Tropes Gothic Atmosphere

Gothic Atmosphere

Dark settings, creeping dread, and secrets buried in the walls. Atmosphere as menacing as the plot itself.

Refreshed just now · 172 books

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  1. 1
    Frankenstein cover

    Frankenstein

    Mary Shelley · Horror

    *Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus* is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley.

    gothic atmosphere · redemption arc · anti hero · revenge plot

  2. 2
    Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil cover

    Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil

    V. E. Schwab · Literary Fiction

    This is a story about hunger. 1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada. A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of…

    magical realism · historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · twist ending

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  3. 3
    The Housemaid cover

    The Housemaid

    Freida McFadden · Horror

    Every day I clean the Winchesters' beautiful house top to bottom.

    psychological thriller · haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · trauma recovery

  4. 4
    Wolf Worm cover

    Wolf Worm

    T. Kingfisher · Horror

    Something darker than the devil stalks the North Carolina woods in Wolf Worm, a new gothic masterpiece from New York Times bestselling author T.

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · survival · trauma recovery

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  5. 5
    Japanese Gothic cover

    Japanese Gothic

    Kylie Lee Baker · Horror

    New York Times Most Anticipated Book for 2026 USA TODAY Most Anticipated Books of 2026 Goodreads Readers' Most Anticipated Books of 2026 Book Riot…

    gothic atmosphere · multiple timelines · paranormal romance · twist ending

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  6. 6
    Jane Eyre cover

    Jane Eyre

    Charlotte Brontë · Literary Fiction

    The novel is set somewhere in the north of England.

    gothic atmosphere · slow burn · workplace romance · forbidden romance · second chance romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  7. 7
    The Buffalo Hunter Hunter cover

    The Buffalo Hunter Hunter

    Stephen Graham Jones · Horror

    , a chilling historical horror novel tracing the life of a vampire who haunts the fields of the Blackfeet reservation looking for justice.

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · vampires · grimdark

  8. 8
    You Did Nothing Wrong cover

    You Did Nothing Wrong

    CG Drews · Horror

    Single mother Elodie’s life has become a fairy tale.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller

  9. 9
    Haunting Adeline cover

    Haunting Adeline

    H. D. Carlton · Romance

    **The Manipulator** I can manipulate the emotions of anyone who lets me.

    dark romance · obsessive love · possessive romance · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · cat and mouse

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Explicit — very graphic sexual content throughout
  10. 10
    Rebecca cover

    Rebecca

    Daphne du Maurier · Horror

    With these words, the reader is ushered into an isolated gray stone mansion on the windswept Cornish coast, as the second Mrs.

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · haunted setting · second chance romance · trauma recovery

  11. 11
    Witchcraft for Wayward Girls cover

    Witchcraft for Wayward Girls

    Grady Hendrix · Horror

    *‘I did an evil thing to be put in here, and I’m going to have to do an evil thing to get out.’* They call them wayward girls.

    gothic atmosphere · witches · coming of age · dark academia · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  12. 12
    The Knight and the Moth cover

    The Knight and the Moth

    Rachel Gillig · Fantasy

    Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all.

    gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance · quest · forbidden romance · slow burn

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  13. 13
    Dark Matter cover

    Dark Matter

    Michelle Paver · Horror

    A terrifying 1930s ghost story set in the haunting wilderness of the far north.

    gothic atmosphere · ghosts · survival · psychological thriller · historical fiction

  14. 14
    A Box Full of Darkness cover

    A Box Full of Darkness

    Simone St. James · Horror

    “From the book’s chillingly creepy setting, which previously appeared in The Sun Down Motel (2020), to a nerve-jangling plot that effectively borrows…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · closed circle

  15. 15
    King Sorrow cover

    King Sorrow

    Joe Hill · Horror

    Arthur Oakes is a reader, a dreamer, and a student at Rackham College, Maine, renowned for its frosty winters, exceptional library, and beautiful…

    grimdark · gothic atmosphere · trauma recovery

  16. 16
    One Dark Window cover

    One Dark Window

    Rachel Gillig · Fantasy

    An ancient, mercurial spirit is trapped inside Elspeth Spindle's head - she calls him the Nightmare.

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · chosen one · demons · trauma recovery

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  17. 17
    Dracula cover

    Dracula

    Bram Stoker · Horror

    To borrow a phrase used by one of the characters in the novel, Dracula is “nineteenth century up-to-date with a vengeance.” In her introduction to…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · vampires · historical fiction · paranormal romance

  18. 18
    Trad Wife cover

    Trad Wife

    Saratoga Schaefer · Horror

    A "traditional wife" influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her in this unnerving horror novel, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mary,…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · demons

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  19. 19
    Play Nice cover

    Play Nice

    Rachel Harrison · Horror

    Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · psychological thriller · demons · trauma recovery

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  20. 20
    The Body cover

    The Body

    Bethany C. Morrow · Horror

    The Body is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror story from bestselling author Bethany C.

    psychological thriller · trauma recovery · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  21. 21
    The Lamb cover

    The Lamb

    Lucy Rose · Horror

    Young Margot lives in the woods with Mama.

    gothic atmosphere · grimdark

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  22. 22
    Yesteryear cover

    Yesteryear

    Caro Claire Burke · Literary Fiction

    'A BOLD AND BITING SATIRE. WILL HAVE YOU GASPING TO THE FINAL PAGE' NITA PROSE 'SHOT THROUGH WITH HUMOUR AND LACED WITH DARKNESS' CLARE MACKINTOSH…

    dark academia · psychological thriller · twist ending · unreliable narrator · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  23. 23
    On Sundays She Picked Flowers cover

