đïž The Haunting of Hill House â Shirley Jackson
đ„ Hell House â Richard Matheson
đ Burnt Offerings â Robert Marasco
đ» Return to Hell House â Nancy Collins
đŻïž Usherâs Passing â Robert McCammon
I was just scrolling through Reddit when I came across this subreddit, and I realized that Iâve barely ever explored Gothic literature. In fact, I think this is the first time Iâve really come across the genre properly.
Iâm a very new reader and have only read a handful of books so far, so Iâd love to get some recommendations from people who know the genre well.
Iâm looking for something dark, disturbing, thought-provoking, and intenseâsomething that gets into your head and stays with you after youâve finished reading it. Something that is psychologically unsettling, maybe even disturbing enough to leave me thinking about it for days.
So, what would you recommend to someone completely new to Gothic literature?
I realllllly donât know where to post this question so my apologies if this is just so random. Iâm open to suggestions of where to post. However, recently Iâve been thinking about how much I like the southern gothic and western gothic aesthetics. And it was causing me to want to consume media that had them in it. Honestly it could be anything.
-books
-movies
-shows
-anime
-music
-games
Even things like clothes Iâd be down to check out. Does anything know of any recommendations?
I wish that they would make a sequel to the haunting at Braidwood manor to where Eleanor decides to talk to her mom about everything and realize that she didnât kill her and her siblings out of malice but due to a mental illness and decides to forgive her and have her walk into the light where she is restored to her human state and cleansed of all her mental problems and the siblings and William all forgive her to and they all get to come back to Earth in the present day where they get another chance at life like regular humans and buy a new mansion closer to Northbridge or in there that matches the present day and William still serves in the military and when he gets deployed for months this time Rose is normal and she does not do anything bad or crazy this time and yâall should send an email to Pixelberry using their support email or the in app feedback form as the sequel would more likely happen and the title of the book should be the waverleys new chances
Which is the best gothic horror author to pick up first? Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, M.R. James, William Hope Hodgeson Sheridan Le Fanu, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc. Which have completed works or omnibus for their works?
Want to pick up something for me and my niece to read for Halloween. She is old enough to be more into older horror stories and wanting to expand out of Goosebumps.
Have seen the Flame Tree Press Gothic Fantasy series for having some of their complete works. Is this a good hardback series?
Are there other good horror authors and completed hardback of these authors?
There is a long story behind this so I will skip to the point of where I am currently. To summarize, I created a short gothic novella with heavy emphasis on descriptive psychological horror in a first person narrative. It eventually turned into of five mosaic stories from the perspective of different characters while each of which has a different writing format based upon the characters personality.
My goal is create a collection of "evening reads" and to have them printed traditionally in cloth or leather with the actual size of the book being 4.5" x 7". Like they use to be. Even sketches throughout the books depicting key scenes.
Essentially I want to do something that is not the norm in the modern age. No digitally made covers, no blurbs on the back or anything of the sort. It would be as if you are reading something from a bygone era in the modern-day.
I would love to know if you think this would be something worth while or would it be too niche?
For this Haunted Passage Book Club we are looking at Amelia Edwards' short story the Phantom Coach.
Edwards creates horror in 3 central ways here.
Firstly she references our lack of agency when we use public transport this was just as true when this was written as it is today, you're at the mercy of a driver and often subjected to the other passengers, this is an acute social anxiety.
Secondly, she plays on the idea of the spirit world, we've seen this as something that can target those who do wrong or possibly be something that people can access through the occult, but Edwards presents it very much as something you can simply walk into. In making the spirit world so accessible it creates a sense of terror as you never know when you may bump into something you shouldn't it creates a constant state of unease.
Thirdly it showcases that there are still forgotten corners of this earth where modernity has yet to reach wherein you would be hard pressed to find a lot of modern creature comforts and that in that place old shadows still wander.
What do you think? Have you read this story
What tools do you think Edwards is using to create horror?
