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Recommendations based on The Monkey's Pawby W.W. Jacobs
* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans
The Tell-Tale Heart
by Edgar Allan Poe
A man's obsession with the eye of an old man leads him to commit murder and ultimately, his own downfall.
"The Tell-Tale Heart" is a first-person narrative told by an unnamed narrator. Insisting that they are sane, the narrator suffers from a disease (nervousness) which causes " over-acuteness of the ... (Wikipedia)
The Yellow Wall-Paper
by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
A woman's descent into madness due to oppressive social expectations.
A woman and her husband rent a summer house, but what should be a restful getaway turns into a suffocating psychological battle. This chilling account of postpartum depression and a husband's ... (Goodreads)
The Most Dangerous Game
by Richard Connell
A hunter's game of survival and strategy, as he pursues and is pursued by his prey.
Big-game hunter Sanger Rainsford and his friend, Whitney, are traveling to the Amazon rainforest for a jaguar hunt. After a discussion about how they are "the hunters" instead of "the hunted," ... (Wikipedia)
Norse Mythology
by Neil Gaiman
Epic tales of the gods and goddesses of Norse mythology, set in a world of giants, dwarfs, and monsters.
“Remarkable.… Gaiman has provided an enchanting contemporary interpretation of the Viking ethos.”—Lisa L. Hannett, Atlantic Neil Gaiman, long inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical ... (Barnes & Noble)
Let the Right One In
by John Ajvide Lindqvist
A vampire and preteen boy form an unlikely bond while struggling against loneliness and persecution.
It is autumn 1981 when the inconceivable comes to Blackeberg, a suburb in Sweden. The body of a teenage boy is found, emptied of blood, the murder rumored to be part of a ritual killing. ... (Goodreads)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
by Arthur Conan Doyle
A thrilling detective story of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson as they investigate a mysterious murder on the moor.
Dr James Mortimer calls on Sherlock Holmes in London for advice after his friend Sir Charles Baskerville was found dead in the yew alley of his manor on Dartmoor in Devon . The death was attributed ... (Wikipedia)
Lady Windermere's Fan
by Oscar Wilde
A comedic tale of scandal, gossip, and hypocrisy set in high society.
The play opens in the morning room of the Windermeres' residence in London. It is tea time and Lady Windermere—who is preparing for her coming of age birthday ball that evening—has a visit from a ... (Wikipedia)
The Complete Stories and Poems
by Edgar Allan Poe
A collection of dark and mysterious stories and poems, exploring the depths of the human condition.
This single volume brings together all of Poe's stories and poems, and illuminates the diverse and multifaceted genius of one of the greatest and most influential figures in American literary ... (Barnes & Noble)
From the Earth to the Moon
by Jules Verne
A thrilling adventure of a rocket voyage to the moon, led by brave and daring astronauts.
The story opens some time after the end of the American Civil War . The Baltimore Gun Club, a society dedicated to the design of weapons of all kinds (especially cannons), comes together when Impey ... (Wikipedia)
Lord Edgware Dies
by Agatha Christie
Mysterious murder of a peer of the realm, investigated by Hercule Poirot.
Attending a performance by impressionist Carlotta Adams, Hercule Poirot is approached by actress Jane Wilkinson. She requests his help in asking her husband Lord Edgware to divorce her. Poirot ... (Wikipedia)
Waiting for Godot
by Samuel Beckett
Two men wait for a mysterious figure who never arrives, reflecting on their lives and existence.
Two men, Vladimir and Estragon, have met near a leafless tree. Estragon spent the previous night lying in a ditch and receiving a beating from some unnamed assailants. The two men discuss a variety ... (Wikipedia)
Hannibal
by Thomas Harris
A psychological thriller about a renowned FBI agent and his pursuit of a dangerous serial killer.
Years after his escape, posing as scholarly Dr. Fell, curator of a grand family's palazzo, Hannibal lives the good life in Florence, playing lovely tunes by serial killer/composer Henry VIII and ... (Goodreads)
The Cask of Amontillado - an Edgar Allan Poe Short Story
by Edgar Allan Poe
A tale of revenge and retribution, forcibly trapping a foe in a ghoulish crypt.
The story's narrator, Montresor, tells an unspecified person, who knows him very well, of the day he took his revenge on Fortunato (Italian for "the fortunate one"), a fellow nobleman. Angry over ... (Wikipedia)
They Both Die at the End
by Adam Silvera
Two strangers, united by fate, explore life and death while forming a unique bond.
Adam Silvera reminds us that there’s no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet uplifting story about two people whose lives change over the course of one unforgettable ... (Goodreads)
The Call of Cthulhu
by H.P. Lovecraft
A tale of horror and mystery, as a man investigates an ancient cult's dark secrets.
