unthinkable violence.
1959
Arguably the finest ghost novel of the century. Hill House has a reputation for being plagued by spirits and has changed very little since the 1880s. A psychic researcher invites a group of people to stay in the property to test his theories about the manifestations. Messages smeared in blood, bumps in the night and horrifying phenomena crowd one upon another until a finger of suspicion begins to point at one of the guests.
1960
Jonathan Rebeck lives in a tomb in the Bronx where he has learned to see and talk to ghosts. Some of his most interesting conversations are with Michael Morgan, who claims his wife murdered him, and a beautiful young woman named Laura. When the beguiling widow, Mrs Klapper, induces Jonathan to leave the cemetery, he has to first find time for a little matchmaking between his ethereal friends.
1969
Maurice Allingham, the owner of a medieval coaching inn, finds his life of debauchery and drinking suddenly affected by the malevolent reappearance of the ghost of Dr Thomas Underbill, a notorious 17th-century practitioner of black magic. Driven by curiosity and a desire to save his own sanity, Allingham has to uncover the secret to the doctor’s evil purpose.
1973
The Rolfe family from New York are hoping for a happy summer in a beautiful, secluded country mansion with a pool and private beach on Long Island. But it does not take the four people long to realize that the place is haunted by terror and they are plunged into a nightmare from which there seems to be no escape.
1975
Julia Lufting is still mourning the death of her only child and hoping against hope that the future will bring her better luck. Then her nights begin to be haunted by the ghost of a child. Not her own lost infant, apparently, but a quite terrifying little girl, and Julia finds herself driven to discover the unspeakable way in which the youngster died.
1977
To all intents and purposes Gerrard’s Hill Cottage, deep in the English countryside surrounded by meadows, trees and rose bushes, is an idyllic spot, promising rest and relaxation to anyone who visits. Instead, just beneath the surface, a malevolent female spirit is at large weaving an aura of murder, madness and betrayal around those who cross the threshold.
1977
Snowbound Overlook Hotel is intended to be a home-away-from home for writer Jack Torrance, his wife Wendy and their son Danny, when Jack accepts the post of janitor for the winter. But their stay turns to madness when ghosts of the past start to come to life and those gifted with the “shining” have to do battle with the darkest evils.
1978
It seems like such a good idea for Walter and Colquitt Kennedy to buy the piece of land adjoining their house and build their “dream home” on it. But once work begins, mishaps start to occur with wildlife being killed, pets going missing and strange sights in the neighbourhood. The couple’s conviction they may have created a “haunted house” moves rapidly from suspicion to terrifying reality.
1979
There is a secret never mentioned when the five life-long friends in Milburn, NY meet each week as “The Chowder Society” to swap ghost stories. The mystery concerns Eva, a young girl the group accidentally killed in a car and dumped in the local lake when they were teenagers. Now a shape-shifting ghost has begun to haunt all their dreams and kill them one by one unless drastic action is taken.
1982
Arthur Kipps is a junior solicitor in Victorian England who attends the funeral of a client and during the service glimpses a mysterious woman in black. Later in the day, he sees the figure again and also hears the terrifying sounds of an adult and child sinking into a quicksand. To resolve the mystery he has to remain overnight in ancient Eel Marsh House and face the greatest horror of all.
1988
Ghost hunter David Ash is invited to investigate the hauntings taking place in an old house called Edbrook. Three nights the young man spends in the gloomy property with maleficent and blood-chilling events occurring one after another. On the third night, David has to face the enigma of his own past before the secret of Edbrook itself is revealed.
1991
Sir James Monmouth is obsessed with the life and career of a mysterious traveller named Conrad Vane whose ghost has been seen about London. Monmouth’s research establishes that Vane was a man of evil deeds involving terrible cruelty to children. Now his curse threatens the lives of all those who become drawn to his legend.
1993
Following two unexplained deaths on sleepy Nantucket Island, a number of ghostly disturbances have started to upset the residents and visitors. Timothy Brooks, a detective assigned to investigate the killings, begins to suspect the ghost may be that of a stage actor killed in the 1920s and the deaths are in some way connected to him. It takes a mixture of sleuthing and “ghost-busting” to solve the mystery.
1994
A second enquiry for ghost hunter David Ash takes him to the quiet and peaceful village of Sleath in the Chiltern Hills. This calm has been disturbed by reports of ghost sightings and some frighteningly bizarre events. Once again Ash has to confront secrets from his own past on a night of horror when awesome and malignant forces are unleashed on the helpless community.
1994
The ghost town of Revant is where spirits congregate: the mother who talks to her dead children, the father with an image of his son before a fatal accident and a girl mourning her phantom aborted baby. But there is also a presence in Revenant, ancient, powerful and hungry waiting to feed on the souls in torment and free more terrifying spirits into the darkness.
1996
A man who is sober after years of alcohol abuse undergoes a mid-life crisis while staying in a haunted hotel. There he encounters several ghosts: a violent drunken man, an unpleasant small boy and an adolescent girl with a split personality. However, when he becomes engrossed in the details of the girl’s former life he is unaware that he is also endangering his own life and that of his family.
1996
Amy is an unhappy teenager whose mother died when she was a child and now lives with her controlling father in newly renovated Nazareth Hill. When she begins to see and hear strange sights and sounds, Amy realizes
