gothic books to start in your goth journey

the fall of the house of usher — edgar allan poe

1839

the turn of the screw — henry james

1898

the picture of dorian gray — oscar wilde

1890

we have always lived in the castle — shirley jackson

1972

carmilla — sheridan le fanu

1872

interview with the vampire — anne rice

1976

the castle of otranto — horace walpole

1764

frankenstein — mary shelley

1818

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley about the young student of science Victor Frankenstein, who creates a grotesque but sentient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty. The first edition was published anonymously in London in 1818. Shelley's name appears on the second edition, published in France in 1823.Shelley had travelled through Europe in 1814, journeying along the river Rhine in Germany with a stop in Gernsheim which is just 17 km (10 mi) away from Frankenstein Castle, where two centuries before an alchemist was engaged in experiments. Later, she travelled in the region of Geneva (Switzerland)—where much of the story takes place—and the topics of galvanism and other similar occult ideas were themes of conversation among her companions, particularly her lover and future husband, Percy Shelley. Mary, Percy, Lord Byron, and John Polidori decided to have a competition to see who could write the best horror story. After thinking for days, Shelley dreamt about a scientist who created life and was horrified by what he had made; her dream later evolved into the story within the novel.

dracula — bram stoker

1897

jane eyre — charlotte brontë

1847