This post is all about 21 Gothic Horror Books to fulfill all your creepy old houses, dreary landscapes, broody heroes, passion, and monster needs.
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Oh, be still my beating heart. This week we are diving into Gothic Horror, the realm that was birthed and fueled by the greats, such as Poe, Shelley, and Stevenson. If you couldn’t tell, this is one of my favorite genres.
But, if you’re new to the Gothic Horror genre please allow me to give you a few details, so that you may better understand what the works most likely entail, in some way, shape, or form.
Gothic Horror is a sub-genre of horror. You’ll find there are many sub-genres, but most of the time they all overlap one another. You’ll almost always find some form of haunting, man vs. supernatural beings, monsters, and or gothic architecture. After that, it’s free for all. Don’t be surprised to find, romance, thriller, fantasy, horror, and or science fiction mixed with a gothic overtone.
So, let’s get on with the dark and stormy show, shall we? Oh and if you need some more reading fun, go check out- 23 Unputdownable Cosmic Horror Books for some Lovecraftian horror fun!
Great Gothic Horror Novels & Books
1. Chilling gothic horror books to read
by Katherine Clements (Author)
Maybe you’ve heard tales about Scarcross Hall, the house on the old coffin path that winds from village to moortop. They say there’s something up here, something evil.
Mercy Booth isn’t afraid. The moors and Scarcross are her home and lifeblood. But, beneath her certainty, small things are beginning to trouble her. Three ancient coins missing from her father’s study, and the shadowy figure is out by the gatepost, an unshakeable sense that someone is watching.
When a stranger appears seeking work, Mercy reluctantly takes him in. As their stories entwine, this man will change everything. She just can’t see it yet.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- Okay, if you love amazing historical gothic fiction, The Coffin Path is great. Meanwhile, this one is full of creepy, goosebumps-causing ghosts, and mystery.
2. Must-Have modern gothic horror novels
by Jonathan Durham (Author)
Everyone has wanted their favorite book to be real, if only for a moment. Everyone has wished to meet their favorite characters, if only for a day. But be careful in that wish, for even a history laid in ink can be repaid in flesh and blood, and reality is far deadlier than fiction . . ., especially on Addington Isle.
Winterset Hollow follows a group of friends to the place that inspired their favorite book—a timeless tale about a tribe of animals preparing for their yearly end-of-summer festival. But after a series of shocking discoveries, they find that much of what the world believes to be fiction is fact and that the truth behind their beloved story is darker and more dangerous than they ever imagined. It’s Barley Day . . . and you’re invited to the hunt.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- If you want more stories like Midsommar, Winterset Hollow is your next read. Nevertheless, this dark gothic fantasy is sure to make you question everything you think you know about your favorite books.
3. Hair-raising Victorian gothic horror books
by Emilie Autumn (Author)
Emilie, a young musician on the verge of a bright career, attempts suicide by overdosing on the antipsychotics prescribed to treat her bipolar disorder. Upon being discovered, Emilie is revived and immediately incarcerated in a maximum-security psych ward, despite her protestations that she is not crazy, and can provide valid reasons for her actions if someone would only listen.
Treated as a criminal, heavily medicated, and stripped of all freedoms, Emilie is denied communication with the outside world and falls prey to the unwelcome attentions of Dr. Sharp, head of the hospital’s psychiatry department.
As Dr. Sharp grows more predatory by the day, Emilie begins a secret diary to document her terrifying experience, and to maintain her sanity in this environment that could surely drive anyone mad.
But when Emilie opens her notebook to find a desperate letter from a young woman imprisoned within an insane asylum in Victorian England, and, stranger still, bearing her name and description, a portal to another world is blasted wide open.
Welcome to the Asylum. Are you committed?
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- Okay, Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls, grabs you by the throat and forces you to look at the harshness in our world. Overall this is an amazing Gothic Horror Fiction that should be on your TBR list.
4. Unnerving modern gothic horror books
by April Genevieve Tucholke (Author)
Nothing much exciting rolls through Violet White’s sleepy, seaside town…until River West comes along. River rents the guesthouse behind Violet’s crumbling estate, and as eerie, grim things start to happen, Violet begins to wonder about the boy living in her backyard. Is River just a crooked-smiling liar with pretty eyes and a mysterious past? Or could he be something more?
