Alighieri, Dante - This is something of a lie. Dante did a really good job of describing the torments of Hell in The Inferno, but he really took his time about it. Great imagery and fun to quote as an inside-joke, but The Divine Comedy is not exactly light reading. Pretend this is Purgatory and you must read to cleanse yourself of sin.
Arthurian Literature - Monty Python and The Fisher King make a lot more sense if you have read the old Arthurian literature. The 12th Century version of The Quest for the Holy Grail (originally written in French, you stupid English-speaking k-niggits!) is my personal favorite. Even if Galahad is an obnoxious, self-righteous dork, Lancelot never acted more human.
Beowulf - This Anglo-Saxon epic was the inspiration for The Hobbit. Terrible monsters living in a swamp. The Thirteenth Warrior started by capturing the exact tone of this story, and then the movie's writer got lazy and wrote an awful ending for it. The end of Beowulf, however, does not suck, probably because its author was not trying to meet a deadline.
Bible, the - Isn't it wonderful to have an author as your Supreme Being? All religious implications aside, sacred texts are repositories for timeless wisdom, and the Bible is no exception (well, maybe not so much Leviticus, really...).
Blake, William - One of my all-time favorite poets. Blake's writing is playful and obscure.
Carroll, Lewis - Here is a man who knew how to play with words. He'd make a great Malkavian, don't you think?
Chaucer, Geoffrey - Far more interesting a writer than that weird dude in A Knight's Tale, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales were intended to be a series of short stories in a framework á la 1,001 Arabian Nights, but in a more familiar setting. Kind of like Baz Luhrman tried to do with Romeo and Juliet, except Chaucer didn't botch the job by starring Leo. Alas, poor Geoffrey died long before completing his pet project, leaving these warped and wild tales behind.
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor - This poet has some really spectacular work. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is quoted too much for its own good, but it is still an excellent narrative.
Dickinson, Emily - If she were alive today, I think she'd be a goth and play Vampire: the Masquerade on the weekends. Dickinson's poetry is like a riddle, and there is a certain satisfaction to finally figuring out what she is trying to say.
Gay, John - The Beggar's Opera is not so different from contemporary crime movies like Pulp Fiction and Goodfellas. It is worth reading for the ending, alone.
Homer - The Odyssey might be standard reading for any student of literature, but Greek mythology is the foundation of the fantasy genre.
Keats, John - Few poets had more potential than John Keats. Tragically, he died at the age of 26, never reaching his potential. Keats accomplished much in his short life, and he serves as a reminder to me of why I am pursuing my writing now, instead of waiting until middle age or later.
Lysistrata - Americans did not invent the sex comedy, folks. Here is a play written in Ancient Greece about women finding a new way to protest the war between Athens and Sparta.
Morrison, Toni - Beloved is a tough read, requiring an alert audience. This is a fantastic piece of literature set in the years after the abolition of slavery.
Poe, Edgar Allen - Alfred Hitchcock stole this man's act. If Emily Dickinson, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Mary Shelly started a Vampire chronicle, Edgar would be their Storyteller. Sinister images and macabre themes are Poe's strong suits. He had a strange fear of being buried alive, which manifests in several of his stories.
Shakespeare, William - Bacchus himself must have tutored this poet and playwright. There is a good reason why half his best lines are now cliches in the English language. It's the same reason why we don't capitalize "aspirin" anymore.
Shelley, Mary - Forget all the Hollywood horror movies, Frankenstein kicks ass! In an age where we have gained more and more power over life, this book has never been more applicable. We can blame God for creating human beings with the potential for evil, but who will we blame if our own creations do the same? Before The Stand or The Andromeda Strain, there was The Last Man. And before Highlander, there was "The Mortal Immortal".
The Wanderer - A piece of Old English poetry and one of the inspirations for the character of the Traveller in The Caligrean.
Whitman, Walt - Here's a guy who even wrote his journal entries as though he knew people would eventually read them. Few authors have, much less manage to express, Whitman's shameless energy.
Wilson, August - Wilson regularly uses supernatural elements in his plays, most of which tell tales of African Americans throughout history. My favorite is Joe Turner's Come and Gone, but it might just be my fascination with the character of Bynum in that play.