Frank Carlson Library

The first novel by Mary Roberts Rinehart, America's queen of crime This is the story of how a middle-aged spinster lost her mind, deserted her domestic gods in the city, took a furnished house for the summer out of town, and found herself involved in one of those mysterious crimes that keep our newspapers and detective agencies happy and prosperous. So says Rachel Innes, the spinster in question and one of the most remarkable heroines in American...

Mervyn begins to get sick, and fearing a forced trip to the hospital (a death trap), he decides to hide himself in the old Welbeck mansion. Welbeck leaves Mervyn to die, and Mervyn eventually wanders out into the street and collapses. Mervyn is, discovered by Dr. Stevens sitting on a bench. He is suffering from yellow fever, and since Dr. Stevens has pity on him, is, invited into the Stevens household.

When tragedy strikes on his son's wedding day, Lord Manfred believes it is a foreboding omen, and will do whatever it takes to stop it-no matter how immoral. Set in the 18th century, The Castle of Otranto begins on the day Manfred's son, Conrad, was meant to be married. Known for his sickly nature, Conrad is the eldest child of two, and is set to marry Princess Isabella, a union that would reap strong benefits for the noble family. However, when...

A timeless gothic romance of mystery, danger, and suspense. This horror classic examines the tensions between hedonism and honour through Ann Radcliffe's masterfully atmospheric prose. First published in 1791, this captivating novel is set against the background of the isolated French countryside while the shadow of the country's ongoing revolution looms. When virtuous Adeline is forced to seek refuge in the depths of the forest with Monsieur Pierre...

Charmingly imperfect Catherine Morland is invited to Northanger Abbey, the home of new friends. Hearing exaggerated reports of her wealth, the head of household General Tilney encourages a marriage between his son Henry and Catherine. Before matters can be settled, Catherine must learn to distinguish between books and real life, false friends and true.

"Sam Wakefield's ancestral home, a decaying mansion built on the edge of a swamp, isn't a place for children. Its labyrinthine halls, built by her mad ancestors, are filled with echoes of the past: ghosts and memories knotted together as one. In the presence of phantoms, it's all Sam can do to disentangle past from present in her daily life. But when her pregnant sister Elizabeth moves in after a fight with her husband, something in the house shifts....

"The only hardcover edition of the beloved, internationally best-selling gothic mystery. EVERYMAN'S LIBRARY CONTEMPORARY CLASSICS. The unassuming young heroine of Rebecca finds her life changed overnight when she meets Maxim de Winter, a handsome and wealthy widower whose sudden proposal of marriage takes her by surprise. Rescuing her from an overbearing employer, de Winter whisks her off to Manderley, his isolated estate on the windswept Cornish...

Strange things have been brewing in the village of Ashlaw in 1923: the once-prosperous drapers' shop has gone bankrupt and three separate families' lives have each, it seems, been hexed. In a bigger town, such news might happen every day, but in tiny, remote Ashlaw, even one of these curses can set the whole village off-kilter. So what could be responsible for the stir? Margot, a local, precocious schoolgirl, has been trying to figure this out, especially...

A Ghostly Window Into the Past Nurse Nellie Lester can't escape death. Fleeing Chicago at the height of the 1918 Spanish flu, she takes a nursing job at a decrepit mansion on a desolate Michigan island, convinced the island holds the secret to her mother's murky past. The only problem? Her dead mother seems to have followed her there. Nightly she's haunted by a ghostly presence that appears in her bedroom. But is it her mother or something more sinister? When...

"Gryll Grange" is an 1861 novel by Thomas Love Peacock. His seventh and last novel, it tells the story of Gregory Gryll, a descendant of the ancient and noble Gryllus who, for lack of better options, chooses his niece to be his heir. However, Gryll's plan falls short when his new heir finds it difficult to find a man to her particular tastes. Thomas Love Peacock (18 October 1785 – 23 January 1866) was an English poet, novelist, and important figure...