    On Sundays She Picked Flowers

    Yah Yah Scholfield · Horror

    “A ferociously talented writer. Scholfield writes with insight, beauty, and the wildness of real art.” —Victor LaValle, author of Lone Women In this…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · psychological thriller · survival

  24. 24
    Bunny cover

    Bunny

    Mona Awad · Literary Fiction

    Samantha Heather Mackey couldn't be more of an outsider in her small, highly selective MFA program at New England's Warren University.

    dark academia · magical realism · gothic atmosphere · coming of age · grimdark

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  25. 25
    Between Two Fires cover

    Between Two Fires

    Christopher Buehlman · Horror

    “Buehlman…slips effortlessly into a different kind of literary sensibility, one that doesn’t scrimp on earthy humor and lyrical writing in the face…

    historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · survival · grimdark

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  26. 26
    Hazelthorn cover

    Hazelthorn

    CG Drews · Horror

    Evander has lived like a ghost in the forgotten corners of the Hazelthorn estate ever since he was taken in by his reclusive billionaire guardian,…

    gothic atmosphere · coming of age · grimdark · dark academia · haunted setting

  27. 27
    We Have Always Lived in the Castle cover

    We Have Always Lived in the Castle

    Shirley Jackson · Literary Fiction

    Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark…

    unreliable narrator · psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · small town · morally grey character

  28. 28
    Spoiled Milk cover

    Spoiled Milk

    Avery Curran · Horror

    “The haunted lesbian boarding school horror show we always wanted.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · found family · paranormal romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  29. 29
    The Picture of Dorian Gray cover

    The Picture of Dorian Gray

    Oscar Wilde · Literary Fiction

    **The Picture of Dorian Gray** is a philosophical novel by Irish writer Oscar Wilde.

    dark academia · obsessive love · gothic atmosphere

  30. 30
    The Bewitching cover

    The Bewitching

    Silvia Moreno-Garcia · Horror

    “Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter…

    gothic atmosphere · witches · haunted setting · multiple timelines · dark academia

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  31. 31
    Blood on Her Tongue cover

    Blood on Her Tongue

    Johanna van Veen · Horror

    **The Netherlands, 1887.** Lucy's twin sister Sarah is unwell.

    gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance · vampires · dark academia

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  32. 32
    Strange Pictures cover

    Strange Pictures

    Uketsu · Horror

    A Japanese mystery horror bestseller, revolving around a series of creepy drawings, in which the reader is the detective - from the Youtube sensation…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · twist ending · multiple timelines

  33. 33
    Mexican Gothic cover

    Mexican Gothic

    Silvia Moreno-Garcia · Horror

    An isolated mansion. A chillingly charismatic aristocrat. And a brave socialite drawn to expose their treacherous secrets. . . . From the author of…

    gothic atmosphere · cosmic horror · psychological thriller · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  34. 34
    Hungerstone cover

    Hungerstone

    Kat Dunn · Horror

    An orphaned, emotionally isolated heiress with no money marries a cunning steel tycoon for a chance to build back her life.

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · grimdark · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  35. 35
    'Salem's Lot cover

    'Salem's Lot

    Stephen King · Horror

    Ben Mears has returned to Jerusalem's Lot in the hopes that living in an old mansion, long the subject of town lore, will help him cast out his own…

    gothic atmosphere · vampires · small town · haunted setting · redemption arc

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  36. 36
    Hemlock & Silver cover

    Hemlock & Silver

    T. Kingfisher · Fantasy

    Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

    dark romance · grimdark · gothic atmosphere · twist ending · witches

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  37. 37
    Nocticadia cover

    Nocticadia

    Keri Lake · Romance

    A dark, atmospheric tale of deadly secrets and forbidden love.

    dark romance · paranormal romance · forbidden romance · morally grey character · revenge plot · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  38. 38
    Weavingshaw cover

    Weavingshaw

    Heba Al-Wasity · Fantasy

    In this debut gothic fantasy, a young woman who can see the dead strikes a deal with the magnetic and dangerous Saint of Silence, a purveyor of dark…

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · forbidden romance · dark romance · morally grey character

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  39. 39
    Hollow cover

    Hollow

    Caroline Peckham · Fantasy

    From the Amazon.com and Wall Street Journal #1 bestselling authors of the Zodiac Academy series Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti.

    dark romance · paranormal romance · fae · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  40. 40
    Anathema cover

    Anathema

    Keri Lake · Fantasy

    From USA Today bestselling author Keri Lake comes a hardcover repackage of her spellbinding gothic dark fantasy about a shunned woman who is forced…

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance · demons · portal fantasy · trauma recovery

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  41. 41
    We Live Here Now cover

    We Live Here Now

    Sarah Pinborough · Horror

    Award-winning author of New York Times bestselling breakout novel (and hit Netflix show) Behind Her Eyes returns with a haunting Gothic novel about a…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · haunted setting · trauma recovery

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  42. 42
    Our Wives Under the Sea cover

    Our Wives Under the Sea

    Julia Armfield · Horror

    Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  43. 43
    Wretch cover

    Wretch

    Eric LaRocca · Horror

    From rising horror star and award-winning author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke comes a nightmarish, haunting, tech-Gothic thrill…

    dark romance · obsessive love · trauma recovery · gothic atmosphere · ghosts

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  44. 44
    The Keeper cover

