There are countless Gothic Horror courses, tutorials, articles available online, but for some, having a book is still a necessity to learn. This is an up-to-date list of recommended books.
1. Haunted Castles: The Complete Gothic Stories (Penguin Horror) (2016)
Haunted Castles is the definitive, complete collection of Ray Russell’s masterful Gothic horror stories, including the famously terrifying novella trio of “Sardonicus,” “Sanguinarius,” and “Sagittarius.” The characters that sprawl through Haunted Castles are frightful to the core: the heartless monster holding two lovers in limbo; the beautiful dame journeying down a damned road toward depravity (with the help of an evil gypsy); the man who must wear his fatal crimes on his face in the form of an awful smile. Engrossing, grotesque,…
2. The Beauty of Horror 2: Ghouliana’s Creepatorium: Another GOREgeous Coloring Book (2017)
Get that red crayon ready! Rock-star-turned-comics-creator has created a follow-up to his smash-hit, horror-themed adult coloring book!The color-crazed carnage continues! Follow everyone’s favorite undead girl, Ghouliana, as she mischievously attempts to trick budding colorists into unleashing a deadly spell. Try and find the ingredients she’s sprinkled throughout Robert’s intricate pen and ink illustrations before it’s too late!…
3. Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980-1989 (2019)
The Italian Gothic horror genre underwent many changes in the 1980s, with masters such as Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda dying or retiring and young filmmakers such as Lamberto Bava (Macabro, Demons) and Michele Soavi (The Church) surfacing. Horror films proved commercially successful in the first half of the decade thanks to Dario Argento (both as director and producer) and Lucio Fulci, but the rise of made-for-TV products has resulted in the gradual disappearance of genre products from the big screen. This book examines all the Italian Gothic films of the 1980s. It includes previously unpublished trivia and production…
4. Sinister Nightmares: Horror Adult Colouring Book: Stress Relieving Horror Colouring (2017)
This book of ‘Sinister Nightmares’ will thrust you into some of the darkest, most blood-curdling places in the world. Aracheth, ‘The Mother of Spiders’ needs you to find all of her lost spawn. The arachnid offspring have fled into the wilderness and have taken refuge with every nightmarish horror you can imagine; Clowns, Ghosts, Zombies, Vampires, Possessed toys and more. Are you brave enough to bring this world of nightmares to life?…
5. Wickers Bog: A Tale of Southern Gothic Horror (2016)
Every autumn, when the weather turned and the wind came off the marsh, the dark waters of Wickers Bog gave up its ghosts and reawakened the old yarns. Julene Ella Haddan is about to be drawn into one of them. It was a grey, joyless day, when young Julene heard the song of the siren and followed its melody into the enchanted swamp… a journey which led her into a tale of murder and deceit. It’s only the fated who hear the siren. Yet Julene’s fate now seems bound to the fabled Lady of Lisenby, the spectral gatekeeper of the Bog, queen of the haunted deep. However, is it justice the Lady seeks or…
6. Skin Shows: Gothic Horror and the Technology of Monsters (1995)
In this examination of the monster as cultural object, Judith Halberstam offers a rereading of the monstrous that revises our view of the Gothic. Moving from the nineteenth century and the works of Shelley, Stevenson, Stoker, and Wilde to contemporary horror film exemplified by such movies as Silence of the Lambs, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Candyman, Skin Shows understands the Gothic as a versatile technology, a means of producing monsters that is constantly being rewritten by historically and culturally conditioned fears generated by a shared sense of otherness and…
7. The Haunting of Cabin Green: A Modern Gothic Horror Novel (2018)
Going to Cabin Green alone after the death of his fiancée was Ben’s first mistake. His second mistake was tempting fate by saying, “There’s no such thing as an evil building.” Now he’s caught in a nightmare of his own making deep in the woods of Northern Michigan. Even worse, a family history of mental illness makes it impossible for him to know if the ghosts haunting the cabin are real or all in his head.This modern Gothic horror story takes the reader directly into Ben’s hellish experience. Is he crazy? Is a ghost haunting him? The only way to find out is to make it to the end of this deep, dark thrill…
8. We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (2006)
Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about a perverse, isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. This edition features a new introduction by Jonathan Lethem.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide…
9. Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969 (2015)
The "Gothic" style was a key trend in Italian cinema of the 1950s and 1960s because of its peculiar, often strikingly original approach to the horror genre. These films portrayed Gothic staples in a stylish and idiosyncratic way, and took a daring approach to the supernatural and to eroticism, with the presence of menacing yet seductive female witches, vampires and ghosts. Thanks to such filmmakers as Mario Bava (Black Sunday), Riccardo Freda (The Horrible Dr. Hichcock), and Antonio Margheriti (Castle of Blood), as well the iconic presence of actress Barbara Steele, Italian…
10. Evil Roots: Killer Tales of the Botanical Gothic (Tales of the Weird) (2019)
Strangling vines and meat-hungry flora fill this unruly garden of strange stories, selected for their significance as the seeds of the "killer plant" trope in fiction, film, and video games. Before the Demogorgon of Stranger Things and the appearance of Mario's iconic foe the Piranha Plant, writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries were exploring the lethal potential of vegetable life, inspired by new carnivorous species discovered on expeditions into the deep jungles of the world and breakthroughs in the grafting and genetics disciplines of botany. Suddenly, the exotic…
