Montague Rhodes James is an early 20th century British author who redefined the ghost story of his time to bring more realism to its traditional gothic elements. These "antiquarian" ghost stories are probably thought of as old and dusty by some now, but they paved the way for many imitators. "Casting the Runes", "The Tractate Middoth", and "Oh, Whistle and I'll Come to You, My Lad" have been adapted to film, television, and radio multiple times.

Get your old timey vampire stories right here. No sparkly teenagers or automobile driving blood suckers here. Apparently Victorian England was even more into vampires than we are today. The book includes stories like LeFanu's Carmilla (possibly the first female vampire story), Poe's "The Oval Portrait", and even a chapter left out of Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I am kind of cheating with this one, since it is intended as a cohesive work (hence the subtitle). Yet, this "novel", from the author of Fight Club, consists of 23 interconnected stories by characters who are all heading to a writer's retreat they've seen in a newspaper ad. And bad. stuff. happens.

Zombies. All the stories are about zombies. Hold onto your brains.

This author has an interesting take on the horror story that veers into a kind of black surrealism that deftly subtitutes any expected gore or violence with a stifling atmosphere of existential, Kafkaesque office dread. Includes three long-ish short stories including the Bram Stoker and International Horror Guild Award winning "My Work Is Not Yet Done".

This classic collection is written for younger readers, but that doesn't mean the stories are any less scary. If you were in grade school after 1980, it was more than likely stolen, hidden, or banned in your school library. See also the second and third collections.

My first question when I started this was: 'Which Stephen King book do I put on this list?' Night Shift was his first short collection and is probably the one I should have chosen, but this one has "The Mist" (which happens to be my favorite short/novella of his). Though, Nightmares & Dreamscapes is pretty good too, as well as the several collections of four novellas (Different Seasons; Four Past Midnight; Full Dark, No Stars; Just After Sunset, etc.) I'm probably forgetting something, but check that out too. BECAUSE IT'S STEPHEN KING, DUH.

This editor of The Year's Best Horror Stories anthologies, better known for his Kane stories set in Robert E. Howard's Conan universe, also wrote horror short stories during his lifetime. This collects many of Wagner's stories from the 1970s and 80s that are mainly set in the rural South. The author gave up on his chosen career as a psychologist to write, which often comes across in his bitter view of the medical profession in stories like "The Fourth Seal".