The Greatest Gothic Books of All Time

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This list represents a comprehensive and trusted collection of the greatest books. Developed through a specialized algorithm, it brings together 759 'best of' book lists to form a definitive guide to the world's most acclaimed books. For those interested in how these books are chosen, additional details can be found on the rankings page.

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Rank Book Authors Year Country Language Actions
15 Wuthering Heights Emily Brontë 1847 British English
29 Jane Eyre Charlotte Brontë 1847 British English
39 Frankenstein Mary Shelley 1818 British English
53 Dracula Bram Stoker 1897 British English
59 Rebecca Daphne du Maurier 1938 British English
74 The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne 1850 American English
89 The Picture of Dorian Gray Oscar Wilde 1890 Irish English
94 Demons Fyodor Dostoevsky 1872 Russian Russian
96 Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1808 German German
98 The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allan Poe 1902 American English
114 The Name of the Rose Umberto Eco 1980 Italian Italian
121 Bleak House Charles Dickens 1852 British English
139 The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 1860 British English
158 Wide Sargasso Sea Jean Rhys 1966 British English
164 The Hound of the Baskervilles Arthur Conan Doyle 1902 British English
189 The Turn of the Screw Henry James 1898 American English
208 A Good Man Is Hard to Find Flannery O'Connor 1953 American English
210 Dangerous Liaison Pierre Choderlos de Laclos 1782 French French
215 The Haunting of Hill House Shirley Jackson 1959 American English
218 The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Robert Louis Stevenson 1886 British English
258 The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner James Hogg 1824 Scottish English
269 Nightwood Djuna Barnes 1936 American English
346 The Castle of Otranto Horace Walpole 1764 British English
350 The Complete Stories of Flannery O'Connor Flannery O'Connor 1971 American English
366 The Hunchback of Notre-Dame Victor Hugo 1831 French French
378 Melmoth the Wanderer Charles Robert Maturin 1820 British English
459 The Island of Doctor Moreau H. G. Wells 1896 British English
476 The Monk Matthew Lewis 1796 British English
490 Ethan Frome Edith Wharton 1911 American English
511 Perfume Patrick Suskind 1985 German German
526 Gormenghast Mervyn Peake 1950 British English
542 Uncle Silas Sheridan Le Fanu 1864 Irish English
590 Northanger Abbey Jane Austen 1817 British English
601 The House of the Seven Gables Nathaniel Hawthorne 1851 American English
602 The Go-Between L. P. Hartley 1953 British English
615 Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1904 British English
625 The Nine Tailors Dorothy L. Sayers 1934 British English
629 Titus Groan Mervyn Peake 1946 British English
649 Villette Charlotte Brontë 1853 British English
661 Interview with the Vampire Anne Rice 1976 American English
671 The Fall of the House of Usher Edgar Allan Poe 1839 American English
702 Vathek William Beckford 1786 British French
729 Thérèse Desqueyroux François Mauriac 1927 French French
731 The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliffe 1794 British English
752 Poems Of Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy 1898 British English
759 Thérèse Raquin Émile Zola 1867 French French
773 The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym Edgar Allan Poe 1838 American English
811 The Phantom of the Opera Gaston Leroux 1909 French French
821 Castle Rackrent Maria Edgeworth 1800 British English
824 Rhymes And Legends Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer 1871 Spanish Spanish
861 We Have Always Lived in the Castle Shirley Jackson 1962 American English
866 The Black Spider Jeremias Gotthelf 1842 Swiss German
871 Wieland Charles Brockden Brown 1798 American English
891 Golem Gustav Meyrink 1915 Austrian German
894 Rosemary's Baby Ira Levin 1967 American English
896 She H. Rider Haggard 1887 British English