11. Dark Desires (Dark Gothic) (Volume 1) (2016)
“A dark and delicious gothic. I gobbled it up in a single sitting. Oh, how I have missed books like this!”–New York Times bestselling author Linda Lael Miller Betrayed by those she trusted, penniless and alone, Darcie Finch is forced to accept a position that no one else dares, as assistant to dangerously attractive Dr. Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he’s a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate where she quickly discovers that nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with…
12. Craven Manor (2017)
Daniel is desperate for a job. When someone slides a note under his door offering him the groundskeeper’s position at an old estate, it seems too good to be true.Alarm bells start ringing when he arrives at Craven Manor. The mansion’s front door hangs open, and leaves and cobwebs coat the marble foyer. It’s clear no one has lived there in a long time.But an envelope waits for him inside the doorway. It contains money, and promises more.Daniel is desperate. Against his better judgement, he moves into the groundskeeper’s cottage behind the crypt. He’s determined…
13. The Beauty of Horror 3: Haunted Playgrounds Coloring Book (2018)
Just when you thought it was safe to pack your colors away, Ghouliana returns with her most mysterious journey to date! Search high and low for all of Ghouliana’s missing monster pieces in order to bring her creation back to life! Keep your eyes peeled for things that go bump in the night, because you’ll never know what’s lurking behind the next corner. But, be warned! This hunt isn’t for the faint of heart. Sink your fangs into over 80 pages of intricate, hand-drawn, spooktacular designs presented in a high-quality, deluxe coloring format. Find out why Alternative Press hails The Beauty of Horror as “the twisted…
14. Alphabet Soup: Horror Stories for the Tormented Soul (2018)
Thriller, horror, and suspense short stories. Multiple Award-Winning authors. A is for Addiction…B is for Barnacles…C is for Clairvoyance…Discover the rest of these original horror stories from around the world. Each author chose a letter of the alphabet and was given complete artistic freedom to make something horrible happen. Some stories will be mysterious, others creepy or even profound, but all are crafted to thrill and terrify you to the last page. This is what happens when dozens of uncensored creative people are allowed to…
15. Gothic Horror- A Coloring Book: Haunted Fantasy and Women of the Magical World (Adult Coloring Books) (2017)
Relax and enjoy some peaceful, stress free coloring! Get lost in and more! Coloring is a meditative experience, so let everything go and enjoy exploring your deep colorful creative inner self. This coloring book is so you can color without worrying about color bleed. There are The give you plenty of space to color with additional deep and dark geometric mandala patterns that Take your coloring book anywhere you go, have fun, and express yourself freely!…
Best Gothic Horror Books You Should Enjoy
We highly recommend you to buy all paper or e-books in a legal way, for example, on Amazon. But sometimes it might be a need to dig deeper beyond the shiny book cover. Before making a purchase, you can visit resources like Genesis and download some gothic horror books mentioned below at your own risk. Once again, we do not host any illegal or copyrighted files, but simply give our visitors a choice and hope they will make a wise decision.
Fairytale and Gothic Horror
Author(s): Laura Hubner
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2018, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2254818
Consuming Gothic: Food and Horror in Film
Author(s): Lorna Piatti-Farnell
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2017, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1701141
American Horror Fiction and Class: From Poe to Twilight
Author(s): David Simmons
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2017, Size: 2 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 2155245
Gothic Forensics: Criminal Investigative Procedure in Victorian Horror & Mystery
Author(s): Michael Arntfield
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan US, Year: 2016, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1582780
Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1957-1969
Author(s): Roberto Curti, Foreword by Ernesto Gastaldi
Publisher: McFarland, Year: 2015, Size: 76 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1360630
Italian gothic horror films, 1957/1969
Author(s): Roberto Curti & Foreword By Ernesto Gastaldi
Publisher: McFarland & Company, Year: 2015, Size: 5 Mb, Download: epub
ID: 1426318
Haunted Seasons: Television Ghost Stories for Christmas and Horror for Halloween
Author(s): Derek Johnston
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2015, Size: 1 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1478537
Journeys into Darkness: Critical Essays on Gothic Horror
Author(s): James Goho
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Year: 2014, Size: 459 Kb, Download: epub
ID: 1160486
The Rural Gothic in American Popular Culture: Backwoods Horror and Terror in the Wilderness
Author(s): Bernice M. Murphy
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan UK, Year: 2013, Size: 3 Mb, Download: pdf
ID: 1479727
Please note that this booklist is not final. Some books are really best-sellers according to Chicago Tribune, others are composed by unknown writers. On top of that, you can always find additional tutorials and courses on Coursera, Udemy or edX, for example. Are there any other relevant books you could recommend? Leave a comment if you have any feedback on the list.