1. Lord Horror by David Britton (Formerly Banned in The U.K.)

Based on William Joyce, the infamous fascist broadcaster “Lord Haw Haw,” the razor-wielding Lord Horror stars in this 1989 novel set in a world which saw the Nazis win World War II. The Manchester authorities, who had harassed Britton's Savoy publishing house since the 1970s, figured that the book was an easy target and probably took some personal offense because, amid all its transgressions, the novel took clear aim at authoritarian repression, particularly the homophobia of the conservative-dominated Manchester police.

Lord Horror became the last book banned in Britain under the Obscene Publications Act, and Britton spent a month in jail. The author eventually had the ban overturned in a landmark ruling, but it had its impact: The book has never been republished, and copies are scarce. Plenty among the horror intelligentsia still consider Lord Horror a masterwork that never received the respect it deserves because of the crackdown.