The title novella of this collection follows one man, Clarke, who begins investigating cases of madness and debauchery — all of which seem to have supernatural causes — after he watches a doctor permanently disable a young woman in pursuit of religious fervor. Recording these strange encounters for posterity, Clarke soon finds himself facing a seductress of great power. At once sexy, grotesque, and grim, Arthur Machen’s horror stories remain some of the most influential — and horrifying.

An influential precursor to H.P. Lovecraft, The King in Yellow is a loose assemblage of stories centered around the titular, fictional play. Imbued with the power to drive the reader to the brink of madness, the play has been almost universally censored — a fact that makes it all the more enticing to those who seek it out.

Obviously, no list of the scariest books of all time would be complete without the quintessential dystopian novel. George Orwell’s classic tale of fascist England — now known as Airstrip One — centers on Winston: a propagandist by day and thought-criminal by night. Nineteen Eighty-Four has become a cultural touchstone in the 70-plus years since its release. The fact that it remains relevant today, in our contemporary age of surveillance and militarism, earns it a place on this list.

Let me preface this by saying that, thanks to a cognate in history and comparative religion, I took whole courses on the Third Reich in college. My professors never shied away from the abject horrors of Nazism. Yet nothing prepared me for some of the scenes in this book. Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel draws on his firsthand experiences at Auschwitz and Buchenwald in this brief book, the first in a trilogy about the impact of the Holocaust.

When it comes to haunted-house stories, it’s hard to beat this Shirley Jackson classic. The Haunting of Hill House follows a paranormal investigator and his two new assistants into the titular manor house. Accompanied by Hill House’s future owner, they begin a doomed expedition, exploring and documenting their ever-unsettling journey through the residence’s weird architecture. As the central characters confront strange phenomena, they’re left to wonder whether Hill House is truly haunted…or if it’s all in their heads.

Set in a magnificent, coastal vacation home in the middle of summer, this novel is the other side of The Shining‘s wintry, landlocked coin. The story here centers on the Rolfes: a family of city-dwellers looking for a peaceful summer getaway. What they find, however, is anything but.

Grady Hendrix characterizes The Auctioneer as “if Cormac McCarthy had written Needful Things,” and he’s right on the money. John Moore ekes out a living on his family farm, located on the outskirts of Harlowe: a small New Hampshire town popular with leaf-peepers. The arrival of an out-of-town auctioneer spurs the local police chief to action. Everyone is happy to help out with the policemen’s charity auctions, including John and his wife. The requests for donations grow larger and larger, all to appease the incoming leaf-peepers who patronize the auctions, and Harlowe’s townsfolk are in over their heads before they know it.

Part true-crime story, part horror novel, and widely believed to be a hoax, The Amityville Horror is unlike any other book on this list. Author Jay Anson and others — including Ed and Lorraine Warren of The Conjuring fame — purported Amityville to be a true account of an American haunting. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, this story of one couple’s hellish month inside the site of a grisly sextuple homicide is a horror must-read.

Corrine Dollanganger, a mother of four, has just lost her husband in an automobile accident. Now, she’s at risk of losing her home. Left with few options, Corrine turns to her estranged parents — millionaire Malcolm Foxworth and his unnamed wife — for help. But the Foxworth-Dollanganger reunion comes with a list of bizarre stipulations, not the least of which is that Malcolm cannot know that Corrine’s children are living in his home.

What would you do if you found out your close friend was a serial killer? That’s exactly what happened to Ann Rule, who worked at a crisis hotline alongside infamous murderer Ted Bundy in the 1970s. Rule went on to become one of publishing’s most famous true-crime authors, but it’s her first book, which focuses on just how “normal” Bundy seemed, that is the most terrifying.

It was difficult to pick just one Stephen King book for this list. There’s not even any real consensus among Constant Readers as to what King’s scariest book is. There’s a compelling argument to be made for Pet Sematary on the grounds of its relatability, however. Who among us hasn’t lost a beloved pet or family member and longed to bring them back to life — no matter the cost? Not only do Louis Creed’s commendable attempts at making his family whole again have serious consequences, but the ending of his story is chilling…and almost visceral.

16-year-old Frank Cauldhame killed three other children when he was very young. Don’t worry, though; it was only a phase. Nowadays, superstitious Frank contents himself with rituals that — he believes — protect the island he lives on with his father. Frank’s rituals often involve killing and mutilating animals, including the wasps of the novel’s title. But when his disturbed older brother, Eric, escapes from a psychiatric hospital and begins to make his way home, Frank knows that the magic he works upon the land won’t be able to keep Eric out.