The Greatest Fiction, Speculative Fiction, and Mystery Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 488 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
66 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
70 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
94 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
114 Bleak House Charles Dickens 1852 British English
115 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
116 The Talented Mr. Ripley Patricia Highsmith 1955 American English
134 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
218 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
293 Never Let Me Go Kazuo Ishiguro 2005 British, Japanese English
351 Our Mutual Friend Charles Dickens 1864 British English
368 The Silence of the Lambs Thomas Harris 1988 American English
377 The Moonstone Wilkie Collins 1868 British English
467 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea Jules Verne 1870 French French
494 The Crying of Lot 49 Thomas Pynchon 1966 American English
515 The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole 1764 British English
516 Lud-in-the-Mist Hope Mirrlees 1926 British English
539 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
558 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
609 At the Mountains of Madness H. P. Lovecraft 1936 American English
643 The Manuscript Found in Saragossa Jan Potocki 1805 Polish French
646 The Adventures of Caleb Williams William Godwin 1794 British English
655 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
672 The Man Who Was Thursday G. K. Chesterton 1908 British English
692 Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1904 British English
728 Conjure Wife Fritz Leiber 1943 American English
730 2001 Arthur C. Clarke 1968 British English
779 The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliffe 1794 British English
831 The Phantom of the Opera Gaston Leroux 1909 French French
844 Journey to the Center of the Earth Jules Verne 1864 French French
896 Misery Stephen King 1987 American English
916 Fantômas Marcel Allain, Pierre Souvestre 1911 French French
986 The Killer Inside Me Jim Thompson 1952 American English
1053 The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym Edgar Allan Poe 1838 American English
1096 Darker Than You Think Jack Williamson 1948 American English
1139 Time and Again Jack Finney 1970 American English
1156 Hawksmoor Peter Ackroyd 1985 British English
1209 The 13 Clocks James Thurber 1950 American English
1228 The King In Yellow Robert W. Chambers 1895 American English
1252 The Book of the New Sun Gene Wolfe 1980 American English
1262 Peace Gene Wolfe 1975 American English
1324 Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets J. K. Rowling 1998 British English
1329 Red Dragon Thomas Harris 1981 American English
1335 In a Glass Darkly Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1350 The House Of Souls Arthur Machen 1906 British English
1351 The Horror Horn And Other Stories E. F. Benson 1931 British English
1360 The Caves Of Steel Isaac Asimov 1954 American English
1370 The Wandering Jew Eugène Sue 1844 French French
1412 The Last Bouquet Marjorie Bowen 1933 British English
1478 And The Darkness Falls Boris Karloff 1943 British English
1511 The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter Unknown 900 Japanese Japanese
1532 The Dying Earth Jack Vance 1950 American English
1548 House of Leaves Mark Z. Danielewski 2000 American English
1587 The Sleeping And The Dead August Derleth 1947 American English
1660 The Complete John Silence Stories Algernon Blackwood 1908 British English
1777 Medusa E. H. Visiak 1929 British English
1781 The Jewel Of Seven Stars Bram Stoker 1903 British English
1781 The Cadaver Of Gideon Wyck Alexander Laing 1934 American English
1781 The Second Century Of Creepy Stories Hugh Walpole 1937 British English
1799 The Land Of Laughs Jonathan Carroll 1980 American English
1861 The Unpleasant Profession Of Jonathan Hoag Robert A. Heinlein 1942 American English
1873 Witch World Andre Norton 1963 American English
1924 Night Has A Thousand Eyes George Hopley 1945 American English
1925 The Lurker At The Threshold August Derleth, H. P. Lovecraft 1945 American English
1953 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
1982 Our Lady Of Darkness Fritz Leiber 1977 American English
2043 The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward H. P. Lovecraft 1941 American English
2071 The Track Of The Cat Walter Van Tilburg Clark 1949 American English
2074 Wieland Charles Brockden Brown 1798 American English
2255 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
2319 The Sinful Ones Fritz Leiber 1953 American English
2455 The Werewolf Aksel Sandemose 1958 Norwegian Norwegian
2545 Nine Horrors And A Dream Joseph Payne Brennan 1958 American English
2586 Mistborn Brandon Sanderson 2006 American English
2623 The Ice People René Barjavel 1968 French French
2679 Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Douglas Adams 1987 British English
2709 The Girl, The Gold Watch And Everything John D. MacDonald 1962 American English
2725 Ringworld Larry Niven 1970 American English
2736 Flicker Theodore Roszak 1991 American English
2758 The Lurking Fear And Other Stories H. P. Lovecraft 1923 American English
2774 Sub Rosa Robert Aickman 1968 British English
2807 Finn Family Moomintroll Tove Jansson 1948 Finnish Swedish
2812 The Back Room Carmen Martín Gaite 1978 Spanish Spanish
2824 A Series of Unfortunate Events #1 Lemony Snicket 1999 American English
2904 The Call Of Cthulhu H. P. Lovecraft 1928 American English
3000 The Keep F. Paul Wilson 1981 American English
3019 The Name Of The Wind Patrick Rothfuss 2007 American English
3097 The Yiddish Policemen's Union Michael Chabon 2007 American English
3118 Hyperion Dan Simmons 1989 American English
3140 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
3144 The Great God Pan Arthur Machen 1894 British English
3166 Worse Things Waiting Manly Wade Wellman 1973 American English
3223 House Of Flesh Bruno Fischer 1950 American English
3235 The Compleat Werewolf And Other Stories Of Fantasy And Science Fiction Anthony Boucher 1969 American English
3277 The Subtle Knife Philip Pullman 1997 British English
3284 Tales Of A Traveller Washington Irving 1824 American English
3297 Song Of Kali Dan Simmons 1985 American English
3334 The Ceremonies T. E. D. Klein 1984 American English
3357 The Arabian Nightmare Robert Irwin 1983 British English
3360 The Woman In Black Susan Hill 1983 British English
3370 Neverwhere Neil Gaiman 1996 British English
3391 Rendezvous with Rama Arthur C. Clarke 1973 British English
3493 New Islands And Other Stories María Luisa Bombal 1939 Chilean Spanish
3551 Who Made Stevie Crye? Michael Bishop 1984 American English
3631 Inherit The Stars James P. Hogan 1977 American English
3640 The Boarded Window Ambrose Bierce 1891 American English
3708 11 22 63 Stephen King 2011 American English
3728 Lilith George MacDonald 1895 Scottish English
3836 Nightshade Derek Marlowe 1968 British English
3859 Boy's Life Robert R. McCammon 1991 American English
3857 All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By John Farris 1977 American English
3857 In A Lonely Place Karl Edward Wagner 1977 American English
3868 Coraline Neil Gaiman 2002 British English
3877 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
3917 Murgunstrumm And Others Hugh B. Cave 1977 American English
3917 Sweetheart, Sweetheart Bernard Taylor 1977 British English
3916 Fata Morgana William Kotzwinkle 1977 American English
3955 Falling Angel William Hjortsberg 1978 American English
3985 Six Of Crows Leigh Bardugo 2015 American English
4072 The Way of Kings Brandon Sanderson 2010 American English
4101 The Totem David Morrell 1979 American English