Fantasy and Horror: A Critical and Historical Guide

This is one of the 743 lists we use to generate our main The Greatest Books list.

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
1968 The Invisible Man H. G. Wells 1897 British English
1290 Lilith George MacDonald 1895 Scottish English
6196 The Moon In The Cloud Rosemary Harris 1968 British English
6407 The Pastel City M. John Harrison 1971 British English
1728 The Mouse And His Child Russell Hoban 1967 American English
7868 Archer's Goon Diana Wynne Jones 1984 British English
3437 The Summer Tree Guy Gavriel Kay 1984 Canadian English
66 The Metamorphosis Franz Kafka 1915 Czech German
5938 The Wandering Fire Guy Gavriel Kay 1986 Canadian English
675 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
1710 The Great God Pan Arthur Machen 1894 British English
4826 The Silver Stallion James Branch Cabell 1926 American English
2351 Invasion Of The Body Snatchers Jack Finney 1955 American English
4826 The Cream Of The Jest James Branch Cabell 1917 American English
2724 They Return At Evening H. Russell Wakefield 1928 British English
1156 Twice-Told Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne 1837 American English
8631 The Leiber Chronicles Fritz Leiber 1990 American English
3443 Falling Angel William Hjortsberg 1978 American English
4826 Vice Versa F. Anstey 1882 British English
4826 One Of Cleopatra's Nights Théophile Gautier 1838 French French
4826 Thirteen O'clock Stephen Vincent Benét 1937 American English
1334 Peter Schlemihl Adalbert von Chamisso 1814 German German
4826 The Brass Bottle F. Anstey 1900 British English
4826 A Haunted Man And The Ghost's Bargain Charles Dickens 1848 British English
6874 The Ice Is Coming Patricia Wrightson 1977 Australian English
6547 The Wind Eye Robert Westall 1973 British English
5216 The Children Of Green Knowe L. M. Boston 1954 British English
861 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
2943 Redwall Brian Jacques 1986 British English
4946 The Man Who Was Born Again Paull Busson 1921 Austrian German
46 One Thousand and One Nights Unknown 800 Multiple Arabic
767 A Glastonbury Romance John Cowper Powys 1932 British English
4946 Creeps By Night Dashiell Hammett 1931 American English
10095 Revelations Douglas Winter 1997 American English
9895 The Lost Jonathan Aycliffe 1996 British English
4946 Miss Hargreaves Frank Baker 1939 British English
6688 A Touch Of Chill Joan Aiken 1974 American English
6068 The Darkest Road Guy Gavriel Kay 1986 Canadian English
3844 Fourth Mansions R. A. Lafferty 1969 American English
4946 The Secret Mountain And Other Tales Kenneth Morris 1926 British English
4946 Thunder On The Left Christopher Morley 1925 American English
3507 Alone With The Horrors Ramsey Campbell 1993 British English
4632 Prime Evil Douglas Winter 1988 American English
4946 Black God's Shadow C. L. Moore 1934 American English
5826 The Grotesque Patrick McGrath 1989 British English
7117 Tales Of Neveryon Samuel R. Delany 1979 American English
2805 The Haunted Omnibus Alexander Laing 1937 American English
2855 The Ghost Pirates William Hope Hodgson 1909 British English
10665 The Story Of The Glittering Plain William Morris 2002 British English
4511 The Black Cauldron Lloyd Alexander 1965 American English
6550 A Castle Of Bone Penelope Farmer 1972 British English
6077 The Maker Of Universes Philip José Farmer 1965 American English
3583 Collected Poems H. P. Lovecraft 1963 American English
1822 Stuart Little E. B. White 1945 American English
8060 Coming And Going Men Paul Fleischman 1985 American English
1973 Great Tales Of Terror And The Supernatural Herbert A. Wise 1944 American English
512 The Golden Ass Apuleius 158 Roman Latin
726 Erewhon Samuel Butler 1872 British English
2525 The Weirdstone Of Brisingamen Alan Garner 1960 British English
