Fantasy and Horror: A Critical and Historical Guide

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Book, 722 Books

Fantasy and Horror: A Critical and Historical Guide to Literature, Illustration, Film, TV, Radio, and the Internet, edited by Richard Neil Barron, is an exceptionally comprehensive and well-researched exploration of the history of fantasy and horror literature. Barron, a renowned science fiction bibliographer and scholar, has curated a nearly 800-page volume featuring contributions from numerous experts and academics in the field. This book delves deeply into the evolution of both genres, offering rich discussions and insights into their development and key works.

The book's unique ranking system categorizes notable works of fantasy and horror literature using a variety of labels. These labels serve to highlight different aspects of each book's significance:

** (The Best of the Best)
* (The Best)
F (Best Fantasy)
H (Best Horror)
MF (Modern Fantasy)
EB (Selected by Everett F. Bleiler)
DH (Selected by David Hartwell)
FR (Selected by Franz Rottensteiner)
L1 (Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults)
L2 (Higher Ranked Fantasy Literature for Children and Young Adults)
To create a more organized understanding of the books listed, I assigned points based on these labels and devised a smart ranking system, giving each book a score according to its accumulated points. This method allowed for a clearer hierarchy, showcasing the most significant works in the genres.

I highly recommend this guide to anyone interested in a meticulously organized summary of fantasy and horror literature. It is an essential resource for those who wish to explore the depth of these genres and their history in greater detail.

How many contributors are there?
Counting the chapter authors and the three guest critics, you’re looking at roughly two-dozen named specialists. There’s no statement like “X hundred voters” anywhere, because the book never positioned itself as a popularity poll – it’s closer to an annotated canon chosen by experts

This list was originally published in 1999 and was added to this site over 1 year ago.