Violet’s grandmother always warned her about the Devil, but she never said he could be a dark-haired boy who takes naps in the sun, who likes coffee, who kisses you in a cemetery…who makes you want to kiss back. Violet’s already so knee-deep in love, she can’t see straight. And that’s just how River likes it.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- Well I mean come on. Who doesn’t love a Gothic Horror Romance? While Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea rides the YA line, it’s still an amazing read for gothic thriller lovers out there.
5. Ghostly gothic horror monsters
by Darcy Coates (Author)
Daniel is desperate for a fresh start. So when a mysterious figure slides a note under his door offering the position of groundskeeper at an ancient estate, he leaps at the chance, even though it seems too good to be true. Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The abandoned mansion is straight out of those old gothic mysteries: the front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived here in a long time… but he has nowhere else to go.
Against his better judgment, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage tucked away behind the old family crypt. But when a candle flickers to life in the abandoned tower window, Daniel realizes he isn’t alone after all. Something awful happened here long ago, and it’s a paranormal mystery Daniel is afraid to solve. Because Craven Manor is hiding a terrible secret…
One that threatens to bury him with it.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So, I’ve read this 3 times. Craven Manor takes all the things I love about Gothic Horror and Gothic Monsters and beautifully smashes them together, making sure by the time you get to the twisty end you won’t know who’s who, or what.
6. Sexy gothic horror novels 19th century
by Keri Lake (Author)
After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I’d find the cure for what ravaged her. And leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me.
Four years later, I receive an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest, most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it’s rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before. Those whose bones are said to make up the island’s white sandy shores.
And restless ghosts aren’t even its most daunting peculiarity.
Devryck Bramwell, known on campus as Doctor Death, is a brilliant pathologist in charge of the midnight lab. He’s also my devastatingly handsome professor, who seems to loathe tenacious first-years, like me. Except, his dark and enigmatic gaze tells me all the ways he’d devour me if given the chance, and his stolen kisses burn my lips with forbidden jealousy.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So this Dark Academia Gothic Romance brings the horror from the word go and doesn’t stop. Overall from start to finish, Nocticadia brings all the goodies.
7. Petrifying gothic horror books modern
by L.V. Pires (Author)
Thirty-three-year-old Anne Towry is a woman who knows little about herself and even less about her family. Sent away from Whitehall Manor when she was only ten years old, Anne struggles to make sense of her life. When she receives an urgent phone call from Dr. Cornish informing her that her mother, Seraphine, has gone missing, Anne returns to her childhood home in an attempt to figure out what went wrong.
Arriving at Whitehall Manor changes everything for Anne. The longer she stays, the more immersed she becomes in the haunting beauty of the Marigold Garden. When she finds Seraphine’s journal she is shocked as page after page reveals bone-chilling confessions including a retelling of the night her family was changed forever. Unraveling the truth comes with a price when the true terror of a decade-old family secret threatens to pull Anne deeper into the horror of the Towry family curse.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- Well if you love a good dark family secret gothic horror novel, The Haunting Of Whitehall Manor is a must-read. Full of twists, turns, and suspense this one will keep you guessing until the very end.
8. Blood-curdling gothic horror books and films
by A.M. Shine (Author)
This forest isn’t charted on any map. Every car breaks down at its treeline. Mina’s is no different. Left stranded, she is forced into the dark woodland only to find a woman shouting, urging Mina to run to a concrete bunker. As the door slams behind her, the building is besieged by screams.
Mina finds herself in a room with a wall of glass, and an electric light that activates at nightfall, when the Watchers come above ground. These creatures emerge to observe their captive humans and terrible things happen to anyone who doesn’t reach the bunker in time.
Afraid and trapped among strangers, Mina is desperate for answers. Who are the Watchers, and why are they keeping the humans imprisoned, keen to watch their every move?
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So if you love to see your gothic horror turned into a film, The Watchers is a great choice.
9. Great Victorian gothic horror novels
by Lucas Hault (Author)
In a silent, sleepy castle, evil has awakened…
Famed British lawyer Gerard Woodward is summoned to an ancient Welsh castle to assist a dying lord in his final affairs. But as his host slips closer to death, Gerard begins to feel less like a guest and more like a prisoner. When he finds himself locked inside his room, he realizes he must escape.
After finding his way out of his room, Gerard begins to wonder if he was safer locked inside. The labyrinthine halls echo secrets. A terrible wail and the rattling of chains sets his nerves on end. Something sinister is happening within the walls of Mathers Castle, and when he descends into the dungeons, he discovers a horrible secret…
In nearby London, children vanish into the night, animals are mutilated, and a savage creature stalks the shadows. When Gerard’s wife, Raelyn, becomes the creature’s next target, his need to escape reaches a fever pitch. He must get out alive so he can dispel the evil that threatens to destroy his beloved Raelyn… and the rest of us.
