Gothic Literature
This gothic novel was inspired by a ghost story contest at Lake Geneva between Mary Shelley, her husband Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori.
Frankenstein
A controversial moment between children was not included in either the first movie adaptation of this novel or its sequel.
It by Stephen King
A tale of children abandoned by their parents; these kids begin to eat a giant gingerbread house in the woods and are then enslaved by the witch who lives in the house, who plans to eat them both.
Hansel and Gretel by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm
A Transylvanian nobleman who wants to purchase a house in London and is aided by an English lawyer, before the horrific truth about what he’s entered into is uncovered.
Count Dracula
The parsimonious Ebenezer Scrooge is visited by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come in A Christmas Carol, penned in 1843 by this Victorian author.
Charles Dickens
Mark your calendars! Saltburn director, Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of this gothic classic is set to hit theaters Valentines Day 2026. Also the name of a Kate Bush song.
Wuthering Heights
In Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 cult classic The Shining, Danny repeatedly writes or says this word that, when reversed in the film, is a warning.
REDRUM
“Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” chant the witches in this Shakespearean tragedy.
The Tragedy of Macbeth
A vengeful lover and a monstrous mother who is consumed by her anger and drowns her children, facilitating her curse to search for them eternally at night.
La Llorona or "The Weeping Woman"
Eleanor, Theodora, and Luke are three members of the Vance family in this 2018 Netflix original series loosely inspired by a Shirley Jackson novel of the same name.
The Haunting of Hill House
In Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, the eponymous picture is painted by this character.
Basil Hallward
Before his breakout role in Saturday Night Fever, John Travolta played one of the tormentors in this 1976 horror film adaptation.
Carrie
“One child a week is fifty-two a year. Squish them and squiggle them and make them disappear,” is a line the Grand High Witch speaks in this book.
The Witches by Roald Dahl
Cerberus, the “Hound of Hades,” guards this river in the underworld.
Sytx
The malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims’ parents after evading prison, he then goes on to murder his victims in their dreams.
Freddy Krueger
In this Edgar Allen Poe poem, the speaker recalls his deceased lover whom he lived with “In a kingdom by the sea."
"Annabel Lee"
An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s most famous novel, this 1922 horror film gained notoriety due to its blatant copyright infringement.
Nosferatu
In this 1977 film, an American ballet student enrolls in a German dance academy, discovering it’s merely a way to hide a cult of witches.
Suspiria
This monster has a vaguely anthropoid outline, with an octopus-like head, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, grotesque claws on its feet, and long wings on its back.
Cthulhu from “The Call of Cthulhu” by H.P. Lovecraft
Before being seen by his son, the ghost of King Hamlet first appears to these two sentries at Castle Elsinore.
Francisco and Bernardo
Before becoming icons of gothic literature, these three sisters published a book of poems under the pen names Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
The Brontë Sisters
Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation of this famous science fiction novel was so realistic that it led many to believe that a real life Martian invasion was occurring, resulting in widespread panic and media outrage.
The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
This real-life witch from Tennessee can speak, shapeshift, and be in multiple places at once, tormenting a family with loud knocking noises, gnawing sounds, and chains dragging across the floors.
The Bell Witch
This poem states, “Even a man who is pure in heart and says his prayers by night, may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright.”
The Wolf Man (1941).
The Washington Irving character characterized as a lanky, superstitious schoolteacher.
Ichabod Crane