In 1999, Stephen King began to write about his craft -- and his life. By midyear, a widely reported accident jeopardized the survival of both. And in his months of recovery, the link between writing and living became more crucial than ever. Rarely has a book on writing been so clear, so useful, and so revealing. On Writing begins with a mesmerizing account of King's childhood and his uncannily early focus on writing to tell a story. A series of vivid...

The town of Castle Rock, Maine has seen its fair share of oddities over the years, but nothing is as peculiar as the little curio shop that's just opened for business here. Its mysterious proprietor, Leland Gaunt, seems to have something for everyone out on display at Needful Things...interesting items that run the gamut from worthless to priceless. Nothing has a price tag in this place, but everything is certainly for sale. The heart's desire for...

"A true masterwork of storytelling, Dracula has transcended generation, language, and culture to become one of the most popular novels ever written. It is a quintessential tale of suspense and horror, boasting one of the most terrifying characters ever born in literature: Count Dracula, a tragic, night-dwelling specter who feeds upon the blood of the living, and whose diabolical passions prey upon the innocent, the helpless, and the beautiful. But...

"This reissue of Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera is the first title in The Haunted Library, a new horror classics series presented by the Horror Writers Association and Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks. The award-winning musical based on Leroux's work is world-famous, but many people are unaware that the show was inspired by a novel, originally published in a serialized form. The Phantom of the Opera is a timeless piece of gothic...

"First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. 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, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House....

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. I arrived here yesterday, and my first task is to assure my dear sister of my welfare and increasing confidence in the success of my undertaking....

Slip behind the bleak walls and vacant windows of Netflix's reimagining of the mansion of doom in this collection of works by Edgar Allan Poe that inspired the limited series "The Fall of the House of Usher". From well-loved classics like "The Raven" and "The Tell-Tale Heart" to lesser-known gems such as "Tamerlane" and "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," these tales and poems have stood the test of time, haunting readers for nearly two hundred years....

King’s first collection of short stories showcases the darkest depths of his brilliant imagination. Here we see mutated rats gone bad (“Graveyard Shift”); a cataclysmic virus that threatens humanity (“Night Surf,” the basis for The Stand); a possessed, evil lawnmower (“The Lawnmower Man”); unsettling children from the heartland (“Children of the Corn”); a smoker who will try anything to stop (“Quitters, Inc.”); a reclusive...

Paul Sheldon, the author of "Misery Chastain" romance series, learns what real misery means when he wrecks his car and becomes the patient of one of his biggest and angriest fans -- held captive in a wheelchair, made drug-dependent, and locked in his room by a nurse who demands he bring her favorite character back to life.

On a beautiful June day, while walking deep in the woods on her property in Haven, Maine, Bobbi Anderson quite literally stumbles over her own destiny and that of the entire town. For the dull gray metal protrusion she discovers in the ground is part of a mysterious and massive metal object, one that may have been buried there for millennia. Bobbi can't help but become obsessed and try to dig it out ... the consequences of which will affect and transmute...