Booked & Bewitched Babbles- So if you love classic gothic horror, The Devil’s Whispers must go on your TBR list. This takes our love of gothic monsters and refreshes them in an epic way
10. Nerve-racking good gothic horror books
by Kat Ross (Author)
It’s August 1888, just three weeks before Jack the Ripper will terrorize Whitechapel, and another murderer is stalking the streets of New York. His handiwork bears the hallmarks of a demonic possession—but amateur sleuth Harrison Fearing Pell is certain her quarry is a man of flesh and blood. And she hopes to make her reputation by solving the bizarre case before the man the press has dubbed Mr. Hyde strikes again.
From the squalor of the Five Points to the high-class gambling dens of the Tenderloin and the glittering mansions of Fifth Avenue, Harry follows the trail of a remorseless killer, uncovering a few embarrassing secrets of New York’s richest High Society families along the way. Are the murders a case of black magic—or simple blackmail? And will the trail lead closer to home than she ever imagined?
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- Okay, if Sherlock Holmes could join Scully and Mulder, it’d be The Daemoniac episode. Demonic possession, dark secrets, female sleuths, and gothic horror? I’ll be over here reading.
11. Frightening best gothic horror novels
by R. Saint Claire (Author)
When Briar Rose accepts a new position at Ravenscroft Hall, she attracts the attention of a young estate lawyer in town. But soon, the mansion’s eccentric owner pulls Briar into his cold yet intoxicating embrace, and she finds herself torn between easygoing Jake Caldwell and the mysterious Archer Ravenscroft.
Alarmed by a string of murders shaking up the small village, Briar uncovers a ghostly mystery that will turn one or both of her infatuations deadly.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- Well if you need more ghostly gothic horror romance in your life, Ravenscroft Hall is an awesome choice. Full of twists, turns, romance, and classic gothic details.
12. Binge-Worthy top 10 gothic horror novels
by Lauren Goffigan (Author)
London, 1890. Mina Murray once lived an adventurous life, but after a tragedy in the forests of Transylvania, she left it all behind. Now she has settled into a quiet routine as a schoolteacher in London, engaged to the respectable solicitor Jonathan Harker, attempting to fit into the stuffy upper-class London society to which he belongs.
But when vampires abduct Jonathan, her dark past comes careening into her present. Determined to rescue him, she teams up with her former paramour Abraham Van Helsing and his colleague, Scotland Yard Inspector John Seward.
As they pursue Jonathan’s abductors from England to the Low Countries and beyond, Mina realizes that Jonathan’s abduction is tied to a larger threat against humanity…
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- While I can’t get enough Dracula retellings, The Beast Of London is yet another one I can’t wait to read. This Victorian gothic horror has Mina as the lead, and it sounds amazing. I can’t wait to read it!
13. Sinister best gothic horror books
by Caitlin Starling (Author)
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So if like me, Crimson Peak is one of your favorite movies, you must read The Death Of Jane Lawrence. Full of epic gothic horror details and twists, this is an absolute must-have for all the gothic lovers out there.
14. Epic southern gothic horror novels
by Mike Duran (Author), Rachel Marks (Illustrator)
Every autumn, when the weather turned and the wind came off the marsh, the dark waters of Wickers Bog gave up their ghosts and reawakened the old yarns.
Julene Ella Haddan is about to be drawn into one of them.
It was a grey, joyless day when young Julene heard the song of the siren and followed its melody into the enchanted swamp… a journey which led her into a tale of murder and deceit. It’s only the fated who hear the siren. Yet Julene’s fate now seems bound to the fabled Lady of Lisenby, the spectral gatekeeper of the Bog, queen of the haunted deep. However, is it justice the Lady seeks or is Julene the siren’s next victim?
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- If you’ve been on the search for a great short gothic horror story, and have a love of ghostly justice. Wicker Bog will keep you guessing till the very end.
15. Creepy best gothic horror short stories
by Sarah M. Cradit (Author)
The Doctor delights in the decadent detail of his dastardly designs.
He was not always The Doctor. The Doctor was once The Cunning Man. Indeed, he was this man for all his life and until only moments ago. He is still this man in the ways that matter, in the intrinsic black, smoking swirls where his soul should be.
But to the world, he is now The Doctor. Because The Doctor is the only one capable of accomplishing The Cunning Man’s goals.
