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Original poster

Need a gothic horror book

35 replies

Rayn · 06/12/2021 09:18

Need to find a good horror gothic book. My friend used to be a big reader in her teens and hasn't read a book since for twenty years!
She wants to get back into reading so want to buy a her a novel for Xmas. She loves horror and gothic in general but don't want to get anything too heavy as it may put her off!

Any recommnedations? I thought about The corset by Laura Purcell as I love that!

OP posts:
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littlepeas · 24/12/2021 17:15

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova.

littlepeas · 24/12/2021 17:14

Also Slade House by David Mitchell.

littlepeas · 24/12/2021 17:14

@iklboodolphrednosedpaindear

Yes to Laura Purcell - both The Silent Companions & The Corset.
Yes! I thought Silent Companions was scarier - I read it while staying in quite a spooky hotel and then later we drove past a house that had 2 cardboard cut out type people on a balcony (it was in Monterey Bay in California if anyone else has seen them Shock).
littlepeas · 24/12/2021 17:11

I was also going to suggest The Bloody Chamber! I found it really unsettling.

WildCherryBlossom · 19/12/2021 19:17

Has anyone mentioned Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde. I didn't bother reading it for ages as I figured I knew the story but when I did pick up a copy I loved it. And it's very short!

weebarra · 15/12/2021 12:46

I really enjoyed Mexican Gothic.

2022HereWeCome · 15/12/2021 12:15

I preferred Shirley Jackson's 'Haunting of Hill House' to 'We have always lived in the Castle' but both are good.

Best horror book I've read this year has been ' The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires'. It's very tongue in cheek but also surprisingly gory. But its not gothic

Recently read The Corset by Laura Purcell. Felt that the ending let it down but still a cracking read.

DaftLiz · 14/12/2021 19:12

Another vote for “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson

ChristmasFluff · 12/12/2021 17:19

The Stress of her Regard by Tim Powers. Also Hide Me Among the Graves, which is the first of the two books, but I read the Stress of her Regard first, and it's a better book.

iklboodolphrednosedpaindear · 07/12/2021 18:53

Yes to Laura Purcell - both The Silent Companions & The Corset.

JoyOrbison · 07/12/2021 18:15

Slade House - David Mitchell, but one part of it I found very sad

Ulysses · 07/12/2021 15:23

I saw the title and was going to recommend Laura Purcell and Stacey Halls but you and others have beaten me already. I love Bone China.

Original poster
Rayn · 07/12/2021 15:19

@MarshmallowSwede

Not a novel but a collection of short stories called “The Bloody Chamber”.

It’s a dark take on classic fairytales.

On my list!
OP posts:
MarshmallowSwede · 06/12/2021 23:42

Not a novel but a collection of short stories called “The Bloody Chamber”.

It’s a dark take on classic fairytales.

Bortles · 06/12/2021 23:16

Interview with the Vampire. Read in my teens and loved it.

A Head Full of Ghosts is also quite good.

The Haunting of Hill House is probably the best though. It hasnt left me since I read it. Very well written and just mind bendingly scary.

JoyOrbison · 06/12/2021 23:06

Dark Matter - Michelle Paver

Blimmin brilliant

The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell

Patrick Mcgrath books can be quite gothic too... Asylum is very dark!

ChubbyBroccoli · 06/12/2021 22:52

Shirley Jackson - We have always lived in the castle

Thomas Tryon - Harvest home

VittysCardigan · 06/12/2021 22:45

The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell
Thin Air - Michelle Paver
The Familiars - Stacey Halls

OppsUpsSide · 06/12/2021 22:35

Dark Matter by Michelle Paver

MartyHart · 06/12/2021 21:53

I highly recommend The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

LMBoston · 06/12/2021 21:50

Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver: proper dark and really creepy. Great writing, too (not all purple prose and fannying about like some so-called gothic fiction).

mightymalties · 06/12/2021 21:34

Rawblood by Catriona Ward is utterly wonderful, gothic horror at it's finest, in my opinion. Vastly different to The Last House on Needless Street in theme (in case you've read that)?

I'll also ALWAYS recommend NOS4A2 by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son), especially as a Christmas gift Wink

InTheCludgie · 06/12/2021 18:26

I've recently read This House Is Haunted by John Boyne and last Halloween I read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill, both quite creepy and gothic in feel

Original poster
Rayn · 06/12/2021 14:03

These are perfect! Will have a look at them all! I am just reading Dracula myself but think it may be too long winded for her.

Again love Stephen King but they are 'big books' and quite long.

OP posts:
FourFourthsDontCare · 06/12/2021 13:11

“The Elementals” by Michael McDowell. Set on a sandy island in the Deep South, it’s atmospheric, genuinely frightening, especially towards the end, and pretty much guarantees you’ll never look at a beach in the same way again…..