murder and the dangerous arrogance of those who believe they can get away with it.
The acclaimed thriller was later adapted by Alfred Hitchcock into a film starring Jimmy Stewart.
The Great Keinplatz Experiment
Step into the supernatural with this chilling collection from Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle. From haunted apparitions and mysterious séances to out-of-body experiments and a botched execution, these stories explore the strange and unexplained.
Drawing on Doyle’s fascination with spiritualism, the collection offers eerie mysteries filled with suspense, the macabre, and otherworldly encounters.
The Monk
Widely considered the first Gothic novel, The Monk follows Ambrosio, a revered monk whose reputation for virtue begins to unravel after the arrival of the mysterious Matilda. As temptation takes hold, Ambrosio is drawn into a dark world of desire, deception, and supernatural horror.
Matthew Gregory Lewis’s sensational tale explores the dangerous consequences of unchecked ambition and forbidden desire.
Inspector French and the Starvel Hollow Tragedy
When a deadly fire destroys a country house and claims three lives, Scotland Yard Inspector Joseph French is called in to investigate. The case takes a sinister turn when the supposedly burned cash begins turning up in circulation.
As French uncovers a web of deceit surrounding the victims, he must solve a mystery involving arson, murder, and a missing body.