    The Keeper

    Sarah Langan · Horror

    Some believe Bedford, Maine, is cursed.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · small town

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  45. 45
    Wife Shaped Bodies cover

    Wife Shaped Bodies

    Laura Cranehill · Horror

    Sorrowland meets Manhunt in this literary horror debut in which an isolated newlywed—covered in mushroom growths like all the other wives in her…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · haunted setting · forbidden romance

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  46. 46
    The Place Where They Buried Your Heart cover

    The Place Where They Buried Your Heart

    Christina Henry · Horror

    On an otherwise ordinary street in Chicago, there is a house.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · trauma recovery

  47. 47
    The Fourth Wife cover

    The Fourth Wife

    Linda Hamilton · Horror

    The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas meets “Sister Wives” in a deliciously chilling, darkly romantic, historical gothic horror with a feminist slant, as a…

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · historical fiction · forbidden romance

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  48. 48
    Maria the Wanted cover

    Maria the Wanted

    V. Castro · Horror

    Newly turned Mexican vampire, Maria, is not just out for blood, she wants answers.

    paranormal romance · dark romance · vampires · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  49. 49
    The Knave and the Moon cover

    The Knave and the Moon

    Rachel Gillig · Fantasy

    **Rachel Gillig, the queen of gothic romantasy, returns with higher stakes, darker mysteries, and deeper longings in this gorgeous sequel to the #1…

    gothic atmosphere · slow burn · forbidden romance · dark romance

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  50. 50
    Something Wicked This Way Comes cover

    Something Wicked This Way Comes

    Ray Bradbury · Horror

    Few American novels written this century have endured in the heart and memory as has Ray Bradbury's unparalleled literary classic SOMETHING WICKED…

    coming of age · gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance

  51. 51
    The Poisoner cover

    The Poisoner

    I.V. Ophelia · Romance

    ***SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION with custom SPRAYED and DESIGNED edges, available only in the first printing!*** The Lost Apothecary meets Gothikana in a…

    dark romance · historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · enemies to lovers · slow burn

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  52. 52
    The Only One Left cover

    The Only One Left

    Riley Sager · Mystery & Thriller

    At seventeen, Lenora Hope Hung her sister with a rope Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · unreliable narrator · trauma recovery

  53. 53
    Snake-Eater cover

    Snake-Eater

    T. Kingfisher · Horror

    In this witty fantasy horror from New York Times bestselling, Nebula and Hugo award-winning author T.

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · paranormal romance

  54. 54
    Dead of Winter cover

    Dead of Winter

    Kealan Patrick Burke · Horror

    Winter isn’t coming…it’s already here, and with it comes a horror no door can keep out.

    haunted setting · high stakes survival · gothic atmosphere

  55. 55
    Nestlings cover

    Nestlings

    Nat Cassidy · Horror

    Ana and Reid need a break. The horrifically complicated birth of their first child has left Ana paralyzed, bitter, and struggling―with mobility,…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · psychological thriller · urban fantasy

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  56. 56
    The Haunting of Hill House cover

    The Haunting of Hill House

    Shirley Jackson · Horror

    First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · closed circle

  57. 57
    The Unworthy cover

    The Unworthy

    Agustina Bazterrica · Horror

    In a dystopian convent sheltering women from a climate-ravaged world, a narrator yearning to ascend within the Sacred Sisterhood confronts her…

    dystopian society · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  58. 58
    Incidents Around the House cover

    Incidents Around the House

    Josh Malerman · Horror

    To eight-year-old Bela, her family is her world.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · coming of age · psychological thriller

  59. 59
    Fevre Dream cover

    Fevre Dream

    George R. R. Martin · Horror

    When struggling riverboat captain Abner Marsh receives an offer of partnership from a wealthy aristocrat, he suspects something's amiss.

    gothic atmosphere · vampires · dark romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  60. 60
    What Moves the Dead cover

    What Moves the Dead

    T. Kingfisher · Horror

    When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  61. 61
    Nightshade cover

    Nightshade

    Autumn Woods · Fantasy

    “I’ll love you with the same intensity that you hate me.” At elite Sorrowsong University, hidden in the misty Scottish Highlands, Ophelia Winters…

    dark academia · enemies to lovers · slow burn · forbidden romance · revenge plot · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  62. 62
    Rosemary's Baby cover

    Rosemary's Baby

    Ira Levin · Horror

    Contains: - [Rosemary's Baby](https://openlibrary.org/works/OL28322W/Rosemary's_Baby) - [Stepford…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  63. 63
    Turn Off the Light cover

    Turn Off the Light

    Jacquie Walters · Horror

    Two women living centuries apart are bound by the same dark secret in this haunting novel that "upends everything you think you know about ghost…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · multiple timelines · ghosts · twist ending

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  64. 64
    Gideon the Ninth cover

    Gideon the Ninth

    Tamsyn Muir · Fantasy

    "The Emperor needs necromancers.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · locked room · found family

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  65. 65
    Rest Stop cover

    Rest Stop

    Nat Cassidy · Horror

    A young musician finds himself locked inside a gas station bathroom in the middle of the night by an unseen assailant, caught between the horrors on…

    psychological thriller · high stakes survival · locked room · gothic atmosphere

  66. 66
    A Christmas Carol cover

    A Christmas Carol

    Charles Dickens · Literary Fiction

    A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens.

