Kindred by Octavia Butler (1979): A young woman is inexplicably ricocheted in time between her current life in 1976 and that of her ancestors in pre–Civil War Maryland, where she must confront problematic issues of race, gender, power, and resistance.

The Last Man by Mary Shelley (1826): An apocalyptic science fiction novel by the author of Frankenstein, in which a young nobleman recounts the final years of mankind living in a future Earth ravaged by plague.

Lion’s Blood by Steven Barnes (2002): An alternate history novel in which Islamic African aristocratic families rule America, indulging in the luxuries brought by the labor of their imported Irish slaves.

Mojo: Conjure Stories (an anthology) edited by Nalo Hopkinson (2003): A compilation of fantasy and horror short stories about gods, folklore, and magical beliefs of Africa.

The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe (1794): Cited as a quintessential Gothic romance novel, a young woman suffers the death of her parents, supernatural terrors in a gloomy castle, and the intrigues of a contemptuous Italian nobleman.

The Other Side (German: Die andere Seite) by Alfred Kubin (1909): At the bequest of a childhood friend, a man and his wife travel to Perle, which happens also to be a journey into the subconscious and to the Dream Realm, where inhabitants experience relationships to things and people that are undetected in the waking world.

The Palm-Wine Drinkard by Amos Tutuola (1952): The first African novel published in English outside of Africa, this quest tale (based on Yoruba folktales) follows a man who enters the land of the dead, encountering many spirits and adventures.

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali by Djibril Tamsir Niane (1960): Part history and part legend, this epic tale is a retelling of thirteenth-century oral tradition relating to ghosts, culture, and majesty of medieval African kingship.

Weird Women: Classic Supernatural Fiction by Groundbreaking Female Writers: 1852–1923 (an anthology) edited by Lisa Morton and Leslie S. Klinger (2020): An anthology celebrating the short fiction classics of pioneering “women of the weird.”

Zofloya, or The Moor by Charlotte Dacre (1806): A purposefully melodramatic Gothic tale of scandal, sexual deviancy, and violent revenge, in which a wicked heroine shuns the mores of aristocratic views to reach her own ends.

About Series Editors

Eric J. Guignard has twice won the Bram Stoker Award®, been a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Award, and was a multi-nominee of the Pushcart Prize for his works of dark and speculative fiction. He has over one hundred stories and nonfiction credits appearing in publications around the world, has edited multiple anthologies, and has created an ongoing series of primers exploring modern masters of literary short fiction, titled: Exploring Dark Short Fiction. His latest books are his novel Doorways to the Deadeye and short story collection That Which Grows Wild: 16 Tales of Dark Fiction (Cemetery Dance).

* * *