The leaves are ablaze and it’s finally sweater weather. With nights getting longer, it’s the perfect time to stay at home and get wrapped up in a good book or two (or ten). Gothic books are just the thing for the spooky season.
Here are our top 10 gothic books to read this fall:
1. The Vet’s Daughter by Barbara Comyns
A gem of a gothic novel, it’s hard not to devour The Vet’s Daughter in a single sitting. The book is set in Edwardian England and centers around Alice Rowlands– the daughter of a South-West London vet. A string of unfortunate events in Alice’s life awakens an unexpected power in her. Will this power lead to the escape she longs for– or will it be her undoing? Inspired by a real-life peculiar event that took place on Clapham Common, The Vet’s Daughter is gorgeously written, deliciously dark and weird– in the best sense of the word.
2. Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Another weird and wonderful suburban gothic, Nightbitch is a riveting feminist read. Struggling artist and stay-at-home mum (whose name we never find out), is having a hard time looking after her 2-year-old son. In her middle-class suburban town where everything seems peachy-keen, artist-mum resents her mostly absent husband and motherhood more generally. She starts to feel herself change not only on the inside– but on the outside too, with her teeth sharpening and hair sprouting all over her body. She transforms into a sort of dog monster and mayhem ensues. This contemporary gothic cleverly shines a light on the modern pressures of domestic life on women– and it does so with dark humour and plenty of style.
3. Beloved by Toni Morrison
If you haven’t already read this powerful Pulitzer-prize winning gothic novel, it’s one you should add to your list. The civil war is coming to an end, but Sethe is still not free– haunted by the memories of her past as a slave in Kentucky. She’s tormented by dark secrets that refuse to stay buried, like the ghost of her daughter, known only by the word carved on her tombstone: ‘Beloved’. This is a chilling and beautiful gothic novel that will leave you speechless.
4. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Would you sell your soul to the devil to stay young and beautiful forever? Well, Dorian Gray wouldn’t think twice about it. This gothic novel set in Victorian London is a classic favourite. It’s a thrill to watch Dorian spiral into a life of crime as he pursues his hedonistic pleasures. But his sins are not so easily forgotten. This tale of horror is everything you want it to be: full of suspense and dripping with nineteenth century decadence and swag.
5. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Believe the hype– ‘Mexican Gothic’ is everything you want in a modern gothic novel. A family drama set in a haunted mansion in the 1950s, there’s suspense at every turn. From the moment glamorous Noemi receives a strange letter from her cousin (who’s on honeymoon), we are pulled into the story: ‘He is trying to poison me. You must come for me, Noemí. You have to save me.’ Noemi sets off to investigate and so unfolds our gothic mystery. Set in the 1950s, Mexican Gothic is stylish, twisty and terrifically atmospheric.
6. Melmoth by Sarah Perry
An incredible re-imagining of Charles Maturin’s gothic novel, Melmoth The Wanderer, Sarah Perry’s Melmoth is a woman who wanders ‘until her feet are bleeding’, appearing anytime something horrible happens. It is Helen Franklin who investigates the myth with old texts that reference sightings of this sad, lonely figure. As we follow Helen’s investigations into whether Melmoth is real or not, we start to uncover her own terrible tragedy. A masterpiece that is unsettling, thought-provoking and beautiful in equal measures.
7. Mad Women’s Ball by Victoria Mas
Mad women often feature in gothic novels, and usually, their madness is not at all what it appears to be. Incredibly atmospheric and macabre, Mad Women’s Ball is set in the Salpêtrière asylum in 1885. Mas' story, inspired by a dreadful ball held in an oppressive asylum, is a real celebration of female strength.
8. Ghosted by Jen Ashworth
This modern gothic about a troubled relationship between a husband and wife is marvelously eerie. When Laurie’s husband disappears without his phone or wallet, she doesn’t report him missing for four weeks. No surprise that this delay in her reporting raises questions from police, friends and family. With dark-humour and pointed observations about modern-day relationships, Ghosted is a chilling story you won’t soon forget.
9. The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
We love a gothic romance– and The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a deliciously dark one. Set in 19th century London, Frannie Langton is on trial for murder. Though she can’t remember the events of the horrible night, it seems impossible that she could kill the woman she so dearly loved. In her cell, she starts to piece events together that led to the tragic mystery. Winner of the First Costa Novel Award, The Confessions of Frannie Langton is a haunting, beautiful tale about slavery, the longing for freedom and what it means to love.
10. Frankisstein a Love Story by Jeanette Winterson
A brilliant 21st century re-working of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Jeanette Winterson’s gothic book is whip-smart and darkly funny. The book is split between two timelines: 1816 when 19 year old Mary Shelley writes Frankenstein– and present day in a cryonics facility where the dead wait to be resurrected. No wonder it was longlisted for the Booker prize, Frankisstein asks important questions about the world we’re living in, and where we’re headed tomorrow– one of the reasons why we so love gothic fiction.
Happy reading!
Treat yourself to a gothic book + a brew, or send a curated book casket to your favourite person.
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