
Let’s recommend some gothic fiction
Gothic fiction is perhaps my favourite genre of all, so it feels long overdue that I recommend a few favourites. As always with this series, I invite you all to exchange your own recommendations in return.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
This, to me, is the epitome of the gothic genre at its very best. Secrets, lies, intrigue and mystery seep from the pages, as tension builds throughout. The atmosphere is enthralling and utterly immersive, with a sense of something sinister always lurking just beneath the surface. Plot wise, we follow a newly married young woman as she arrives at her husband’s estate, to find that the presence and influence of his deceased first wife still hangs over the house. At face value, it’s a fantastically gripping story, but there’s also so much else going on thematically if you want to dig a little deeper.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
This book explores notions of madness, isolation, sisterhood and othering, in a subtly affecting and deeply unsettling tale of two sisters who have been shunned from society following the strange deaths of their entire family. The narrator is a fascinating character; one that is as delightful as she is disturbed. There is a brewing sense of unease and an otherworldly tone throughout, and understated fairy tale-esque parallels towards the end that are incredibly effective in ramping up the book’s sinister edge.
The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell
This fairly recent addition to the genre features many of the classic components that have made it famous, including an isolated rural setting, a grand manor house, and a heroine out of her depth. In many ways, it could thus be seen as a love letter to the genre. There’s an undertone of witchcraft, and a flirtation between outright ghost story and possible madness in the mind of our protagonist, which I thought worked really well. There’s also a literary flair to the writing and a slight sense of whimsy that suited the tone of the novel, as well as a story-within-a-story structure that was implemented very successfully.
The Book Collector by Alice Thompson
Books, fairy tales, madness and murder – what’s not to love? This tale of obsession raises questions about what it really means to be insane, and explores the warped control that men so often had over women in the narratives of classic fairy tales; all with a deliciously sinister and feminist twist. Thompson’s writing is straight forward, and the story has a good sense of momentum and inevitability, which does well to draw allusions to the masterworks of both fairy tales and gothic literature that this book draws from and celebrates.
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What are some of your favourite gothic reads? Let’s chat about them!
Ooooh nice post! I love Gothic fiction, my favorite is Poe, and I really love The Woman in Black, and Sheridan le Fanu’s stories. I definitely need to read more, The Silent Companions is arriving to my mailbox soon, and the others are on my tbr, can’t wait to read them. 🙂
Ooh, yes, I really should read more Poe! The Woman in Black is also a great choice.
I hope you enjoy these when you get to them! 😊
Thanks! 🙂
This is an excellent list! I’ve only read Rebecca and The Book Collector so far, but have been meaning to read the other two. I’m reading This House is Haunted by John Boyne right now which is a delightful homage to gothic horror that I’m enjoying immensely so far, so I hope it ends well.
I still haven’t read any more John Boyne beyond The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, and I’m very annoyed with myself. Maybe This House is Haunted would be a good in to his work for me since I love gothic fiction?
I hope this is the year you and John Boyne reunite!! I’ll probably finish This House Is Haunted today or tomorrow, so I’ll let you know whether it stays strong or fizzles out. That’s always the problem with ghost stories, isn’t it?
Very true! More than most genres, they tend to live or die by the impact of their endings.
That is the perfect way to put it.
Great post! I love a bit of gothic fiction too. I’ve not heard of / read The Book Collector so I’m definitely going to check that out now 😀
Thanks! 😊 It got me hooked on Alice Thompson’s work, so I hope you enjoy it if you decide to give it a go!
Lovely choices!! I can’t wait to read The Book Collector and the Silent Companions.
I hope you enjoy them! 😊
I love Gothic Fiction and Shirley Jackson in particular. I recently read The Uninvited by Dorothy McArdle and it was great.
Ooh, I’ll have to look into that one. Thanks!
I looooove Gothic stories! I’ve only read Rebecca off this list, but I’ve read Shirley Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House! I tried to read We Have Always Lived in the Castle but for some reason it didn’t resonate? I might have to go back and try again. The other books are on my TBR!
I’m also reading This House is Haunted at the moment, so I’ll see how that turns out! One Gothic book that some folks have been talking about is The Girl From Rawblood; have you heard of it? It didn’t intrigue me from the start so I set it aside but I heard such good things I definitely have to go back and try again at some point.
Great post!
Oh, I just read The Haunting of Hill House earlier this month and loved it as well!
Similarly to you, The Girl from Rawblood is one I’ve seen a lot of positive things about, so I’ll need to look into it more.
Thank you for your comment, I’m glad you enjoyed the post! 😊
I really enjoy The Haunting of Hill House, and if you want to see a film version, be sure to watch The Haunting (1963), an old black and white movie. Don’t watch the Catherine Zeta Jones one from the 90s.
It often seems to be the way that older film adaptations are better than modern remakes… Thanks for the heads up! 🙂
You’re welcome! It sticks closer to the book, too. The newer version tried to, in some way, take out all the space for interpretation in the novel.
I haven’t read much gothic fiction, the only one I’ve read is Rebecca. That book was amazing. I tried reading Frankenstein but couldn’t get through it. Great post 🙂
Rebecca definitely got me hooked on du Maurier! It feels like a perfect example of gothic fiction to me. That’s a shame you didn’t get on with Frankenstein. I didn’t either when I read it years ago, but revisited it last year and engaged with it much more.
Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the post! 😊
No gothic works spring to mind, so I either read too many books, or not enough in this genre. I’ll start with one of your recommendations, because it is a style I used to favour!
I hope you enjoy them if and when you get around to them!
I love love love Gothic fiction! I studied it in college and have adored it ever since, though I’m ashamed to say that I’ve only read one of these! Definitely need to get to the others. I’m planning to read Rebecca for the first time this autumn 🙂
Good choice – Autumn is the perfect time of year for a gothic read! I hope you enjoy Rebecca 😊
There are so many Gothic novels! Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen, Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte, Drawing Blood by Poppy Z. Brite, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice, etc!
Great recommendations – thank you! I really must try some Austen one of these days, and I have often thought I’d start with Northanger Abbey since it supposedly has gothic vibes.
It’s both Gothic and humor. There were many pulp novels around the time she wrote Northanger Abbey, complete with heroines, locked doors, creepy attics, secrets, and fainting protagonists, so Austen wrote her own Gothic novel that also spoofs on those pulp works.
Sounds intriguing! I suspect that’s where I’ll start with her work after all.
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This is a good list. I am pleased that you put two Shirly Jackon novels on it. However, I’d like to recommend an underrated and forgotten piece of gothic literature back from the 19th century. It’s entitled “The Phantom Ship,” by Frederick Marryat. It’s easily in my top five list of best gothic lit. The book is about a young man’s father who is condemned to roam the sea as the Flying Dutchman, cursed for murdering a man at sea. The book has an ominous and dreary tone of hopelessness and despair throughout the whole story. It also has the best ghost story in the book I have read. Give it a try.
I haven’t heard of that one, so I’ll be sure to look into it. Thanks for the recommendation.
Definitely one my favourites has to be Carmilla. It actually spooked me in particular scene, and I think that says a lot with just mere words!
Sounds intriguing – I’ll have to look into that one! Thanks for the recommendation.
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