The Red Room

An American family buys a haunted English castle and refuses to be scared, leaving its centuries-old ghost humiliated and desperate. Funny and spooky at once, the perfect first horror read. This edition includes the original illustrations.

Oscar Wilde

Schoolteacher Ichabod Crane rides home through a haunted valley and meets the Headless Horseman. A legendary ghost story with more atmosphere than gore, ideal for a first scare.

Washington Irving

A cursed paw grants three wishes, and a quiet family learns the hard way to be careful what they ask for. One of the most famous short horror stories ever written, read in a single sitting.

W. W. Jacobs

A narrator insists he is not mad while he describes, step by step, the murder he committed and the heartbeat that gives him away. Poe's most famous tale, short, tense and unforgettable.

Edgar Allan Poe

A prince locks himself and his guests inside an abbey to escape a deadly plague, until a masked stranger joins the party. A short, vivid tale told through rooms of color and a ticking clock.

Edgar Allan Poe