Ghost Library: A Selective List

The literature of ghost fiction is vast and often ambiguous in nature, so this list is in no way intended to be all-inclusive. It is a limited list, mostly made up of ghost stories and other relevant books that happened to be in my personal library, are considered important by literary commentators, or have been specifically recommended by knowledgeable friends. Nevertheless, it might be a good reference for those who don’t know where to start. It is, of course, an ongoing project. [Note: * = essential reading or personal preference IMO]

The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 Genji monogatari), Murasaki Shikibu (pre-1021; trans. Edward G. Seidensticker, 1978)
The Castle of Otranto, Horace Walpole (novel, 1764)
“The Beggar Woman of Locarno”, Heinrich von Kleist (short story, 1810)
“The Elementary Spirit”, E.T.A. Hoffmann (short story, c. 1818)
“The Mines of Falun” (Die Bergwerke zu Falun), E.T.A. Hoffmann (short story, 1818)
– see The Tales of E.T.A. Hoffman, ed. L.J. Kent and E.C. Knight (collection, 1972)
The Best Ghost Stories 1800–1849: A Classic Ghost Anthology, ed. Andrew Barger (collection, 2011)
Tales of Mystery and Imagination, Edgar Allen Poe (collection, stories separately published between 1832-1849, collected under this title 1902, 1908, oft reprinted thereafter)
“The Haunters and the Haunted, or, The House and the Brain”, Edward Bulwer-Lytton (short story, 1859)*
“[Strange Event in the Life of] Schalken the Painter”, J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1839)*
“Green Tea”, J. Sheridan Le Fanu (novelette, 1872)*
“The Familiar” [reworking of “The Watcher”], J. Sheridan Le Fanu (novella, 1872)*
– see In a Glass Darkly, J. Sheridan Le Fanu (collection, 1872)
– see Madam Crowl’s Ghost and Other Tales of Mystery, J. Sheridan Le Fanu, ed. M.R. James (collection, 1923)
– see Green Tea and Other Ghost Stories, J. Sheridan Le Fanu (collection, 1945)
– see also The Collected Supernatural and Weird Fiction of J. Sheridan Le Fanu: Volumes 1-8 (Leonaur Ltd, 2010)
“[No. 1 Branch Line:] The Signalman”, Charles Dickens (short story, 1866)*
Ernest Favenc: Ghost Stories and Mysteries, ed. James Doig ([1875-1907], collection, 2011)
“The Haunted Hotel – A Mystery of Modern Venice”, Wilkie Collins (novella, 1878)
– see also The Haunted Hotel and Other Strange Stories, Wilkie Collins (collection, Wordsworth Editions, 2006)
“The Horla, or, Modern Ghosts”, Guy De Maupassant (short story, 1887)
“The Turn of the Screw”, Henry James (novella, 1898)*
– see also Ghost Stories of Henry James (collection, Wordsworth Editions, 2008)
The Mammoth Book of Victorian and Edwardian Ghost Stories, ed. Richard Dalby (Robinson Publishing, 1995; reprinted as The Giant Book of Ghost Stories, Magpie Books, 2006)
Ghost Stories of an Antiquary, M.R. James (collection, 1904)
“Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come To You, My Lad”, M.R. James (short story, 1904)*
“The Mezzotint”, M.R. James (short story, 1904)
More Ghost Stories, M.R. James (collection, 1911)
A Thin Ghost and Others, M.R. James (collection, 1919)
A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories, M.R. James (collection, 1925)
– see Collected Ghost Stories, M.R. James (collection, 1931)*
Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, ed. Lafcadio Hearn (anthology of Japanese ghost stories, 1904)
The Bell in the Fog and Other Stories, Gertrude Atherton (collection, 1905, also Wordsworth Editions, 2006)
The Empty House and Other Ghost Stories, Algernon Blackwood (collection,1906)
– see also Tales of the Uncanny and Supernatural, Algernon Blackwood (collection, 1962)
“Afterward”, Edith Wharton (short story, 1910)*
– see also Tales of Men and Ghosts, Edith Wharton (collection, 1910)
“The Beckoning Fair One”, Oliver Onions (novella, 1911)*
– see also Widdershins, Oliver Onions (collection, 1910)
– see The Collected Ghost Stories, Oliver Onions (collection, 1935)
– see also Dead of Night: The Ghost Stories of Oliver Onions (Wordsworth Editions, 2010)
“The Bus-Conductor”, E.F. Benson (short story, 1912)
“Caterpillars”, E.F. Benson (short story, 1912)
– see also Night Terrors: The Ghost Stories of E.F. Benson (collection, Wordsworth Editions, 2012)
Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder, William Hope Hodgson (collection, 1913, extended 1947)*
The Dream-Detective, Sax Rohmer (Jarrolds, London, 1926; Dover Publications, 1977)
Great Tales of Terror and the Supernatural, ed. Herbert A. Wise and Phyllis Fraser (anthology, 1947)*
Ghost Stories, Walter De La Mare (collection, The London Folio Society, 1956)
The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson (novel, 1959)*
Julia, Peter Straub (novel, 1975)
The Shining, Stephen King (novel, 1977)*
Ghost Story, Peter Straub (novel, 1979)*
The Girl in a Swing, Richard Adams, 1980)
Tales From the Nightside, Charles L. Grant (Arkham House Publishers, 1981)
Christine, Stephen King (novel, 1983)
The Woman in Black, Susan Hill (novel, 1983)*
A Manhattan Ghost Story, T.M. Wright (novel, 1984, revised 2006)
The Waiting Room, T.M. Wright (novel, A Manhattan Ghost Story series, 1986)
Under the Lake, Stuart Woods (novel, 1987)
Haunted, James Herbert (novel, 1988)
The Island, T.M. Wright (novel, 1988)
In the Land of the Dead, K.W. Jetter (novel, 1989)
100 Ghastly Little Ghost Stories, ed. Stefan R. Dziemianowicz, Robert A. Weinberg and Martin H. Greenberg (collection, 1993)
Sleepeasy, T.M. Wright (novel, 1993)
No. 472 Cheyne Walk – Carnacki: The Untold Stories, A.F. Kidd and Rick Kennett (collection, 1999, extended 2002)
The Ghosts of Sleath, James Herbert (novel, 1994)
“Dead in the Glamour of Moonlight”, Robert Hood (short story, 1995)
Requiem, Graham Joyce (novel, 1995)*
Gilray’s Ghost, John Gordon (Novel, Walker Books, 1995)
The Scarlet Rider, Lucy Sussex (MacMillan Education Australia, 1996, reprinted Ticonderoga Publications, 2015)
Bag of Bones, Stephen King (novel, 1998)
House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski (novel, 2000)
13 – A Collection of Ghost Stories, Rick Kennett (collection, 2001)
Ghost Writing: Haunted Tales by Contemporary Writers, ed. Roger Weingarten (anthology, 2001)
“My Work Is Not Yet Done”, Thomas Ligotti (novella, Mythos Books, 2002)
Teatro Grotesco, Thomas Ligotti (collection, 2006)*
– see also Songs of a Dead Dreamer & Grimscribe, Thomas Ligotti (collection, 2015, Penguin)
Bad Men, John Connolly (novel, Hodder & Stoughten, 2003)
The Dark: New Ghost Stories, ed. Ellen Datlow (anthology, 2003)
Ring, Koji Suzuki (novel, trans. Robert B. Rohmer and Glynne Walley, 2003; originally published in Japan as Ringu, 1991)
Spiral, Koji Suzuki (novel, sequel to Ring, trans. Glynne Walley, 2003; originally published in Japan as Rasen, 1995)
20th Century Ghosts, Joe Hill (collection, 2005)*
Dead Europe, Christos Tsiolkas (novel, 2005)
The Secret of Crickley Hall, James Herbert (novel, 2006)
A Spider On My Tongue, T.M. Wright (novel, A Manhattan Ghost Story series, 2006)
Heart-Shaped Box, Joe Hill (novel, 2007)
“Kulpunya”, Robert Hood (novelette, 2008)
– see Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, Robert Hood
House of Windows, John Langan (novel, 2009)
Australian Ghost Stories, ed. James Doig (anthology, Wordsworth Editions, 2010)
Dark Matter. A Ghost Story, Michelle Paver (Orion Books, 2010)
The Small Hand, Susan Hill (novel, Profile Books, 2010)
Ghost Story: A Novel of the Dresden Files (Roc, New American Library, 2011)
Other Kingdoms, Richard Matheson (Tor Books, 2011)
Terra Damnata, James Cooper (novella, 2011)
“Escena de un Asesinato”, Robert Hood (novelette, 2012)
– see Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, Robert Hood
The Silence of Ghosts, Jonathan Aycliffe (Corsair, 2013)
The Woman in Black: Angel of Death, Martyn Waites (Arrow Books/Hammer Films, 2013)
The Unquiet House, Alison Littlewood (PS Publishing, 2014)
A Head Full of Ghosts, Paul Tremblay (HarperCollins, 2015)
Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, Robert Hood (collection, IFWG Publishing Australia, 2015)*
The Whimper, Robert Hood (novella, 2015)
– see Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories, Robert Hood
Classic Ghost Stories (anthology, Arcturus Publishing, 2016)
The Grief Hole, Kaaron Warren (novel, IFWG Publishing Australia, 2016)*
Thin Air, Michelle Paver (Orion, 2016)
Kill Creek, Scott Thomas (Inkshares, Inc., 2017)
Tide of Stone, Kaaron Warren (novel, Omnium Gatherum, 2018)
Widow’s Point,  Richard Chizmar and Billy Chizmar (novel, Cemetery Dance, 2018)