    redemption arc · ghosts · gothic atmosphere · coming of age

  67. 67
    Interview with the Vampire cover

    Interview with the Vampire

    Anne Rice · Horror

    This is the story of Louis, as told in his own words, of his journey through mortal and immortal life.

    dark romance · paranormal romance · gothic atmosphere · forbidden romance

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  68. 68
    Model Home cover

    Model Home

    Rivers Solomon · Horror

    Welcome to Rivers Solomon's dark and wondrous Model Home, a new kind of haunted-house novel.

    haunted setting · coming of age · gothic atmosphere · found family

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  69. 69
    The Exorcist cover

    The Exorcist

    William Peter Blatty · Horror

    THE CHILLING MOVIE WE COULD NOT FORGET ...

    haunted setting · cosmic horror · psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere

  70. 70
    Lucky Day cover

    Lucky Day

    Chuck Tingle · Horror

    ***Lucky Day* is the latest from Chuck Tingle, *USA Today* bestselling author of *Camp Damascus* and *Bury Your Gays*, where one woman must go up…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · revenge plot

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  71. 71
    Two Twisted Crowns cover

    Two Twisted Crowns

    Rachel Gillig · Fantasy

    Elspeth and Ravyn have gathered most of the twelve Providence Cards, but the last, and most important one remains to be found: The Twin Alders.

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · chosen one · twist ending · demons · morally grey character

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  72. 72
    This House Will Feed cover

    This House Will Feed

    Maria Tureaud · Horror

    Amidst the devastation of Ireland’s Great Famine, a young woman is salvaged from certain death when offered a mysterious position at a remote manor…

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · haunted setting · survival

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  73. 73
    The Only Good Indians cover

    The Only Good Indians

    Stephen Graham Jones · Horror

    Ten years ago outside Browning, Montana, four Blackfeet shot some elk, and then went on with their lives.

    revenge plot · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · trauma recovery

  74. 74
    Bat Eater cover

    Bat Eater

    Kylie Lee Baker · Horror

    Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · grimdark · cosmic horror

  75. 75
    A House With Good Bones cover

    A House With Good Bones

    T. Kingfisher · Horror

    **A contemporary Southern Gothic from award-winning master of modern horror T.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · psychological thriller

  76. 76
    A Study in Drowning cover

    A Study in Drowning

    Ava Reid · Fantasy

    Effy has always believed in fairy tales.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · slow burn · forbidden romance · morally grey character

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  77. 77
    Never Let Me Go cover

    Never Let Me Go

    Kazuo Ishiguro · Sci-Fi

    Ishiguro explores what it means to have a soul and how art distinguishes man from other life forms.

    dystopian society · gothic atmosphere · trauma recovery · multiple timelines

  78. 78
    The Fox and the Devil cover

    The Fox and the Devil

    Kiersten White · Fantasy

    An obsession with a beautiful serial killer entangles a vampire hunter's daughter in an immortal sapphic romance in this mesmerising new gothic…

    gothic atmosphere · dark romance · obsessive love · vampires · paranormal romance

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  79. 79
    Don't Let the Forest In cover

    Don't Let the Forest In

    CG Drews · Horror

    *Once upon a time, Andrew had cut out his heart and given it to this boy, and he was very sure Thomas had no idea that Andrew would do anything for…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · unreliable narrator · coming of age

  80. 80
    Stolen Tongues cover

    Stolen Tongues

    Felix Blackwell · Horror

    A romantic cabin getaway doesn’t go exactly as planned.

    forced proximity · ghosts · gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance · survival

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  81. 81
    📖

    House of Splinters

    Laura Purcell · Horror

    House of Splinters is the long-awaited prequel to bestselling and multi award-winning author Laura Purcell's gothic horror classic, The Silent…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · closed circle

  82. 82
    The Fourth Princess cover

    The Fourth Princess

    Janie Chang · Literary Fiction

    From the internationally bestselling author of The Porcelain Moon comes a haunting Gothic novel set in 1911 China.

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · missing person · psychological thriller · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  83. 83
    The Little Stranger cover

    The Little Stranger

    Sarah Waters · Literary Fiction

    Abundantly atmospheric and elegantly told, *The Little Stranger* is Sarah Waterss most thrilling and ambitious novel yet.

    psychological thriller · historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  84. 84
    What Feasts at Night cover

    What Feasts at Night

    T. Kingfisher · Horror

    After their terrifying ordeal at the Usher manor, Alex Easton feels as if they just survived another war.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · dark romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  85. 85
    Diavola cover

    Diavola

    Jennifer Thorne · Horror

    Anna has two rules for the annual Pace family destination vacations: *Tread lightly and survive*.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting

  86. 86
    Carmilla cover

    Carmilla

    Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu · Horror

    https://openlibrary.org/works/OL2895536W

    paranormal romance · gothic atmosphere · vampires · dark romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  87. 87
    Mother Is Watching cover

    Mother Is Watching

    Karma Brown · Horror

    The chilling horror debut from a #1 international bestselling author—an art conservator’s obsession with a mysterious painting spirals into a…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · haunted setting

  88. 88
    Hemlock cover

    Hemlock

    Melissa Faliveno · Horror

    A woman haunted by a dark inheritance returns to the woods where her mother vanished, in this queer Gothic novel.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · trauma recovery · coming of age

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  89. 89
    Bone of My Bone cover

    Bone of My Bone

    Johanna van Veen · Horror

    A skull's grin is eternal... The year is 1635. Sister Ursula, a young nun fleeing the ruins of her convent, and Elsebeth, a sharp-witted peasant,…

    dark romance · forbidden romance · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  90. 90
    The Bone Queen cover

    The Bone Queen

    Will Shindler · Horror

    A chilling horror-thriller debut where a mother's search for her missing daughter battles against the shadows of a historic, dangerous legend.

    gothic atmosphere · missing person · paranormal romance

  91. 91
    The Spite House cover

    The Spite House

    Johnny Compton · Horror

    A Best Horror Book of the Year (Esquire)!

