For the comic book fan

 

Fourth World Saga, 

by Jack Kirby

This is the Ulysses of the graphic medium. It’s an odd distillation of Sixties counter-culture, cosmic revelation, and eye-popping art starring Superman, his pal Jimmy Olsen, Mister Miracle, and the odd metallic supervillain, Darkseid.

 

From Hell, by Alan Moore

For those who enjoy their metaphysical and philosophical speculations tinged with murder, Robarts houses Alan Moore’s masterpiece about the Jack the Ripper murders. It leaves you questioning authority, society, and the structure of the universe.

 

For the horror fan

 

The King in Yellow, 

by Robert W. Chambers

Published in 1895, this odd little collection of stories focuses on a play called The King in Yellow, which drives the people who read it insane. This book will give you nightmares about strange stars and even stranger cities.

 

For the crazy theory fan

 

The Witch Cult in Western Europe, by Margaret Murray

This tome by anthropologist Margaret Murray purports to uncover a secret witch cult that existed before civilization. Largely discredited now, Murray’s book had the unintentional effect of exerting a significant influence on the contemporary Wiccan and Neo-Pagan movements.

 

From Ritual to Romance, 

BY Jessie L. Weston

This fun little book claims to tell the true history of the Holy Grail — namely, that it was originally a pagan ritual that became Christian myth. T.S. Eliot cited this book as inspiration for his poem “The Waste Land,” though he would later claim it was bogus scholarship.

 

The Cult of Alien Gods, 

by Jason Colavito

For the logical purist, this book demonstrates that all modern UFO theories, and the “ancient astronaut theory” in particular, have their roots in the horror fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Along the way, Colavito debunks theories from leading UFO luminaries by exposing their logical fallacies, contradictions, and fabrications.

 

For the science fiction fan

 

Adventures in Time and Space, BY Raymond Healy and J. Francis McComas

Whether you’re a hardcore fan or couldn’t care less about science fiction, you need to read this collection. This science fiction anthology published in 1946 was meant to demonstrate the literary quality of modern science fiction.