If you’re always chasing the next good scare, then you know what a dent that horror habit can put in your book budget. But it doesn’t always have to! Because we’ve been enchanted with scaring ourselves and each other for millennia, there are plenty of eerie tales out there in the public domain, just waiting to find a new home inside your brain. Read on for a list of legendary spine-chillers that you can find for free online whenever you want.

The Vampyre

Read The Vampyre free through Project Gutenberg

Conceived at the same Lake Geneva retreat where Mary Shelley famously penned Frankenstein, The Vampyre has the distinction of being the first English vampire story ever published — pre-dating Dracula by over 70 years. This tale written by Dr. John Polidori follows the independently wealthy gentleman Aubrey as he becomes acquainted, and travels around Europe, with the mysterious Lord Ruthven. As the nobleman’s debauchery escalates, Aubrey begins to understand that there may be a supernatural predator hiding behind Ruthven’s morose playboy façade.

The Night Land

Read The Night Land free through Project Gutenberg

You are on Earth in the far future. The sun is dead, and the remnants of humanity all live together in a giant metal pyramid. No one can go outside, as that would mean facing the inhuman (in some cases formerly human) monsters that live out there in the dark, waiting for the last of Earth’s volcanic energy to run itself out so that they might claim man’s last bastion for the darkness. This is the setup for William Hope Hodgson’s 1912 novel The Night Land, a work of fantastical horror that H.P. Lovecraft deemed unforgettable (if somewhat verbose) in its dark, macabre imagery. This somber future landscape is so captivating and influential that over a century later, writers are still churning out tales set in Hodgson’s haunting Night Land.

Frankenstein

Read Frankenstein free through Standard Ebooks

One of the most famous novels of the 19th century, Frankenstein was written while western Europe was experiencing a renaissance in the sciences, with new and seemingly groundbreaking discoveries being made practically every day. But what if one of those ambitious doctors decided to take on the ultimate villain: death? That’s the question that Mary Shelley, the mother of science fiction, explores in her heartbreaking and bone-chilling gothic tale of an ambitious medical student who must learn to face the consequences of his curiosity.

The Mysteries of Udolpho

Read The Mysteries of Udolpho free through Global Grey Ebooks

Love a dark romance set in a crumbling castle? How about forbidden love, fallen nobility and grand journeys through picturesque European vistas? If that sounds like your vibe, then Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho ticks all the boxes. This genre-defining late 18th century gothic novel follows Emily St. Aubert as she’s forced to move in with her aunt and her aunt’s shifty new husband to a remote castle in Northern Italy. Separated from her true love and fending off unwanted advances from a disgraced count, Emily’s life spirals into terror as she struggles to separate the ghosts that haunt the castle from those haunting her soul.

The Island of Doctor Moreau

Read The Island of Dr. Moreau free through Planet Ebook

You’ve never had a tropical island getaway like this. H.G. Wells explores what it would be like to be stranded in the South Pacific with a mad scientist and his creations in this extraordinarily dark 1896 sci-fi novel. It follows in the footsteps of Shelley, dealing with themes of playing god and what it means to be human, and building on them to probe at the ethical controversies surrounding late 19th century advances in science and medicine. Filled with bizarre monstrous humanoids and a sense of foreboding that settles in almost immediately and slowly builds, this surprisingly short work is a densely-packed grotesquerie that asks the still-timely question: Just because science can, does that mean it should?

The Dead Smile

Read “The Dead Smile” free through Digital Eel

Picture a grin that is so infectious, so evil in its stubborn persistence, that it lives on through generations. That’s the inspiration for “The Dead Smile,” Francis Marion Crawford’s masterful tale of a banshee, a vindictive corpse and a forbidden love. This short work of horror is perfect for the reader who loves poring over gorgeous prose while getting the creeps. Forty-four pages of concentrated poetic dread, this blood-chilling novella is quite potent in its ability to horrify as it delivers repeated gut-punches of shock and fear.

Any of these classics is your perfect companion for a stay at a cabin in the woods, or a dark, stormy night—and they don’t cost a cent. Be sure to light a fire (or turn on a space heater) to warm you while these dark tales chill your soul.

Do you have recommendations for public domain works of horror that aren’t mentioned here? Let me know so I can add them to my list!