Guy de Maupassant
The Horla: what to read next?
Books close in genre, era, author or reading level, to read in bilingual editions.
Henry JamesThe Turn of the ScrewA governess is put in charge of two children in an isolated manor, but she quickly believes she perceives disturbing presences around them. Convinced that invisible forces threaten the children, she tries to protect them while doubting what she truly sees. The atmosphere…Same genreSame era
Robert Louis StevensonDr Jekyll and Mr HydeDr Jekyll, a respected scientist, develops an experiment that allows him to separate the two sides of his personality. Under the identity of Mr Hyde, he unleashes his darkest instincts without restraint. But this transformation becomes uncontrollable and threatens to destroy…Same genreSame era
Charlotte Perkins GilmanThe Yellow WallpaperA young woman is taken by her physician husband to a summer house, to rest from a nervous condition that followed a birth. Forbidden to write or to work, she keeps a secret journal and spends her days in a room hung with yellow wallpaper. The pattern on the wall slowly takes up…Same genreSame era
Guy de MaupassantBoule de SuifDuring the war of 1870, ten travellers leave Rouen, occupied by the Prussians, in the same stagecoach: local notables, two nuns, a democrat and a prostitute nicknamed Boule de Suif. Held at an inn by a Prussian officer who sets his conditions, they discover what their…By the same authorSame genreSame era
H. G. WellsThe Island of Doctor MoreauWashed up after a shipwreck, Edward Prendick is put ashore on a remote Pacific island inhabited by an exiled scientist and his assistant. The islanders, unsettling in their features, recite a Law like a prayer, and cries come at night from the laboratory. Prendick discovers the…Same genreSame era
Oscar WildeThe Picture of Dorian GrayDorian Gray, a young man of exceptional beauty, sees his portrait age in his place while he keeps a flawless appearance. Influenced by Lord Henry, a cynical and provocative figure, he abandons himself to a life of boundless pleasure. But every act leaves a mark on his portrait,…Same genreSame era
Mikhail LermontovA Hero of Our TimeIn the Caucasus of the 1830s, several voices describe the same man: Pechorin, a Russian officer, brilliant and destructive. An old captain recounts the abduction of a Circassian girl, and the traveller who hears him later reads his notebooks. They tell of a season at the spa…Same genre
M. R. JamesGhost StoriesScholars and lovers of curiosities discover ancient objects or manuscripts that seem to carry an unsettling presence. Gradually, the ordinary tips into the strange and invisible forces manifest themselves. Each story builds subtle tension in which danger reveals itself step by…Same genreSame era
Stefan ZweigFearIrene Wagner leads an untroubled bourgeois life in Vienna, married to a well-known defence lawyer and mother of two, and has been visiting a young pianist for some months. Leaving his flat one afternoon, she is stopped by a stranger who claims to be the man's discarded mistress…Same genre
H. P. LovecraftAt the Mountains of MadnessA group of scientific explorers travels to Antarctica and discovers ancient remains buried under the ice. As they advance, they realize these structures belong to a forgotten civilization far older than humanity. The expedition turns into growing dread in the face of…Same genre
Sabahattin AliMadonna in a Fur CoatAn unremarkable clerk, hired out of pity by a firm in Ankara, shares an office with Raif Efendi, a translator nobody knows anything about. When this man, old before his time, falls ill, he asks the young clerk to burn a black notebook, then lets him read it for one night. It…Same genre
Robert W. ChambersThe Green MouseA humorous American novel. In New York in the early twentieth century, a ruined young man earns his living with magic tricks and trained animals, including mice dyed every colour; one of them, a green one, escapes into the studio of his neighbour Ethelinda, a young painter.…Same genreSame era