Horror hides behind an attractive face in The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar Wilde's tale of a notorious Victorian libertine and his life of evil excesses. Though Dorian's hedonistic indulgences leave no blemish on his ageless features, the painted portrait imbued with his soul proves a living catalogue of corruption. Desperate to hide the physical evidence of his unregenerate spirit, Dorian will stop at nothing, not even murder, to keep his picture's existence a secret.

A scandalous story when it was first published in 1890, Wilde's novel is acknowledged as a landmark of literature today and a tale emblematic of its time.