The Shelves

Gothic Books

Books selected for readers looking for gothic books.

33 booksApril 2, 2026

Part of 500+ tracked lists·1 crossover shelf·87% reader overlap with Thrillers Supernatural Books

1. One Dark Window
Rachel Gillig, Lisa Cordileone
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Dark Fantasy
2. The Bog Wife
Kay Chronister, Shannon McManus
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
3. May the Dead Keep You
Jill Baguchinsky
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: YA Supernatural Thrillers
4. All the Dead Lie Down
Kyrie McCauley
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: YA Supernatural Thrillers
5. Plain Bad Heroines
Emily M. Danforth, Sara Lautman
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: YA Supernatural Thrillers
6. DRACULA
Bram Stoker
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
7. The Corpse Queen
Heather M. Herrman
Included for strong thrillers alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: YA Supernatural Thrillers
8. The Ghost Women
Jennifer Murphy
Included for strong book club alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Psychological Horror
9. When I Arrived at the Castle
E.M. Carroll
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
10. Mary and the Birth of Frankenstein
Anne Eekhout
Included for strong adult alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
11. Tales of the Troubled Dead
Catherine Belsey
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic & Romance Lit Crit
12. The Phantom of the Opera
Gaston Leroux
Included for strong murder alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
13. Dark Tales
Shirley Jackson, Ottessa Moshfegh
Included for strong short story alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
14. Jane Eyre
Charlotte Bronte, Charlotte Brontë
Included for strong classic alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: 19th-Century English Fiction
15. The Woman in White
Wilkie Collins
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
16. The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
Stephen Graham Jones
Included for strong book club alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Indigenous Horror
17. The Castle of Otranto
Esh Alladi, Horace Walpole
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
18. The House of Seven Gables
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
19. The Ruin of All Witches
Malcolm Gaskill, Kristin Atherton
Included for strong gifts alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
20. The First Witch of Boston
Andrea Catalano
Included for strong book club alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Witch Romance
21. The House by the Church-yard
J. Sheridan Le Fanu
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic Romance
22. Ghosts of the Silent Hills
Anita Krishan
Included for strong short story alignment with this gothic list.
Shelf signal: Supernatural Thrillers
23. Ecogothic
Andrew Smith, William Hughes
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Gothic & Romance Lit Crit
24. At the Mountains of Madness
H. P. Lovecraft, Edward Herrmann
Fits this list for its focus on gothic.
Shelf signal: Dark Fantasy