Helen Plum Library

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner is a novel by the Scottish author James Hogg, published anonymously in 1824. Considered by turns part-gothic novel, part-psychological mystery, part-metafiction, part-satire, part-case study of totalitarian thought, it can also be thought of as an early example of modern crime fiction, in which the story is told, for the most part, from the point of view of its criminal anti-hero. The action...

Wilkie Collins was the first great detective novelist. His dark and complex mysteries influenced the work of other writers, such as Anthony Trollope and Charles Dickens, with whom he developed a close personal friendship. Swinburne found his work worthy of serious criticism, and T. S. Eliot credits him even more than Poe with the invention of the modern detective novel and the popular thriller. Before such works as The Woman in White, The Moonstone,...

The Jewel of Seven Stars (1903) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. Written during a period of increased interest in Egyptology across Europe, The Jewel of Seven Stars helped to establish the Irish master of Gothic horror's reputation as a leading writer of the early twentieth-century. In the middle of the night, a young lawyer is roused from sleep by Margaret Trelawny. At her urgent request, he accompanies her to the house of her father, Abel...

When a mysterious head injury causes amnesia, Manson Digby finds himself plagued by violent thoughts and dark dreams-which cause him to wonder if he might be going crazy. Embarking upon a journey of self-discovery, Manson will need to figure out if he should try to regain his past or move on to a new future. He worries that if he remembers, he'll become something more sinister than he already is. As he continues on his path toward rediscovering himself,...

Pastor Albert mentioned a minister who was slain in 1847 after changing the proclamation of religious beliefs in 1839. He was educated and tortured during his tenure in his last days. The man changed indoctrination from Catholic to Protestant. This was when the frightful adventure started, in 1847, and his name was Pastor Matthew. Hendrick Elias Leckner was a former pastor of the Catholic faith, the one who made a pact with the devil in 1817. "If...

A paranormal vampire romance boxed set with Shapeshifters and Werewolves too! Sometimes, it takes a lot more than love to fix a scared, shy heart. Gabby Roberts, a college student and gifted scientist, always knew that supernatural beings were real. In fact, she once saw a werewolf right below her own bedroom window when she was just a kid. Not a kid anymore, Gabby made that her life's mission, to prove to the world that supernatural beings really...

This early work by H. P. Lovecraft was originally published in 1941. Born in 1890 in Rhode Island, USA, Lovecraft began writing at a very young age, quickly developing a deep and abiding interest in science. In 1913, Lovecraft joined the UAPA (United Amateur Press Association) but it was four years later, in 1917, that he began to focus on fiction, producing such well-known early stories as 'Dagon' and 'A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson'. However,...

"As I sit down to write here amidst the shadows of vine-leaves under the blue sky of southern Italy, it comes to me with a certain quality of astonishment that my participation in these amazing adventures of Mr. Cavor was, after all, the outcome of the purest accident. It might have been any one. I fell into these things at a time when I thought myself removed from the slightest possibility of disturbing experiences. I had gone to Lympne because I...

Within hours, one of the world's foremost treasure hunters has shot himself in his country mansion. And to his estranged son, young archaeologist Gideon Chase, he leaves a cryptic letter. Teaming up with an intrepid policewoman, Gideon soon exposes a secret society--an ancient international legion devoted for thousands of years to Stonehenge. With a charismatic and ruthless new leader at the helm, the cult is now performing ritual human sacrifices...

This early work by H. P. Lovecraft was originally published in 1927. Born in 1890 in Rhode Island, USA, Lovecraft began writing at a very young age, quickly developing a deep and abiding interest in science. In 1913, Lovecraft joined the UAPA (United Amateur Press Association) but it was four years later, in 1917, that he began to focus on fiction, producing such well-known early stories as 'Dagon' and 'A Reminiscence of Dr. Samuel Johnson'. However,...