Author Ambrose Bierce (June 24, 1842-c. 1914) was a prolific and versatile writer regarded as one of the most influential journalists in the United States and as a pioneering writer of realist fiction. His horror writing is ranked alongside Edgar Allan Poe and H. P. Lovecraft. He may well be the greatest satirist America has ever produced.

Writer, poet, critic, and editor Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston, Massachusetts on January 19, 1809 and became a literary sensation in 1845 with the publication of his poem "The Raven," considered a great American literary work and one of the best of Poe's career.

Author Abraham "Bram" Stoker, born on November 8, 1847 was an Irish civil servant prolific writer, critic, journalist and theatre producer. He was a sickly child and spent a lot of time in bed. Growing up, his mother told him a lot of horror stories which may have influenced his later writings. He is of course most famous for creating one of the most memorable monsters in literary history. The gothic masterpiece, Dracula, was published by Archibald Constable in 1897. The book has continued to grip the public's imagination ever since, and it has never been out of print since its publication.

Arthur Machen, born March 3, 1863, in Caerleon, Monmouthshire, Wales, The United Kingdom, was a leading author of the 1890s. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. "The Great God Pan," published in 1894 made him famous and controversial in his lifetime.

One of the first noted American authors to be highly acclaimed in Europe during his life time, Washington Irving (April 3, 1783-November 28, 1859) wrote numerous short stories, biographies, histories, and tales of his travels. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," first published in 1820, is variously regarded as a Gothic tale and a modern folk story about the early history of the United States of America.