The year is 1665, and the Great Pestilence laps at his doorstep. He knows what he must do.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So this is another great short horror story is all gothic horror lovers. The Cunning Man takes you back to the era of the great plague and all the horrors it entailed.
16. Fearsome American gothic horror books
by Paul McParland (Author)
A chilling ghost story from 1980’s New England
James has lost his job as a hotshot Boston attorney and his idyllic marriage to Karen is on the rocks.
In an attempt at rekindling their former life, the couple relocates with their children to the small town of Blackwater, Vermont, and a grand Victorian Manor.
But the house has a history and a terrible secret.
A deathly menace lies in wait inside Blackwater House.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- For all those who love Amityville, Blackwater is an awesome gothic horror reading choice. From its tension-building start to its fast-paced ending, this is a TBR must-have.
17. Terrifying gothic horror books for adults
by Maria DeBlassie (Author)
The women of Sueño, New Mexico don’t know how to live a life without sorrows. That’s La Llorona’s doing. She roams the waterways looking for the next generation of girls to baptize, filling them with more tears than any woman should have to hold. And there’s not much they can do about the Weeping Woman except to avoid walking along the riverbank at night and to try to keep their sadness in check. That’s what attracts her to them: the pain and heartache that gets passed down from one generation of women to the next.
Mercy knows this, probably better than anyone. She lost her best friend to La Llorona and almost found a watery grave herself. But she survived. Only she didn’t come back quite right and she knows La Llorona won’t be satisfied until she drags the one soul that got away back to the bottom of the river.
In a battle for her life, Mercy fights to break the chains of generational trauma and reclaim her soul free from ancestral hauntings by turning to the only things that she knows can save her: plant medicine, pulp books, and the promise of a love so strong not even La Llorona can stop it from happening. What unfolds is a stunning tale of one woman’s journey into magic, healing, and rebirth.
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- If you love occult horror or gothic horror, you must read Weep, Woman, Weep. This fairy tale and or urban legend retelling is an amazing read.
18. Awesome popular gothic horror books
by Kit Campbell (Author)
After the sudden loss of her parents, 16-year-old Martie Torsney receives a surprise scholarship from a prestigious boarding school. This is the opportunity she needs to leave the heartbreak and echoes of her parents behind.
Greyson Academy sits deep in the forests of Vermont, high on a hill overlooking the trees. The school has a long history of helping its students succeed in life. If Martie excels here, she’ll be set.
But all is not well at Greyson. Scholarship students are very rare, and none have ever completed their time at Greyson. And, now, someone wants Martie gone too. Her things are moved, cryptic messages are left, and the school is vandalized in her name. But is it the living trying to scare her away–or the dead?
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- Ok if you love a gothic horror full of red herrings and misdirection, Hallowed Hill is for you. Furthermore, this one keeps you twisting and turning until the last page.
19. Spine-chilling gothic horror books 2021
by Cindy Winget (Author)
Dr. John Montague is on a mission to uncover the truth behind the afterlife, and Hill House is where he’ll find it. The eighty-year-old mansion’s warped exterior hides a soul just as gnarled and twisted.
With his three assistants to help him discover the source of the house’s supernatural forces, Dr. Montague intends to live inside the crumbling building until he has the proof he needs. But when they hear incessant knocking on the walls at all hours of the night, a bloody message is found scrawled across a wall, and a friend begins to go mad, Dr. Montague fears he’s in over his head.
He calls his ex-wife for help, who is an accomplished medium, but that only seems to awaken the house further. Can he unmask Hill Houses’ secrets before it drives him insane, or will he become one more casualty of its horrors?
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So if you are a Poe lover or Shirley Jackson fan, Fall Of The House Of Crain is a great read. Additionally, it’s a great gothic horror work, for all the haunted house lovers out there too.
20. Eerie southern gothic horror books
by Aiden James (Author), Lisa Collicutt (Author), and J.R. Rain (Foreword)
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- So this Southern gothic horror grabs you right by the feels and doesn’t let go. Furthermore Reborn does an amazing job of pulling you into the story and putting you inside the MC’s head.
21. Outstanding best southern gothic horror
by Jane Steen (Author)
Booked and Bewitched Babbles- Well, if you enjoy gothic horror that rips your heart out of your chest, The House Of Closed Doors will provide.
This post was all about 21 Gothic Horror Books to fulfill all your creepy old houses, dreary landscapes, broody heroes, passion, and monster needs.
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