Suggest me an unknown/obscure gothic lit book that you couldn’t put down.
I only ever hear about Frankenstein and Dracula when I look for gothic literature. I’d like to hear about some more unknown books.
Make sure you include the author.
carmilla by j. sheridan le fanu & interview with the vampire by anne rice!
GrumioInvictus on
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is another pretty accessible example.
Not obscure, but also not Frankenstein or Dracula.
Byron’s Manfred and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are among the seminal works of gothic literature, and should be read if you’re interested in the roots of the genre. I found them a bit of a slog when I read them, truthfully, but I wasn’t especially motivated at the time. Many consider Wuthering Heights a masterpiece.
lindswins7 on
Some of her work is very well-known(The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle), but even lesser known Shirley Jackson novels(Hangsaman, The Birds Nest) are excellent.
Ok-Cheetah-9125 on
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno (Gothic horror)
If you are still thinking classics, The Turn of The Screw or The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Jack-Campin on
The earliest works in the genre are Beckford’s *Vathek* (different, but a bit amateurish) and Anne Radcliffe’s *The Mysteries of Udolpho* (haven’t read it). Later you get Matthew Lewis’s *The Monk* and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, which are more like the real thing as literature.
lazylittlelady on
We just read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zaffon on r/bookclub and it was very atmospheric
The collection from Barnes and Noble is 800 pages long and contains many more amazing stories but those are some of my favorites. Other authors in the book include Poe, Bram Stoker, and more. I read it every Halloween. Classic horror short stories are some of my favorite things to read.
Edit for this thread- that particular linked book is really beautiful and makes gothic literature dreams come true as far as the way it looks; black with skulls and spiders etc, with gold pages lol. And not for a bad price either.
YukariYakum0 on
House on the Borderland and The Night Land: A Story Retold both by William Hope Hodgeson. They were an inspiration for Lovecraft.
formfett on
I like H.P. Lovecraft. I spent a lot of time on his collected works.
10 Comments
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carmilla by j. sheridan le fanu & interview with the vampire by anne rice!
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is another pretty accessible example.
Not obscure, but also not Frankenstein or Dracula.
Byron’s Manfred and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights are among the seminal works of gothic literature, and should be read if you’re interested in the roots of the genre. I found them a bit of a slog when I read them, truthfully, but I wasn’t especially motivated at the time. Many consider Wuthering Heights a masterpiece.
Some of her work is very well-known(The Haunting of Hill House, We Have Always Lived in the Castle), but even lesser known Shirley Jackson novels(Hangsaman, The Birds Nest) are excellent.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno (Gothic horror)
If you are still thinking classics, The Turn of The Screw or The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
The earliest works in the genre are Beckford’s *Vathek* (different, but a bit amateurish) and Anne Radcliffe’s *The Mysteries of Udolpho* (haven’t read it). Later you get Matthew Lewis’s *The Monk* and the stories of Edgar Allan Poe, which are more like the real thing as literature.
We just read The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zaffon on r/bookclub and it was very atmospheric
I’m copying my comment on another thread but:
Here are some of my favorite classic horror short stories, for free to read online. If you’d like them in actual book form, they’re available at Barnes and Noble [in a collection for $25 here.](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/classic-horror-stories-various-authors/1113792644)
[The Dunwich Horror by HP Lovecraft](https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks15/1500451h.html)
[The Monkeys Paw by JJ Jacobs](https://www.kyrene.org/cms/lib/AZ01001083/Centricity/Domain/2259/The%20Monkeys%20Paw%20-%20text.pdf)
[An Occurance at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/375/pg375-images.html)
[The Beckoning Fair One by Oliver Onions](https://web.english.upenn.edu/~nauerbac/onions.html)
[The Willows by Algernon Blackwood](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11438/pg11438-images.html)
[The Body Snatcher by Robert Louis Stevenson](https://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/BodySnat.shtml)
[The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/389/pg389-images.html)
[The Wendigo by Algernon Blackwood](https://www.gutenberg.org/files/10897/10897-h/10897-h.htm)
[The Colour Out of Space by HP Lovecraft](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/68236/pg68236-images.html)
[The Wind in the Rose-Bush by Mary Wilkins](https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1617/pg1617-images.html)
The collection from Barnes and Noble is 800 pages long and contains many more amazing stories but those are some of my favorites. Other authors in the book include Poe, Bram Stoker, and more. I read it every Halloween. Classic horror short stories are some of my favorite things to read.
Edit for this thread- that particular linked book is really beautiful and makes gothic literature dreams come true as far as the way it looks; black with skulls and spiders etc, with gold pages lol. And not for a bad price either.
House on the Borderland and The Night Land: A Story Retold both by William Hope Hodgeson. They were an inspiration for Lovecraft.
I like H.P. Lovecraft. I spent a lot of time on his collected works.