5765 The Serpent Jane Gaskell 1963 British English
3249 The Book Of Three Lloyd Alexander 1964 American English
3367 The Green Child Herbert Read 1935 British English
6210 The City Jane Gaskell 1967 British English
6945 Some Summer Lands Jane Gaskell 1977 British English
5153 The Blue Star Fletcher Pratt 1952 American English
4946 Unclay T. F. Powys 1931 British English
7763 The Red Magician Lisa Goldstein 1982 American English
4169 Replay Ken Grimwood 1986 American English
715 The Sketch Book Of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. Washington Irving 1819 American English
8894 Spells Of Enchantment Jack Zipes 1991 American English
8582 Beauties, Beasts And Enchantment Jack Zipes 1989 American English
4946 Figures Of Earth James Branch Cabell 1921 American English
4946 The High Place James Branch Cabell 1923 American English
8582 Blood Is Not Enough Ellen Datlow 1989 American English
2739 The Little White Horse Elizabeth Goudge 1946 British English
8316 The Architecture Of Fear Kathryn Cramer 1987 American English
1403 The Last Bouquet Marjorie Bowen 1933 British English
2855 The Haunters And The Haunted Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1859 British English
7951 Magical Realist Fiction David Young 1984 Unknown Unknown
5221 Whispers Stuart David Schiff 1977 American English
3397 Nine Princes In Amber Roger Zelazny 1970 American English
4946 A Fallen Idol F. Anstey 1886 British English
6690 Seventh Son Orson Scott Card, Patrick Couton 1987 American English
2855 The Sorcerer's Apprentice Hanns Heinz Ewers 1910 German German
7545 Lord Valentine's Castle Robert Silverberg 1980 American English
4946 Uncanny Stories May Sinclair 1923 British English
3402 All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By John Farris 1977 American English
6869 A String In The Harp Nancy Bond 1976 American English
3402 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
2855 Tales Of Wonder Matthew Lewis 1801 British English
4946 The Fiery Angel Valeri Briussof 1908 Russian Russian
4946 Supernatural Horror In Literature H. P. Lovecraft 1927 American English
5655 An Experiment In Criticism C. S. Lewis 1961 British English
6688 The House In Norham Gardens Penelope Lively 1974 British English
4946 The Centaur Algernon Blackwood 1911 British English
3264 The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything John D. MacDonald 1962 American English
4946 The Human Chord Algernon Blackwood 1910 British English
1690 Till We Have Faces C. S. Lewis 1956 British English
4946 The Venetian Glass Nephew Elinor Wylie 1925 American English
7648 Danse Macabre Stephen King 1981 American English
9084 Foundations Of Fear David Hartwell 1992 American English
5088 The Disappearance Philip Wylie 1951 American English
4946 A Crystal Age W. H. Hudson 1887 British English
1000 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
8717 Houses Without Doors Peter Straub 1990 American English
4946 Mr. Godly Beside Himself Gerald Bullett 1924 British English
4946 The Supermale Alfred Jarry 1902 French French
4946 These Mortals Margaret Irwin 1925 British English
5765 The Stealer Of Souls Michael Moorcock 1963 British English
756 The Adventures of Caleb Williams William Godwin 1794 British English
7117 Fantastic Worlds Eric S. Rabkin 1979 American English
5035 Chickamauga Ambrose Bierce 1889 American English
5035 Peter Ibbetson Daphne du Maurier 1891 British Unknown
810 Amadis of Gaul Garci R. de Montalvo 1508 Spanish Spanish
9151 Memories Of The Body Lisa Tuttle 1992 American English
7184 The Nightwalker Thomas Tessier 1979 American English
9327 Demons And Shadows Robert Westall 1993 British English
10773 Shades Of Darkness Robert Westall 1999 British English
5704 Hotel Transylvania Chelsa quinn yarbro 1978 American English
8031 Masques J. N. Williamson 1984 American English