The story's narrator, Francis Wayland Thurston, recounts his discovery of various notes left behind by his great uncle, George Gammell Angell, a prominent professor of Semitic languages at Brown ... (Wikipedia)
Strange the Dreamer
by Laini Taylor
A young man's quest to discover the secrets of a lost city and his mysterious dreams.
The dream chooses the dreamer, not the other way around— and Lazlo Strange, war orphan and junior librarian, has always feared that his dream chose poorly. Since he was five years old he’s been ... (Goodreads)
The Hating Game
by Sally Thorne
A lighthearted battle of wits between two enemies who eventually fall in love.
Debut author Sally Thorne bursts on the scene with a hilarious and sexy workplace comedy all about that thin, fine line between hate and love. Nemesis (n.) 1) An opponent or rival whom a person ... (Goodreads)
Gwendy's Button Box
by Stephen King
A young girl is presented with a mysterious box that has the power to grant wishes and alter the course of reality.
The story takes place in King's fictional town of Castle Rock in 1974. Twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson encounters a stranger in dark clothes and a black hat who invites her to "palaver". "I had a ... (Wikipedia)
John Dies at the End
by David Wong
A bizarre supernatural adventure, blending horror and sci-fi elements.
John and Dave, two perpetual slackers and long-time friends, encounter strange phenomena in an undisclosed small city in the Midwestern United States and gain a reputation for dealing with paranormal ... (Wikipedia)
Stardust
by Neil Gaiman
A fantastical journey of discovery, romance and adventure in a magical world.
On the outskirts of Wall, a small town in rural England, the Faerie Market is held every nine years on the other side of the wall dividing Faerie — a mystical realm of magic — from our world and for ... (Wikipedia)
The Lottery and Other Stories
by Shirley Jackson
A collection of short stories exploring the dark side of human nature and society's norms.
The Lottery , one of the most terrifying stories written in this century, created a sensation when it was first published in The New Yorker . "Power and haunting," and "nights of unrest" were typical ... (Goodreads)
The Turn of the Screw
by Henry James
A governess confronts her fears and doubts about a mysterious and sinister presence in her employer's home.
On Christmas Eve, an unnamed narrator and some of their friends are gathered around a fire. One of them, Douglas, reads a manuscript written by his sister's late governess . The manuscript tells the ... (Wikipedia)
The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
A group of people investigating a mysterious and haunted house, uncovering its secrets.
It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a "haunting"; Theodora, the lighthearted ... (Goodreads)
The Fairy's Mistake
by Gail Carson Levine
A fairy grants a girl's wish to be a princess, but things don't go as planned. The girl learns the importance of being true to oneself.
Two very different sisters have two very different encounters with the fairy Ethelinda. Rosella is kind and helpful. Her reward: Jewels and gems tumble out of her mouth whenever she speaks. Myrtle is ... (Goodreads)
The Slave Dancer
by Paula Fox
A young boy is kidnapped and forced to work on a slave ship, where he witnesses the horrors of the slave trade.
It is the beginning of 1840 in New Orleans. In the rain, drunken riverboat workers and slaves alike are celebrating. Jessie Bollier lives in the area with his mother and sister. One evening while he ... (Wikipedia)
Call Me By Your Name
by André Aciman
A tender story of first love, exploring the complexities of identity, sexuality and desire.
The narrator, Elio Perlman , recalls the events of the summer of about 1987, when he was seventeen and living with his parents in Italy . Each summer, his parents would take in a doctoral student as ... (Wikipedia)
The Exorcist
by William Peter Blatty
A priest's battle against a powerful demon possessing a young girl.
An elderly Jesuit priest named Father Lankester Merrin is leading an archaeological dig in northern Iraq and is studying ancient relics. After discovering a small statue of the demon Pazuzu (an ... (Wikipedia)
World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War
by Max Brooks
A collection of interviews recounting tales of the zombie apocalypse.
It has been nearly twenty years since the start of the apocalyptic worldwide pandemic known as the Zombie War, and about ten years since the war has ended in humanity's victory. The framing device ... (Wikipedia)
Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles
Tragic tale of a man's inescapable destiny and the consequences of his actions.
Oedipus, King of Thebes, sends his brother-in-law, Creon, to ask advice of the oracle at Delphi , concerning a plague ravaging Thebes. Creon returns to report that the plague is the result of ... (Wikipedia)
People Like Us
by Dana Mele
A murder mystery set in an elite prep school where secrets and lies are uncovered.
Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she's reinvented herself entirely. Now she's a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with ... (Goodreads)
