A young boy raised by wolves in the jungle, and his adventures with various animal characters, exploring themes of survival and the natural world.
"Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" is a whimsical, nonsensical children's novel about a young girl named Alice who follows a talking rabbit down a hole into a fantastical world filled with peculiar creatures and illogical situations.
In this novel in verse, Faust is a scholarly man who, in his pursuit of knowledge, has become depressed. He seeks out Mephistopheles, representative of the Devil, and makes a deal exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. The character of Faust is based off of a historical man of the same name. He is a figure of Western folklore that inspired many authors, Goethe included, to add to the mythos. This story sees the origin of the phrase "Faustian bargain", the concept of which is recognizable in many popular culture stories of today.
Originally published within a collection of other short stories and essays, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a lasting example of early popular American fiction. It follows Ichabod Crane, a school teacher, to the secluded town of Sleepy Hollow in New York. He hears tale of a local legend, the Headless Horseman, and supposedly has a run in with the figure before mysteriously disappearing.
Swiss Family Robinson is about a family immigrating to Australia when they become shipwrecked in the East Indies. There, with only themselves and a few domestic animals, they must learn the skills necessary to survive. The novel was intended to educate Wyss's own sons on natural history, physical science, self-reliance, and Christian-oriented moral lessons.
The descent of Dorian Gray, a handsome young man whose portrait ages and deteriorates in reflection of his immoral actions, while he remains eternally youthful.
Count Dracula’s attempt to move from Transylvania to England in order to spread the undead curse, and the efforts of a group of people to stop him.
Set in Paris during the 15th century the story centers on Quasimodo, the hunchback bell-ringer of the Notre-Dame Cathedral.
A gothic short story that follows an unnamed narrator as he visits a childhood friend, Roderick Usher, who has a mysterious illness.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a nineteenth century period novel. Published in 1850 yet taking place in the mid-1600s, the story follows the scandal caused in a small puritan town when the unmarried Hester Prynne refuses to name the father of her infant daughter, Pearl. This novel is considered a classic of nineteenth century American literature.