I will not even dip into the “or earlier” thing as you get into the classics then. “Frankenstein”, Dracula, et al. I will try to answer this question. There are a few books and films I would particularly recommend from that time.
The first I wished to offer is “The Watcher” by Charles MacLean.
The beginning is disturbing, inexplicable and casually violent. The proceeding story weaves through a series of mysterious events and psychotic fantasy as the protagonist is subjected to regression therapy by his psychiatrist, in fact you soon start to feel that your only tether to reality is the therapist's reports of the treatment.
The writing is skillful and provocative. I enjoyed puzzling little mysteries out (I'm still working on a few). There is a definite 'symptom' that precedes several of the main character's worst episodes and every time it made an appearance, the anticipation of what would happen next was horribly intense.
My second offering is “The Redemption” by William Peter Blatty
THE REDEMPTION opens in the world's most oppressive and isolated totalitarian state: Albania in the 1970s. A prisoner suspected of being an enemy agent is held by state security. An unsettling presence, he maintains an eerie silence though subjected to unimaginable torture. He escapes - and on the way to freedom, completes a mysterious mission. The prisoner is Dimiter, the American 'agent from Hell'. The scene shifts to Jerusalem, focusing on Hadassah Hospital and a cast of unusual characters. All become enmeshed in a series of baffling, inexplicable deaths, until events explode in a surprising climax.
Told with unrelenting pace, THE REDEMPTION's compelling, page-turning narrative is haunted by the search for faith and the truths of the human condition.
Third is “The Unpleasant Profession of Johnathan Hoag” By Robert Heinlein.
Jonathon Hoag discovers a mysterious substance under his fingernails and can't remember what he does for a living or how he spends his days. He enlists private detectives Edward and Cynthia Randall to follow him and uncover his identity, entangling them in a web of intrigue and nightmarish encounters… causing all to question their own and each other's sanity.
Fourth is “Rebecca” by Daphnie Du Maurier
On a trip to the South of France, the shy heroine of Rebecca falls in love with Maxim de Winter, a handsome widower. Although his proposal comes as a surprise, she happily agrees to marry him. But as they arrive at her husband's home, Manderley, a change comes over Maxim, and the young bride is filled with dread. Friendless in the isolated mansion, she realises that she barely knows him. In every corner of every room is the phantom of his beautiful first wife, Rebecca, and the new Mrs. de Winter walks in her shadow.
And lastly.
Fifth. The Dreaming Child by Karen Blixen.
Taken from the masterpiece that became “Seven Gothic Tales” This is the most wonderful of tales and as tragic as tragic could be. 'As for me I have one ambition only: to invent stories, very beautiful stories.' So said Karen Blixen who, in creating her spellbinding tales of fantasy and romance, also invented for herself the persona of Isak Dinesen.
