The Island of Doctor Moreau

Sciences such as gene-splicing and bioengineering are foretold in Wells's haunting visionary fable. The book created a sensation when it first appeared in 1896, and Wells himself later deemed the work "an exercise in youthful blasphemy"! However, when you have science fiction, adventure, and horror, how can you go wrong? A shipwreck victim is stranded on an island run by the mysterious Dr. Moreau, who seems hospitable enough, but the jungle is full of menacing shapes -- and what about those ominous references to the House of Pain? We gradually learn of Moreau's unholy experiments and worry that the hero will never escape. The Pronouncer of the Law is as creepy as in all the filmed adaptations ("Are we not men?").