View: List Grid Table
Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
17 The Lord Of The Rings J. R. R. Tolkien 1959 English English
629 Titus Groan Mervyn Peake 1946 British English
525 Gormenghast Mervyn Peake 1950 British English
1953 Titus Alone Mervyn Peake 1959 British English
216 A Christmas Carol Charles Dickens 1843 British English
146 The Hobbit J. R. R. Tolkien 1937 British English
35 Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Lewis Carroll 1865 British English
547 Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll 1871 British English
400 The Shining Stephen King 1977 American English
303 Peter And Wendy J. M. Barrie 1911 Scottish English
340 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900 American English
2138 The Worm Ouroboros E. R. Eddison 1922 British English
258 The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner James Hogg 1824 Scottish English
3378 Black Easter James Blish 1968 American English
712 A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court Mark Twain 1889 American English
1005 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
346 The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole 1764 British English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
3431 The Stories of Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury 1980 American English
6527 The Power That Preserves Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
215 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
2630 Our Lady Of Darkness Fritz Leiber 1977 American English
769 A Voyage To Arcturus David Lindsay 1920 Scottish English
2060 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
189 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
4401 The Revolt Of The Angels Anatole France 1914 French French
615 Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1904 British English
4401 The Sword Of Welleran Lord Dunsany 1908 Irish English
34 The Master and Margarita Mikhail Bulgakov 1967 Russian Russian
53 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
896 She H. Rider Haggard 1887 British English
6571 The Illearth War Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
2985 The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice 1985 American English
3830 Lord Foul's Bane Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
661 Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice 1976 American English
6571 Silver On The Tree Susan Cooper 1977 British English
2471 The Grey King Susan Cooper 1975 British English
6317 Greenwitch Susan Cooper 1974 British English
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
5500 Over Sea, Under Stone Susan Cooper 1965 British English
8999 Haunted Joyce Carol Oates 1994 American English
8214 Collected Stories Of Richard Matheson Richard Matheson 1989 American English
3571 The Day After Judgement James Blish 1971 American English
4953 Songs Of A Dead Dreamer And Grimscribe Thomas Ligotti 1985 American English
7691 Dark Gods T. E. D. Klein 1985 American English
224 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
2195 Portrait Of Jennie Robert Nathan 1940 American English
2469 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2522 The Happy Prince And Other Tales Oscar Wilde 1888 British English
4456 The Circus Of Dr. Lao Charles G. Finney 1935 American English
1768 Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1223 Jurgen James Branch Cabell 1919 American English
1380 The Sword in the Stone T. H. White 1938 British English
476 The Monk Matthew Lewis 1796 British English
871 Wieland Charles Brockden Brown 1798 American English
5229 The Howling Man Charles Beaumont 1960 American English
1398 The Exorcist William Peter Blatty 1971 American English
1279 Psycho Robert Bloch 1959 American English
9224 Burning Your Boats Angela Carter 1995 British English
6180 The John Collier Reader John Collier 1972 British English
579 The Outsider And Others H. P. Lovecraft 1939 American English
2514 Deathbird Stories Harlan Ellison 1975 American English
2146 The Night Land William Hope Hodgson 1912 British English
702 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
1414 Something About Eve James Branch Cabell 1927 American English
4561 The Haunted Woman David Lindsay 1922 British English
1148 The Werewolf Of Paris Guy Endore 1933 American English
4561 A House Of Pomegranates Oscar Wilde 1891 British English
3129 Mr. Weston's Good Wine T. F. Powys 1927 British English
274 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
4561 The Unfortunate Fursey Mervyn Wall 1946 Irish English
4561 Return Of Fursey Mervyn Wall 1948 Irish English
1757 Books of Blood Clive Barker 1984 British English
4561 The Twilight Of The Gods Richard Garnett 1888 British English
2955 The Dark Country Dennis Etchison 1981 American English
52 Lord of the Flies William Golding 1954 British English
578 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
8160 The Devil's Arithmetic Jane Yolen 1988 American English
4103 Selected Poems Of Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith 1971 American English
378 Melmoth the Wanderer Charles Robert Maturin 1820 British English
1831 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
6910 The Fantasy Tradition In American Literature Brian Attebery 1980 American English
522 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 1961 American English
8706 Strategies Of Fantasy Brian Attebery 1992 American English
2678 The Vampyre John William Polidori 1819 British English
7645 Fantasy And Mimesis Kathryn Hume 1984 American English
731 The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliffe 1794 British English
6910 The Wounded Land Stephen R. Donaldson 1980 American English
24 The Odyssey Homer -740 Greek Ancient greek
7002 Fantasy Rosemary Jackson 1981 British English
3153 Dark Forces Kirby McCauley 1980 American English
4147 The Dark Descent David Hartwell 1987 American English
590 Northanger Abbey Jane Austen 1817 British English
65 Gulliver's Travels Jonathan Swift 1726 British English
6515 The Year's Best Fantasy And Horror Ellen Datlow 1988 American English
7987 Ash Wednesday Chet Williamson 1987 American English
1826 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
8054 The Urth Of The New Sun Gene Wolfe 1987 American English
2707 The Works Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
7064 Creep To Death Joseph Payne Brennan 1981 American English
8329 Contemporary Science Fiction, Fantasy, And Horror Poetry Scott E. Green 1989 American English
98 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
7597 Fairy Tales And The Act Of Subversion Jack Zipes 1983 American English
9157 From The Beast To The Blonde Marina Warner 1994 British English
7933 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
7597 The Guide To Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7597 Supernatural Fiction Writers Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
9853 The Encyclopedia Of Fantasy John Clute 1997 British English
5604 Tree And Leaf J. R. R. Tolkien 1964 British English
6171 The Fantastic Tzvetan Todorov 1970 French French
6692 Night Visitors Julia Briggs 1977 British Unknown
8054 The Delights Of Terror Terry Heller 1987 American English
6794 Elegant Nightmares Jack Sullivan 1978 American English
6884 Victorian Fantasy Stephen Prickett 1979 British English
6615 The Game Of The Impossible W. R. Irwin 1976 American Unknown
6535 Modern Fantasy C. N. Manlove 1975 British English
5716 On Stories And Other Essays On Literature C. S. Lewis 1966 British English
8054 The Jaguar Hunter Lucius Shepard 1987 American English
8464 Seeing Red David J. Schow 1990 American English
8464 Best New Horror Ramsey Campbell 1990 British English