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · revenge plot

  92. 92
    Afterbirth cover

    Afterbirth

    Emma Cleary · Horror

    For fans of Nightbitch, Motherthing, and Baby Teeth, a "mommy horror" masterpiece as hypnotic as it is terrifying, from bold new talent Emma Cleary A…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · trauma recovery · obsessive love

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  93. 93
    The September House cover

    The September House

    Carissa Orlando · Horror

    When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t…

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · romantic comedy

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  94. 94
    Dead Beat cover

    Dead Beat

    Leigh Bardugo · Fantasy

    The highly anticipated, explosive conclusion to the Ninth House trilogy from #1 New York Times bestselling author Leigh Bardugo.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · demons · found family

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  95. 95
    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde cover

    The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

    Robert Louis Stevenson · Horror

    Mr. Gabriel Utterson is a serious, austere lawyer living a humdrum life in Victorian London. Yet there is a strange clause in his friend, Dr. Henry…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · morally grey character · twist ending

  96. 96
    Slewfoot cover

    Slewfoot

    Brom · Horror

    **Set in Colonial New England, Slewfoot is a tale of magic and mystery, of triumph and terror as only dark fantasist Brom can tell…

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · demons

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  97. 97
    The Hounding cover

    The Hounding

    Xenobe Purvis · Horror

    Even before the rumors about the Mansfield girls begin, Little Nettlebed is a village steeped in the uncanny, from strange creatures that wash up on…

    gothic atmosphere · small town · haunted setting · psychological thriller · closed circle

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  98. 98
    The Silent Companions cover

    The Silent Companions

    Laura Purcell · Horror

    **When newly widowed Elsie is sent to see out her pregnancy at her late husband's crumbling country estate, The Bridge, what greets her is far from…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · ghosts · locked room · psychological thriller

  99. 99
    Stalking Jack the Ripper cover

    Stalking Jack the Ripper

    Kerri Maniscalco · Horror

    A gothic murder mystery set in gritty Victorian-era London, where an intrepid society girl finds herself embroiled in the investigation of a serial…

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · psychological thriller · dark academia · slow burn

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  100. 100
    The Turn of the Screw cover

    The Turn of the Screw

    Henry James · Horror

    The governess of two enigmatic children fears their souls are in danger from the ghosts of the previous governess and her sinister lover.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · unreliable narrator

  101. 101
    The Haar cover

    The Haar

    David Sodergren · Horror

    “I don’t fear death... but they do.” Muriel McAuley has lived in the Scottish fishing village of Witchaven all her life. She was born there, and…

    gothic atmosphere · closed circle · survival

  102. 102
    House of the Beast cover

    House of the Beast

    Michelle Wong · Horror

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  103. 103
    Dark Sisters cover

    Dark Sisters

    Kristi DeMeester · Horror

    “A BONFIRE, A BEACON, A BALM, A RALLYING CRY...

    historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · revenge plot

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  104. 104
    The Hill in the Dark Grove cover

    The Hill in the Dark Grove

    Liam Higginson · Horror

    Moving and chilling, The Hill in the Dark Grove is a story about a lost way of life and the terrifying lengths we go to to protect what we know.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · grimdark · trauma recovery

  105. 105
    My Darling Dreadful Thing cover

    My Darling Dreadful Thing

    Johanna van Veen · Horror

    *Spirits are drawn to salt, be it blood or tears.* Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · psychological thriller · found family

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  106. 106
    Lone Women cover

    Lone Women

    Victor LaValle · Literary Fiction

    Blue skies, empty land—and enough wide-open space to hide a horrifying secret.

    historical fiction · survival · trauma recovery · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · grimdark

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  107. 107
    Gild cover

    Gild

    Raven Kennedy · Romance

    Gold. Gold floors, gold walls, gold furniture, gold clothes. In Highbell, in the castle built into the frozen mountains, everything is made of…

    dark romance · paranormal romance · forced proximity · possessive romance · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  108. 108
    The Library After Dark cover

    The Library After Dark

    Ande Pliego · Mystery & Thriller

    A bookseller must escape the infamously haunted library that holds her darkest secrets, but with a murderer in her tour group, escaping alive is not…

    locked room · psychological thriller · haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · twist ending

  109. 109
    The Terror cover

    The Terror

    Dan Simmons · Horror

    The bestselling author of Ilium transforms the story of the ill-fated Franklin Expedition into a devastating historical adventure that will chill you…

    historical fiction · high stakes survival · gothic atmosphere · cosmic horror

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  110. 110
    The Hacienda cover

    The Hacienda

    Isabel Cañas · Horror

    Mexican Gothic meets Rebecca in this debut supernatural suspense novel, set in the aftermath of the Mexican War of Independence, about a remote…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · historical fiction · forbidden romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  111. 111
    The Last House on Needless Street cover

    The Last House on Needless Street

    Catriona Ward · Horror

    In a boarded-up house on a dead-end street at the edge of the wild Washington woods lives a family of three.