1046 Justine Marquis de Sade 1791 French French
1057 The Master of Ballantrae Robert Louis Stevenson 1889 British English
1103 The Tenant of Wildfell Hall Anne Brontë 1848 British English
1148 The Werewolf Of Paris Guy Endore 1933 American English
1157 Twice-Told Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne 1837 American English
1176 Carmen Prosper Mérimée 1845 French French
1198 Lorna Doone R. D. Blackmore 1869 British English
1203 Nine Coaches Waiting Mary Stewart 1958 British English
1249 The White Devil John Webster 1612 British English
1273 Selected Poems of Lord Byron Lord Byron 1800 British English
1293 Salem's Lot Stephen King 1975 American English
1306 Widdershins G. Oliver Onions 1911 British English
1314 Under Satan's Sun Georges Bernanos 1926 French French
1361 The King In Yellow Robert W. Chambers 1895 American English
1370 The House Of Souls Arthur Machen 1906 British English
1371 The Devil's Elixir E. T. A. Hoffmann 1815 German German
1372 The Horror Horn And Other Stories E. F. Benson 1931 British English
1398 The Exorcist William Peter Blatty 1971 American English
1404 The Last Bouquet Marjorie Bowen 1933 British English
1406 The Life of Charlotte Brontë Elizabeth Gaskell 1857 British English
1430 The Wandering Jew Eugène Sue 1844 French French
1458 The Ballad of the Sad Cafe Carson McCullers 1951 American English
1537 The Owl Service Alan Garner 1967 British English
1551 Hawksmoor Peter Ackroyd 1985 British English
1562 Burnt Offerings Robert Marasco 1973 American English
1574 Nightmare Abbey Thomas Love Peacock 1818 British English
1585 Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell Susanna Clarke 2004 British English
1636 The Collector John Fowles 1963 British English
1651 The Yellow Wallpaper Charlotte Perkins Gilman 1892 American English
1652 The Rime of the Ancient Mariner Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1798 British English
1665 The House of Ulloa Emilia Pardo Bazán 1886 Spanish Spanish
1712 The Great God Pan Arthur Machen 1894 British English
1727 Down There J. K. Huysmans 1891 French French
1768 Carmilla Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
1785 The Murders in the Rue Morgue Edgar Allan Poe 1841 American English
1789 The Mystery Of Edwin Drood Charles Dickens 1870 British English
1826 The Other Thomas Tryon 1971 American English
1850 The Jew's Beech Annette von Droste-Hülshoff 1842 German German
1888 A Dark Adapted Eye Barbara Vine 1986 British English
1926 Stories of Nikolai Gogol Nikolai Gogol 1831 Russian Russian
1938 The Marble Faun Nathaniel Hawthorne 1860 American English
1948 The Jewel Of Seven Stars Bram Stoker 1903 British English
1948 The Second Century Of Creepy Stories Hugh Walpole 1937 British English
1964 The Löwensköld Ring Selma Lagerlöf 1925 Swedish Swedish
1978 Great Tales Of Terror And The Supernatural Herbert A. Wise 1944 American English
1988 Seven Gothic Tales Isak Dinesen 1934 Danish English
1993 The Queen Of Spades Alexander Pushkin 1834 Russian Russian
2055 Satan In Goray Isaac Bashevis Singer 1935 Polish Yiddish
2056 Tales Of Horror And The Supernatural Arthur Machen 1948 British English
2060 Ghost Story Peter Straub 1979 American English
2073 The Blithedale Romance Nathaniel Hawthorne 1852 American English
2091 Lady Audley's Secret M. E. Braddon 1862 British English
2092 Mourning Becomes Electra Eugene O'Neill 1931 American English
2103 The Bloody Chamber And Other Stories Angela Carter 1979 British English
2156 The Green Man Kingsley Amis 1969 British English
2169 My Cousin Rachel Daphne du Maurier 1951 British English
2181 The Little Demon Fedor Sologub 1907 Russian Russian
2270 The Nun Denis Diderot 1796 French French
2270 In a Glass Darkly Sheridan Le Fanu 1872 Irish English
2276 The Old English Baron Clara Reeve 1777 British English
2322 The Case Of Charles Dexter Ward H. P. Lovecraft 1941 American English
2344 Goblin Market Christina Georgina Rossetti 1862 British English
2372 The Tales Of Hoffmann E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
2450 Worse Things Waiting Manly Wade Wellman 1973 American English