Fantasy and Horror: A Critical and Historical Guide

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About this list

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
628 Titus Groan Mervyn Peake 1946 British English
525 Gormenghast Mervyn Peake 1950 British English
1950 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
546 Through the Looking Glass Lewis Carroll 1871 British English
398 The Shining Stephen King 1977 American English
313 Peter And Wendy J. M. Barrie 1911 Scottish English
337 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz L. Frank Baum 1900 American English
2128 The Worm Ouroboros E. R. Eddison 1922 British English
256 The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner James Hogg 1824 Scottish English
3372 Black Easter James Blish 1968 American English
712 A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court Mark Twain 1889 American English
1003 The Dark Is Rising Susan Cooper 1973 British English
345 The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole 1764 British English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
3426 The Stories of Ray Bradbury Ray Bradbury 1980 American English
6514 The Power That Preserves Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
215 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
2626 Our Lady Of Darkness Fritz Leiber 1977 American English
768 A Voyage To Arcturus David Lindsay 1920 Scottish English
2055 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
188 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
4396 The Revolt Of The Angels Anatole France 1914 French French
615 Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1904 British English
4396 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
894 She H. Rider Haggard 1887 British English
6558 The Illearth War Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
2978 The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice 1985 American English
3825 Lord Foul's Bane Stephen R. Donaldson 1977 American English
660 Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice 1976 American English
6558 Silver On The Tree Susan Cooper 1977 British English
2466 The Grey King Susan Cooper 1975 British English
6306 Greenwitch Susan Cooper 1974 British English
88 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
5491 Over Sea, Under Stone Susan Cooper 1965 British English
8983 Haunted Joyce Carol Oates 1994 American English
8198 Collected Stories Of Richard Matheson Richard Matheson 1989 American English
3567 The Day After Judgement James Blish 1971 American English
4943 Songs Of A Dead Dreamer And Grimscribe Thomas Ligotti 1985 American English
7675 Dark Gods T. E. D. Klein 1985 American English
229 Watership Down Richard Adams 1972 British English
2183 Portrait Of Jennie Robert Nathan 1940 American English
2464 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2517 The Happy Prince And Other Tales Oscar Wilde 1888 British English
4451 The Circus Of Dr. Lao Charles G. Finney 1935 American English
1764 Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1220 Jurgen James Branch Cabell 1919 American English
1379 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
5220 The Howling Man Charles Beaumont 1960 American English
1407 The Exorcist William Peter Blatty 1971 American English
1279 Psycho Robert Bloch 1959 American English
9205 Burning Your Boats Angela Carter 1995 British English
6170 The John Collier Reader John Collier 1972 British English
579 The Outsider And Others H. P. Lovecraft 1939 American English
2509 Deathbird Stories Harlan Ellison 1975 American English
2136 The Night Land William Hope Hodgson 1912 British English
701 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
1413 Something About Eve James Branch Cabell 1927 American English
4555 The Haunted Woman David Lindsay 1922 British English
1147 The Werewolf Of Paris Guy Endore 1933 American English
4555 A House Of Pomegranates Oscar Wilde 1891 British English
3123 Mr. Weston's Good Wine T. F. Powys 1927 British English
276 The Stand Stephen King 1978 American English
4555 The Unfortunate Fursey Mervyn Wall 1946 Irish English
4555 Return Of Fursey Mervyn Wall 1948 Irish English
1755 Books of Blood Clive Barker 1984 British English
4555 The Twilight Of The Gods Richard Garnett 1888 British English
2947 The Dark Country Dennis Etchison 1981 American English
50 Lord of the Flies William Golding 1954 British English
578 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
8144 The Devil's Arithmetic Jane Yolen 1988 American English
4097 Selected Poems Of Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith 1971 American English
376 Melmoth the Wanderer Charles Robert Maturin 1820 British English
1830 The Swords Of Lankhmar Fritz Leiber 1968 American English
6899 The Fantasy Tradition In American Literature Brian Attebery 1980 American English
522 The Phantom Tollbooth Norton Juster 1961 American English
8688 Strategies Of Fantasy Brian Attebery 1992 American English
2674 The Vampyre John William Polidori 1819 British English
7629 Fantasy And Mimesis Kathryn Hume 1984 American English
729 The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliffe 1794 British English
6899 The Wounded Land Stephen R. Donaldson 1980 American English
24 The Odyssey Homer -740 Greek Ancient greek
6991 Fantasy Rosemary Jackson 1981 British English
3148 Dark Forces Kirby McCauley 1980 American English
4141 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
6503 The Year's Best Fantasy And Horror Ellen Datlow 1988 American English
7972 Ash Wednesday Chet Williamson 1987 American English
1825 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
8039 The Urth Of The New Sun Gene Wolfe 1987 American English
2704 The Works Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
7051 Creep To Death Joseph Payne Brennan 1981 American English
8313 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
7581 Fairy Tales And The Act Of Subversion Jack Zipes 1983 American English
9137 From The Beast To The Blonde Marina Warner 1994 British English
7917 The Penguin Encyclopedia Of Horror And The Supernatural Jack Sullivan 1986 American English
7581 The Guide To Supernatural Fiction Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
7581 Supernatural Fiction Writers Everett F. Bleiler 1983 American English
9836 The Encyclopedia Of Fantasy John Clute 1997 British English
5595 Tree And Leaf J. R. R. Tolkien 1964 British English
6161 The Fantastic Tzvetan Todorov 1970 French French
6678 Night Visitors Julia Briggs 1977 British Unknown
8039 The Delights Of Terror Terry Heller 1987 American English
6782 Elegant Nightmares Jack Sullivan 1978 American English
6873 Victorian Fantasy Stephen Prickett 1979 British English
6601 The Game Of The Impossible W. R. Irwin 1976 American Unknown
6522 Modern Fantasy C. N. Manlove 1975 British English
5706 On Stories And Other Essays On Literature C. S. Lewis 1966 British English
8039 The Jaguar Hunter Lucius Shepard 1987 American English
8445 Seeing Red David J. Schow 1990 American English
8445 Best New Horror Ramsey Campbell 1990 British English