BBC Studios has launched The Haunted Library, a new horror podcast bringing classic Gothic novels and ghost stories to life.
Hosted by Merlin star Colin Morgan, with Harry Potter and Bridgerton actor Katie Leung appearing as guest host, the series opens with Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
BBC Studios has also confirmed adaptations of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Henry James’s The Turn of the Screw, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, Sheridan Le Fanu’s Carmilla and H.G. Wells’s The Invisible Man.
Shorter supernatural stories will also feature, with Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Algernon Blackwood and M.R. James among the writers named by the BBC.
Which classic horror stories are in The Haunted Library?
Two episodes of The Haunted Library will be released each week through BBC Sounds and major podcast platforms.
Apple Podcasts listeners can subscribe to The Haunted Library Plus for ad-free episodes seven days early.
The series is set inside a mysterious fictional library filled with strange books and unsettling tales, giving well-known classics a fresh audio treatment.
Many horror fans will already know stories such as Frankenstein, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, Dracula and The Picture of Dorian Gray.
But even familiar tales can still surprise us when we return to the originals.
There may also be some less familiar stories among the works of Blackwood, Conan Doyle, Le Fanu and M.R. James.
And hearing a shiny new BBC version is always fun.
From Edinburgh to Dublin: the writers haunting the BBC series
The series has strong British and Irish connections.
Stevenson and Conan Doyle were born in Edinburgh, while Wilde, Stoker and Le Fanu were all born in Dublin.
Le Fanu’s Carmilla was published more than 25 years before Dracula and remains one of the most important early vampire stories.
M.R. James became one of the defining writers of the English ghost story, while Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein helped shape both Gothic horror and early science fiction.
For fans of ghosts, Gothic fiction and supernatural literature, The Haunted Library looks set to be a welcome addition to the autumn listening schedule.
We are looking forward to listening and will bring you our thoughts on the stories, performances and surprises as the series continues.
The Haunted Library launches today, 21 September 2026.
