--- description: Find out why 'The Turn of the Screw' by Henry James made the list. title: The Turn of the Screw: The 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5964618e3555e7ba/698a4085cabb1d63d1e51c63/TheturnofTheScrew.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Oct 03, 2023 # The Turn of the Screw by Henry James by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close  Famous for his dense novels like _The Portrait of a Lady_ and _The Golden Bowl_, this 1898 novella stands out in Henry James’ oeuvre. _The Turn of the Screw_ is the story of a governess who comes to look after two young siblings in the English countryside, and soon begins to suspect that her charges are communicating with ghosts of people who previously lived in the house. In this subtle, astute psychological thriller—which novelist Gillian Flynn once described as “deliciously elusive”—the reader is gripped by an eerie sense of dread and left wondering what, exactly, is real. The haunted and unsettling story has inspired numerous additional works of literature and [adaptations](https://time.com/5898095/haunting-of-bly-manor-turn-of-the-screw/ "undefined") for the stage and screen in the 125 years since its original publication. —_Lucas Wittmann_ --- ### More from TIME --- **Buy Now:** _The Turn of the Screw_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780141441351 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3RzyECd "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309156/the-turn-of-the-screw/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309156/the-turn-of-the-screw/"},"headline":"The Turn of the Screw: 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books","datePublished":"2023-10-03T11:56:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:20:45.923Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309156/the-turn-of-the-screw/","keywords":["Books"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5964618e3555e7ba/698a4085cabb1d63d1e51c63/TheturnofTheScrew.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5964618e3555e7ba/698a4085cabb1d63d1e51c63/TheturnofTheScrew.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309156/the-turn-of-the-screw/","name":"The Turn of the Screw: 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"How We Chose the 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books of All Time","description":"Here's how TIME created its 100 Best Mystery and Thriller Books list. There are books from 15 different countries, and no author appears on the list more than once.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/bNzuDcsg/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2023-10-02T16:54:39.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bNzuDcsg.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309156/the-turn-of-the-screw/","duration":"PT1M35S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-mystery-thriller-books/6309156/the-turn-of-the-screw/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```