7 Gothic novels for a haunting Halloween

A cool breeze is in the air and the echo of a howling wolf rings out somewhere in the distance. Above you stirs a stormy sky, and as you stumble around in the dark forest, a mysterious voice calls out to you...

It's Halloween season, and to celebrate, we made a list of seven of our favourite Gothic novels. Dive into a world of the unknown, full of spooky horrors and mysterious haunted houses.

Gothic literature is a fascinating genre that became popular during the industrial revolution in the 18th century. Readers quickly adored these gothic romances and early pioneers of science fiction such as Jekyll and Hyde. The gothic novel was a huge success, and even in the 21st century, their legacy remains.

So, from Frankenstein to Jane Eyre, sink your teeth into our seven best bloodthirsty gothic fiction books.

Dracula is a classic gothic novel – written by Bram Stoker in 1897. This novel features a grand gothic mansion and explores themes of desire and fear. It is one of the most famous gothic works from the 19th century.

Dracula centres around a vampire named Count Dracula. He moves from Transylvania to England to spread his curse and find new victims. A young lawyer named Jonathan Harker travels to Dracula's castle but soon realizes that the vampire has trapped him.

The story focusses on a group of heroes led by Dr Van Helsing who set out to destroy the vampire and save his victims.

Written by Mary Shelly, the novel Frankenstein was a cultural and literary revolution. This story follows a mad scientist named Frankenstein who creates a monstrous-looking being. But, when he sees this monster come to life, he is so frightened of how it looks that he casts it out entirely.

The creature, however, is misunderstood, sad, and intelligent. Shelley utilises many gothic landscapes, including mountains and arctic settings alongside the themes of isolation, ambition and religion.

Shelley’s Frankenstein is a masterpiece which appeared to her in as Gothic a setting as the story takes place. People speculate that on a writing retreat with friends, she awoke from a horrid nightmare, which inspired her to write this novel.

Frankenstein’s monster is a well-known symbol of Halloween. Mary Shelley’s novel is a must-read this spooky season!

Delve into the mind of another mad scientist with the classic gothic novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Many people have told and updated this well-known story many times. This includes the 2012 film, The Amazing Spider-Man.

This novel looks at the idea of identity. Dr Jekyll is a calm scientist, but he has a split personality: Mr Hyde. Unlike Dr Jekyll, Mr Hyde is a cruel and violent monster.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a must read for Halloween night this year.

Filled with eerie settings and a spooky ghost, Jane Eyre is a surprising yet iconic addition to this list. Jane Eyre is a psychological gothic novel, about a young orphan girl who faces a lot of hardship in her early life.

She then grows up and becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall but falls in love with a secretive man - Mr Rochester. As their relationship grows, Jane learns about love, trust and standing up for herself. The book shows her journey to find happiness and independence in different situations.

This is gothic novel has many dark and mysterious elements. Thornfield Hall is spooky and secretive, and Mr Rochester has a dark past. Creepy laughter comes from the attic of the hall and even a fire starts at random.

Most of all, though, the characters in this novel face difficult emotional choices. This gives Jane Eyre a unique psychological element.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is often seen as Oscar Wilde’s greatest novel. It tells the story of a man who sells his soul and does this so his portrait will age instead of him. He then lives a life of wrongdoing that never ends. This is shown in his picture as it ages, while he stays forever young.

Wilde explores regularly the meaning of ‘art’ – a key component of Romantic era literature. It also delves into the dark themes of sin, demonic entities and the concept of ‘self’.

The Picture of Dorian Gray shows the idea of a human on the outside but without a soul on the inside. This is the complete opposite of Shelley's Frankenstein, where her creature is a monster on the outside but human on the inside.

It gives us an interesting view on human identity.

This 1951 novel is a newer addition to the gothic genre. Stephen King considers it one of the greatest of all time.

The Haunting of Hill house by Shirley Jackson is about a group of people who stay in an old mansion called Hill House to study strange events happening there. Eleanor, a lonely woman, feels a strong connection to the house, but the house seems to slowly take control of her. In the end, the haunting becomes too powerful leading to great tragedy.

This novel has many classic gothic elements like dark haunting settings and mysterious entities.

This list would be incomplete without including the first Gothic novel to be written. Walpole’s Castle of Otranto features a haunted castle, ghostly figures and religious imagery.

This novel is about a man named Prince Manfred. He wants to keep control of his castle after a mysterious helmet falls and kills his son. He tries to marry his son's fiancée to secure his power, but strange events unfold and family secrets emerge. In the end, Manfred loses everything and the true heir takes the castle.

Prophecies and ghostly events explore the idea of spiritual involvement with the human world. This novel likely inspired the iconic novels, Frankenstein and Dracula with its haunted castle.

Finally, we will finish off our list with some iconic gothic short stories. These include Charlotte Perkin Gilbert’s tale of madness, The Yellow Wallpaper, and Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven. The Raven has become one of the most famous gothic symbols of all time.

We hope you enjoyed our top picks for Gothic novels this spooky season. If you enjoyed these books, you can find more gothic short stories and artworks in our Halloween courses: