As most people know, I am a sucker for all things British! My childhood (and current) crush was the dashing Michael Praed, one of my favorite current shows is Doctor Who, and I adore Absolutely Fabulous! So it only stands to reason that I would also have a passion for British Horror Novels. This is the list of my top 5 British Horror novels.
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Jonathan Harker, incarcerated in a Transylvanian castle, has an alluring but terrifying dream of three women, eager to prey upon him. His host and jailer is none other than Count Dracula, or Nosferatu, the Un-Dead, controller of the wolves.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
At once a Gothic thriller, a passionate romance, and a cautionary tale about the dangers of science, Frankenstein tells the story of committed science student Victor Frankenstein. Obsessed with discovering the cause of generation and life and bestowing animation upon lifeless matter, Frankenstein assembles a human being from stolen body parts but; upon bringing it to life, he recoils in horror at the creature's hideousness. Tormented by isolation and loneliness, the once-innocent creature turns to evil and unleashes a campaign of murderous revenge against his creator, Frankenstein.
Frankenstein, an instant bestseller and an important ancestor of both the horror and science fiction genres, not only tells a terrifying story, but also raises profound, disturbing questions about the very nature of life and the place of humankind within the cosmos: What does it mean to be human? What responsibilities do we have to each other? How far can we go in tampering with Nature? In our age, filled with news of organ donation genetic engineering, and bio-terrorism, these questions are more relevant than ever.
The Ghosts by Antonia Barber
When Lucy sat in the attic, she thought she heard the sound of voices calling...
That's when she started to believe the rumors in the village that the old house was haunted. But no ghosts appeared - until the day Lucy and her brother Jamie stood in the garden and watched two pale figures, a girl and a boy, coming toward them.
That was the beginning of a strange and dangerous friendship between Lucy and Jamie and two children who had died a century before.
The ghost children desperately needed their help. But would Lucy and Jamie have the courage to venture into the past - and change the terrible events that had led to murder?
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells
One of H.G. Wells’ most visionary tales, The Island of Dr. Moreau relates the disturbing tale of Prendick, a shipwrecked naturalist who unwittingly discovers a horrific scientific and social experiment that is creating a blurred race of hideous creatures, half-human and half-best. Terrifying and spellbinding, Wells’ masterpiece warns of the catastrophe that could result when man recklessly tampers with nature. Eric Vincent’s artwork vividly summons up the nightmarish life in Dr. Moreau’s tortured world.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
This intriguing combination of fantasy thriller and moral allegory depicts the gripping struggle of two opposing personalities — one essentially good, the other evil — for the soul of one man. Its tingling suspense and intelligent and sensitive portrayal of man's dual nature reveal Stevenson as a novelist of great skill and originality, whose power to terrify and move us remains, over a century later, undiminished.
So those are my favorite British Horror books. Do you have a favorite?
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