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · twist ending · haunted setting

  112. 112
    Dark is When the Devil Comes cover

    Dark is When the Devil Comes

    Daisy Pearce · Horror

    HE'S A KIDNAPPER. BUT SHE'S THE REAL MONSTER . . . Dark Is When the Devil Comes is the utterly gripping and chilling new novel from acclaimed horror…

    psychological thriller · cat and mouse · unreliable narrator · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  113. 113
    Grace cover

    Grace

    A.M. Shine · Horror

    A haunting tale of ancient evil and long-buried secrets in an isolated Irish community from the author of hit horror novel The Watchers.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · small town · closed circle

  114. 114
    Funeral Song cover

    Funeral Song

    Carly Racklin · Horror

    "A grotesque beauty in the vein of Guillermo del Toro, matched only by Carly Racklin's elegant prose." —Rachel Bolton, author of Please Serve Cold…

    gothic atmosphere · small town · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  115. 115
    The House Saphir cover

    The House Saphir

    Marissa Meyer · Fantasy

    Mallory Fontaine is a fraud. Though she comes from a long line of witches, the only magic she possesses is the ability to see ghosts, which is rarely…

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · forbidden romance · twist ending · morally grey character

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  116. 116
    The Wife Upstairs cover

    The Wife Upstairs

    Rachel Hawkins · Mystery & Thriller

    "A delicious twist on a Gothic classic, Rachel Hawkins' The Wife Upstairs pairs Southern charm with atmospheric domestic suspense, perfect for fans…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · twist ending

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  117. 117
    The Glowing Hours cover

    The Glowing Hours

    Leila Siddiqui · Horror

    A mind-bending, revisionist gothic horror story about the fabled summer Mary Shelley began work on Frankenstein, as told by her Indian housemaid,…

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · unreliable narrator · paranormal romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  118. 118
    We Are Always Tender with Our Dead cover

    We Are Always Tender with Our Dead

    Eric LaRocca · Horror

    Michael McDowell’s Blackwater meets Clive Barker’s The Great and Secret Show in the disturbing first installment of a new trilogy of intense,…

    gothic atmosphere · found family · small town · grimdark

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  119. 119
    The Infernal Devices cover

    The Infernal Devices

    Cassandra Clare · Fantasy

    All three books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Infernal Devices trilogy are now together in one boxed set!

    paranormal romance · dark academia · gothic atmosphere · found family · slow burn

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  120. 120
    The Bear and the Nightingale cover

    The Bear and the Nightingale

    Katherine Arden · Fantasy

    At the edge of the Russian wilderness, winter lasts most of the year and the snowdrifts grow taller than houses.

    magical realism · historical fiction · dark academia · gothic atmosphere

  121. 121
    Voices in the Snow cover

    Voices in the Snow

    Darcy Coates · Horror

    Clare remembers the cold. She remembers abandoned cars and children's toys littered across the road. She remembers dark shapes in the snow and a…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · unreliable narrator · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  122. 122
    Burial Rites cover

    Burial Rites

    Hannah Kent · Literary Fiction

    Set against Iceland's stark landscape, Hannah Kent brings to vivid life the story of Agnes, who, charged with the brutal murder of her former master,…

    historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · closed circle · trauma recovery

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  123. 123
    Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children cover

    Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children

    Ransom Riggs · Fantasy

    A mysterious island. An abandoned orphanage. A strange collection of peculiar photographs. It all waits to be discovered in Miss Peregrine's Home for…

    coming of age · urban fantasy · portal fantasy · found family · gothic atmosphere

  124. 124
    A Land So Wide cover

    A Land So Wide

    Erin A. Craig · Fantasy

    From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth Child comes an irresistible blend of dark fairytale and romantic fantasy.

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · enemies to lovers · revenge plot

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  125. 125
    The Tower of the Tyrant cover

    The Tower of the Tyrant

    J.T. Greathouse · Fantasy

    In a terrorized kingdom where the ghosts of the past do not rest in peace, a sorceress comes calling.

    grimdark · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · morally grey character · ghosts

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  126. 126
    📖

    Ring shout

    P. Djèlí Clark · Horror

    historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · closed circle

  127. 127
    House of Idyll cover

    House of Idyll

    Delilah S. Dawson · Horror

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Bloom and Guillotine comes a darkly seductive tale of beautiful rock stars, sinister cults, and a…

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · closed circle

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  128. 128
    Blackwater cover

    Blackwater

    Michael McDowell · Horror

    On the crest of the worst flood that Perdido, Alabama has ever seen, the mysterious Elinor Dammart is rescued from the topmost room of a flooded…

    gothic atmosphere · dark academia · small town

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  129. 129
    The Resurrectionist cover

    The Resurrectionist

    A. Rae Dunlap · Horror

    In the tradition of The Alienist and Anatomy: A Love Story, a decadently macabre, dark and twisty gothic debut set in 19th century Scotland – when…

    historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · dark academia · cat and mouse · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  130. 130
    The Cold House cover

    The Cold House

    A.G. Slatter · Horror

    When Everly’s husband and young daughter die in a car crash she finds out nothing is quite what she thought… Secrets, lies and grief collide in this…

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · trauma recovery · twist ending

  131. 131
    Camp Damascus cover

    Camp Damascus

    Chuck Tingle · Horror

    From beloved Internet icon Chuck Tingle comes a searing and earnest horror debut about the demons the queer community faces in America, the price of…

    psychological thriller · coming of age · gothic atmosphere · demons

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  132. 132
    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow cover

