January is International Gothic Reading Month > Likes and Comments

This is International Gothic Reading Month! This January and every January to come, we are reading Gothic literature, posting about it (maybe posting reviews too?) and sharing the Gothic intrigue and mystery with our Gothic fans. I have recommendations if you'd like a short list. More of this to come in the days ahead. Let's start with the classics!

THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, by Horace Walpole. Historical Gothic. Known as the first Gothic novel, this story blends supernatural elements, romance, and a chilling atmosphere. The story unfolds in the shadowy halls of Otranto Castle, where the death of Conrad, heir to the castle, sets off a series of strange and sinister events.

https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Otranto...

THE MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO, by Ann Radcliffe. Historical Gothic. Romance, suspense, and eerie intrigue. Follow the journey of Emily St. Aubert, a young woman swept into a labyrinth of dark secrets, haunting castles, and mysterious occurrences as she struggles with love, loss, and villainous plots written in vivid and dramatic detail.

https://www.amazon.com/Mysteries-Udol...

Of course, you know the most famous:
FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley
THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER, by Edgar Allan Poe
THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH, by Edgar Allan Poe
WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte
DRACULA, by Bram Stoker
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, by Gaston Leroux
THE OUTSIDER, by H.P. Lovecraft

More contemporary titles to come this week. Visit the International Gothic Reading Month (IGRM) website at the Society for the Study of the American Gothic for more details on how to participate in IGRM.

https://americangothicsociety.com/int...


IGRM committee members:
Paula Cappa, Director
Alexia Mandla Ainsworth
Barbara Beatie
Ruthann Jagge
Carey Millsap-Spears
Arline Wilson
Sponsorship: Jeffrey A. Weinstock
President, Society for the Study of the American Gothic

This is interesting. I may need to read some of my Gothic books for the month.

I love gothic stories. I just looked through my personal library to see what I have. Not all of it is necessarily horror, but it looks like I’ve got…

Carrion Comfort
The Winter People
The Haunting of Maddy Clare
Rebecca
Ghost Story
Hell House
The Night Sister
The Night Circus
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
The Thirteenth Tale

Currently reading Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward, which feels quite Gothic.

On deck, though probably not for January,
Benighted by J.B. Priestley
The Briar Book of the Dead & The Crimson Road by A.G. Slatter
The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
The Collected Ghost Stories of Mrs. J.H. Riddell
Best Ghost Stories of J.S. Le Fanu
(the last two books I've started but not finished)

As an author of Gothic thrillers myself, I wholeheartedly applaud this. Many thanks for all the fabulous recommendations above. I am going to browse and add several to the ever-teetering TBR...
Antony

I'm reading the aptly named .

I've developed a real liking and admiration for Philip Fracassi's writing.

As a fun side note, I have to think that Valancourt Books was named for a character in The Mysteries of Udolpho. I'm glad I read the book, but I will not ever read it again. Too many long descriptive passages and songs-that style is not for me.

Randy wrote: "Currently reading Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward, which feels quite Gothic.

On deck, though probably not for January,
Benighted by [author:J..."

I think I might own that Le Fanu book myself. ARe the stories good so far?

Hi, Char.

Mileage probably varies, but I enjoy Le Fanu, and find his prose among the easiest to read of 19th century writers. Check ISFDB.com for contents: https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?...

I've read the first eight stories (and possibly some of the others in the distant past). "Carmilla" is must reading for anyone who enjoys vampire stories -- not really a spoiler; it's obvious early on. The others are good to great ghost/horror stories -- "Schalken the Painter" and "Green Tea" are much anthologized" -- though I did think "The Haunted Baronet" went on a bit longer than necessary.

For what it's worth, anyone interested in the ghost stories of M. R. James and Henry James, and how differently those two writer approached the ghost story, owes it to themselves to be acquainted with Le Fanu. Both of the James boys admired him, and you can see the different approaches gestating within Le Fanu's work.