It's the Annual Halloween Horde of Horrors!

To change things up a bit, this year's installment of things horrific features eighteenth- and early-nineteenth century literature (to about 1835 or so).  More verse (and longer texts in general) on the table than usual.   

• The Black Forest; Or the Cavern of Horrors: A Gothic Romance.  A "German" tale (well, maybe--that was the marketing angle) in which a man finds himself taking up the sword of vengeance (literally) from...well, somebody buried in this mysterious cave.  
• Gottfried Burger, "Lenore" (Thomas Taylor's translation | Walter Scott's translation).  Foundational Gothic text, especially when it comes to the "please check to make sure your would-be bride/bridegroom is actually alive" trope.  Once you've read this poem, you'll find echoes of it everywhere.
• Robert Burns, "Tam o' Shanter."  The dangers of riding home after having one too many...
• S. T. Coleridge, "Christabel."  An early example of the female vampire.  
• Daniel Defoe, "A Relation of the Apparition of Mrs. Veal."  A woman manages to pay a visit despite being, you know, deceased.  
• Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown."  Puritan goes for ride, has unpleasant experience.  
• E. T. W. Hoffman, "The Sand-Man."  Nightmarish creatures, automata, madness, etc.  
• Washington Irving, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."  The one with the headless horseman.  
• M. G. Lewis, The Castle Spectre.  Villains! Innocent heroine! Revenge! Murder! Oh, and a ghost.  Successful drama by the man better known as author of The Monk. 
• ---, "Albert of Werdendorff, or the Midnight Embrace."  (You'll need to turn to p. 35.)  "Lenore," basically, except here it's the dead woman who comes back for the man.  Lots more weird stuff in this volume, so do read on.
• Richard Brinsley Peake, Presumption; Or, the Fate of Frankenstein.   Early (and, shall we say, loose) adaptation of, well, Frankenstein, featuring more singing than perhaps one might expect from the novel in question.  
• John Polidori, The Vampyre.  One of the first successful vampire tales in English.  Bears considerable responsibility for the sexy vampire phenomenon.
• Alexander Pushkin, "The Queen of Spades."  Would-be gambler gets advice...unfortunately for him.
• Leitch Ritchie, "The Man-Wolf."  Gentleman discovers that he has some unseemly issues.  
• Walter Scott, "Wandering Willie's Tale."  Inset ghost story from Redgauntlet.  
• J. L. Tieck, "The Field of Terror."  (1st story in the volume.)  I've heard of having a hard row to hoe, but this field takes that saying to new heights...
• Horace Walpole, The Mysterious Mother.  Gothic drama featuring the usual run of conspirators, angst, and, um, misdirected romantic interests. 
• The Weyhill Ghost.  Comic poem in four cantos (and somewhat dubious rhyming couplets) about what happens when a traveler becomes convinced that a ghost had visited him in the night.  
• Sarah Scudgell Wilkinson, The Priory of St. Clair; or Spectre of the Murdered Nun.  A Gothic Tale.  Lust! Convents! Murder! Annoyed ghosts! A Gothic chapbook (requires download).
• John Wilson [a.k.a. "Christopher North"], "Extracts from Gosschen's Diary #1."  (Starts on p. 596, if the link doesn't take you there directly.)  Priest hears the confession of a man who murdered his lover.  
• William Wordsworth, "The Thorn."  Oh woe is me! O misery!

Comments

[Sonetka]

Hooray! Thank you in advance for much reading enjoyment :).

[plus.google.com/112618011552057802104]

Great list. Going to read. Thank you!