The Top 10 Short Stories - The 19th Century - Horror: The ten best horror stories written from 1800-1899

Short stories have always been a sort of instant access into an author’s brain, their soul and heart. A few pages can lift our lives into locations, people and experiences with a sweep of landscape, narration, feelings and emotions that is difficult to achieve elsewhere.
In this series we try to offer up tried and trusted ‘Top Tens’ across many different themes and authors. But any anthology will immediately throw up the questions – Why that story? Why that author?

The theme itself will form the boundaries for our stories which range from well-known classics, newly told, to stories that modern times have overlooked but perfectly exemplify the theme. Throughout the volume our authors whether of instant recognition or new to you are all leviathans of literature.

Some you may disagree with but they will get you thinking; about our choices and about those you would have made. If this volume takes you on a path to discover more of these miniature masterpieces then we have all gained something.

In this volume Horror and its evil intents try to burrow into our heads and cavort around as only demons, monsters, phantoms and ghosts can do. They probably have other partners and friends too. And you, sitting there all alone, and listening….. oh dear.

1 - The Top 10 Short Stories - 19th Century Horror - An Introduction

2 - Rappaccini's Daughter - Part 1 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

3 - Rappaccini's Daughter - Part 2 by Nathaniel Hawthorne

4 - The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson

5 - The Horla by Guy De Maupassant (2022 vers)

6 - The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

7 - The Sand-Man - Part 1 by E T A Hoffman

8 - The Sand-Man - Part 2 by E T A Hoffman

9 - The Signalman by Charles Dickens

10 - The Squaw by Bram Stoker

11 - The Cask of Amontillardo by Edgar Allan Poe

12 - What Was It by Fitz James O'Brien

13 - The Vampyre. A Tale - Part 1 by John William Polidori

14 - The Vampyre. A Tale - Part 2 by John William Polidori