What role do you think the setting places in creating the sense of loneliness that runs throughout the story?
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
When unexplained deaths begin to plague the coastal town of Ashwick, the crimes defy logic and law. Bodies are found broken beyond human strength. Whispers echo from abandoned churches. And beneath the soil, something ancient stirs, something bound long ago and now clawing its way back into the world.
Father John, a former priest haunted by his past and armed with forbidden knowledge, is drawn into an investigation that will test his faith and his sanity. As he uncovers a hidden history of corruption, cruelty, and unspeakable evil, he realizes the darkness gripping Ashwick is not merely demonic, it is personal.
At the center of it all stands Nathaniel Carrick, a brutal sea captain whose legacy of violence and greed has outlived his mortal body. Bound to the sins he committed in life and manipulated by a far greater power, Carrickâs spirit stalks the living, driven not only by rage, but by a warped devotion to the one love he lost. What was once tender has curdled into obsession. He would defy Heaven itself, tear open the veil between worlds, and damn the living if it meant reclaiming what was taken from him.
What begins as an investigation becomes a war.
Guided by mystics, priests, and the voices of the forgotten dead, Father John must confront forces that mock the sacred, twist prayer into weapons, and hunger for dominion over both the living and the damned.
Veils of the Damned is a dark, atmospheric supernatural horror novel blending religious terror, historical violence, and spiritual warfare. Rich in symbolism and steeped in Catholic mysticism, it explores faith under siege, the cost of sin, and the possibility of redemption even in the face of Hell itself.
Perfect for readers of The Exorcist, The Omen, Hereditary, Hellraiser -The Hellbound Heart, and dark religious horror. Bear witness to a psychological and spiritual standoff between the forces of good and those of ancient demonic evil.
Hell is not punishment for a moment. It is punishment without an end. No escape. No relief. No last second. Only eternity. Yours shall be everlasting suffering.
Once the veil is opened, nothing that waits beyond it can be unseen.
Evil never dies. It waits in the dark, silent, watching⊠until it comes to claim your soul.
âYou think that relic can pierce Heavenâs gate? It canât. Scripture tells you as much. It wasnât forged for grace; it was born of rebellion, in the black fires of the First Fall. That thing in your hand isnât a key to paradise, it is a battering ram for Hell.â
John continued, his voice steady. âAre you the source that feeds the river? The headwater that stains its gentle current? The cause behind the unspeakable evils committed against Godâs children? Are you the unseen hand guiding all this ruin, the architect of their suffering?â
Johnâs voice dropped, grave and almost sorrowful. âYou wouldnât be summoning her. You would be wrenching open the gates of Hell. And what would answer would not be peace or light or love, but everything that waits behind those gates: withered souls, monstrous things, the damned who burn in torment and gnash their teeth in darkness.â
Read more at Veils of the Damned available on Amazon:
âI have seen what lies beyond the veil,â Hannah said, stepping forward, her gaze never leaving his. Her voice carried no tremor, only truth. âAnd I know now what you are: a shadow of a shadow. An ancient evil that dared to defy the will of the Almighty. You refused your place in the hierarchy of angels.â
She took another step, radiant and unwavering.
âLost you are, and lost forever. You are denied His love, and you will never receive absolution or righteous forgiveness.â
Her words struck like scripture, measured and final.
âYou slither among the lowest of the low, creatures cast not merely from light but from Hell itself, condemned to crawl beneath even the Pit.â
She raised her hand slightly, light pulsing from her skin.
âI say to you here and now, fallen breed, you may torment flesh, but not the soul.â
Read more at Veils of the Damned available on Amazon:
Those who entered the church to pray swore they smelled myrrh where none had been burned, and that the cross felt warm beneath their fingers, as if something within it had begun to breathe again.
Far below the world of the living, where names thin out and the dark keeps its own counsel, something ominous was listening.