    The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

    Washington Irving · Horror

    A superstitious schoolmaster, in love with a wealthy farmer's daughter, has a terrifying encounter with a headless horseman.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · small town · love triangle

  133. 133
    Withered Hill cover

    Withered Hill

    David Barnett · Horror

    'A terrific, unexpected twist' Guardian 'Withered Hill is the ultimate nightmare destination' Laird Barron InsideA year ago Sophie Wickham stumbled…

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · amnesia · closed circle · haunted setting

  134. 134
    House of Hollow cover

    House of Hollow

    Krystal Sutherland · Horror

    ! An Instant Indie Bestseller! A dark, twisty modern fairytale where three sisters discover they are not exactly all that they seem and evil things…

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · twist ending · found family

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  135. 135
    Something in the Walls cover

    Something in the Walls

    Daisy Pearce · Horror

    Newly minted child psychologist Mina has little experience.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller

  136. 136
    Banquet for the Damned cover

    Banquet for the Damned

    Adam Nevill · Horror

    Few believed Professor Coldwell was in touch with an unseen world, that he could commune with spirits.

    gothic atmosphere · cosmic horror · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  137. 137
    House of Hunger cover

    House of Hunger

    Alexis Henderson · Horror

    Wanted: A bloodmaid of exceptional taste.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · found family · coming of age

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  138. 138
    My Cousin Rachel cover

    My Cousin Rachel

    Daphne du Maurier · Literary Fiction

    Orphaned at an early age, Philip Ashley is raised by his benevolent older cousin, Ambrose.

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · forbidden romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  139. 139
    The Infamous Gilberts cover

    The Infamous Gilberts

    Angela Tomaski · Literary Fiction

    The Remains of the Day meets The Royal Tenenbaums in this darkly funny debut novel about a wealthy, eccentric family in decline and the secrets held…

    dark academia · historical fiction · gothic atmosphere · found family

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  140. 140
    Sarafina cover

    Sarafina

    Philip Fracassi · Horror

    During one of the most violent battles of the Civil War, three brothers fighting for the Confederate army decide to go AWOL and make their way home,…

    gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · haunted setting

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  141. 141
    To Bleed a Crystal Bloom cover

    To Bleed a Crystal Bloom

    Sarah A. Parker · Fantasy

    Nineteen years ago, I was plucked from the heart of a bloody massacre that spared nobody else.

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · forbidden romance · obsessive love

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  142. 142
    Mortedant's Peril cover

    Mortedant's Peril

    RJ Barker · Fantasy

    In a city of ancient automata, strange spirits, and sleeping gods, a cleric of death finds his own life on the line in this vividly imagined fantasy…

    grimdark · cozy vibes · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  143. 143
    The Temptation of Charlotte North cover

    The Temptation of Charlotte North

    Camilla Bruce · Fantasy

    A rebellious young woman desperate to escape her predetermined life joins forces with an unlikely ally—a sinister spirit—in this dark gothic fantasy…

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · secret identity · demons · redemption arc

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  144. 144
    The Last Lady B cover

    The Last Lady B

    Eloisa James · Romance

    'Smart, stylist, sexy' JULIA QUINN, bestselling author of the Bridgerton series A brand-new witty historical romance with a gothic twist from New…

    grumpy sunshine · gothic atmosphere · slow burn

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  145. 145
    What Stalks the Deep cover

    What Stalks the Deep

    T. Kingfisher · Mystery & Thriller

    The next installment in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a…

    psychological thriller · survival · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  146. 146
    Jamaica Inn cover

    Jamaica Inn

    Daphne du Maurier · Mystery & Thriller

    Her mother's dying request takes Mary Yellan on a sad journey across the bleak moorland of Cornwall to reach Jamaica Inn, the home of her Aunt…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · historical fiction

  147. 147
    Home Before Dark cover

    Home Before Dark

    Riley Sager · Mystery & Thriller

    THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • One of USA Today's Best Books of 2020 “A haunted house story—with a twist….[Sager] does not hold…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · twist ending · closed circle

  148. 148
    The Graceview Patient cover

    The Graceview Patient

    Caitlin Starling · Horror

    Misery meets Invasion of the Body Snatchers in this genre-bending, claustrophobic hospital gothic from the bestselling author of The Death of Jane…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · trauma recovery · closed circle

  149. 149
    Horrorstor cover

    Horrorstor

    Grady Hendrix · Horror

    Something strange is happening at the Orsk furniture superstore in Cleveland, Ohio.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · closed circle · survival

  150. 150
    Hell House cover

    Hell House

    Richard Matheson · Horror

    Rolf Rudolph Deutsch is going die.

    haunted setting · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · closed circle

  151. 151
    The Stepford Wives cover

    The Stepford Wives

    Ira Levin · Horror

    For Joanna, her husband, Walter, and their children, the move to beautiful Stepford seems almost too good to be true.

    gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller · closed circle · paranormal romance

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  152. 152
    Juniper & Thorn cover

    Juniper & Thorn

    Ava Reid · Horror

    From highly acclaimed, bestselling author Ava Reid comes a gothic horror retelling of The Juniper Tree, set in another time and place within the…

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · dark romance · redemption arc · trauma recovery · witches

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  153. 153
    The Willows cover

    The Willows

    Algernon Blackwood · Horror

    After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Budapest, the Danube enters a region of singular loneliness and desolation, where its waters spread…

    gothic atmosphere · cosmic horror · psychological thriller · haunted setting

  154. 154
    The Salt Grows Heavy cover

    The Salt Grows Heavy

    Cassandra Khaw · Horror

    You may think you know how the fairy tale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince.

    dark romance · gothic atmosphere · magical realism · paranormal romance

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  155. 155
    The Woman in Black cover

    The Woman in Black

    Susan Hill · Horror

    In the process of settling an estate, Arthur Kipps finds himself confronted with some very unsettling matters.

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · ghosts · psychological thriller

  156. 156
    Where No Shadow Stays cover

    Where No Shadow Stays

    Sara Hashem · Horror

    A homecoming queen and a bad-boy loner team up to break a generational curse in this YA supernatural horror from a talented Egyptian American voice.

    coming of age · revenge plot · gothic atmosphere · chosen one

  157. 157
    Hex House cover

    Hex House

    Amy Jane Stewart · Horror

    A feverishly told, dark and unsettling Scotland-set fairy-tale about a safe haven for women which transforms them into vessels of revenge, perfect…

    gothic atmosphere · haunted setting · forbidden romance · revenge plot · found family

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  158. 158
    You Watched in Silence cover

    You Watched in Silence

    H. Lee Justine · Horror

    In this shivery blend of queer psychological thriller and horror, evocatively set in the secluded islands of the Pacific Northwest, You Watched in…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance · closed circle

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  159. 159
    Of Beasts cover

    Of Beasts

    M. Jane Worma · Horror

    In this queer horror novel debut, a priest falls in love with the antichrist and even God can't stop the horror it will bring.

    forbidden romance · dark romance · demons · gothic atmosphere · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  160. 160
    The Hound of the Baskervilles cover

    The Hound of the Baskervilles

    Arthur Conan Doyle · Mystery & Thriller

    The Hound of the Baskervilles is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes.

    gothic atmosphere · cat and mouse · historical fiction

  161. 161
    The Only One Who Knows cover

    The Only One Who Knows

    Lisa M. Matlin · Mystery & Thriller

    A disgraced TV news reporter returns to her violent hometown to investigate a series of deadly shark attacks in this nail-biting suspense novel from…

    psychological thriller · gothic atmosphere · revenge plot · small town · cat and mouse

  162. 162
    A Slow and Secret Poison cover

    A Slow and Secret Poison

    Carmella Lowkis · Mystery & Thriller

    In the early 1900s, a young gardener at a lush English manor falls in love with her employer whose past is shrouded in deadly secrets—from the author…

    forbidden romance · gothic atmosphere · historical fiction · small town · slow burn

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  163. 163
    A Sorceress Comes to Call cover

    A Sorceress Comes to Call

    T. Kingfisher · Fantasy

    From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T.

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · dark romance · forbidden romance · witches

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  164. 164
    Wildwood Dancing cover

    Wildwood Dancing

    Juliet Marillier · Fantasy

    High in the Transylvanian woods, at the castle Piscul Draculi, live five daughters and their doting father.

    slow burn · forbidden romance · gothic atmosphere · paranormal romance · fae · magical realism

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  165. 165
    The Lighthouse Witches cover

    The Lighthouse Witches

    C. J. Cooke · Fantasy

    A Most Anticipated Novel by Pop Sugar * Book Riot * Betches * Bustle * and more!

    witches · gothic atmosphere · multiple timelines · twist ending

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  166. 166
    Gormenghast cover

    Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake · Fantasy

    A young earl's future in a sprawling castle could be changed by a feral girl and a cunning servant in this acclaimed gothic fantasy trilogy's second…

    grimdark · gothic atmosphere · dark academia · political intrigue · morally grey character

  167. 167
    A Forest, Darkly cover

    A Forest, Darkly

    A.G. Slatter · Fantasy

    Perfect for fans of Ava Reid and Lucy Holland, this is a page-turning dark fantasy of persecuted witches, snatched children, twisted magic,…

    witches · grimdark · gothic atmosphere · revenge plot · trauma recovery

  168. 168
    The Snow Child cover

    The Snow Child

    Eowyn Ivey · Fantasy

    November, 1920. Jack and Mabel have staked everything on making a fresh start in a homestead 'at the world's edge' in the Alaskan wilderness. But as…

    magical realism · historical fiction · coming of age · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  169. 169
    The Faithful Dark cover

    The Faithful Dark

    Cate Baumer · Fantasy

    READERS LOVE BAUMER'S DARK WORLD .

    dark academia · gothic atmosphere · forbidden romance · demons · psychological thriller

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus
  170. 170
    The Locked Tomb Series cover

    The Locked Tomb Series

    Tamsyn Muir · Fantasy

    The Emperor needs necromancers. The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for…

    grimdark · found family · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️Mild — romantic tension, kissing, nothing explicit
  171. 171
    Holy Monsters cover

    Holy Monsters

    Imani Erriu · Fantasy

    BOOK III AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER NOW The Dark has returned... and she is hunting hearts. Devour the next instalment in Elara and Enzo's epic love story

    dark romance · fated mates · obsessive love · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️Spicy — explicit sexual content, multiple open-door scenes
  172. 172
    Certain Dark Things cover

    Certain Dark Things

    Silvia Moreno-Garcia · Fantasy

    From a critically-acclaimed novelist Silvia Moreno-Garcia comes Certain Dark Things, a pulse-pounding and action-packed contemporary fantasy that…

    paranormal romance · urban fantasy · vampires · gothic atmosphere

    🌶️🌶️🌶️Moderate — some open-door scenes, not the focus