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
2468 The Hill Of Dreams Arthur Machen 1907 British English
2529 The Mystery Of The Yellow Room Gaston Leroux 1907 French French
2532 Young Goodman Brown & Other Short Stories Nathaniel Hawthorne 1835 American English
2547 Stories Heinrich von Kleist 1810 German German
2544 The Pit and the Pendulum Edgar Allan Poe 1842 American English
2606 Poems And Prose Samuel Taylor Coleridge 1797 British English
2661 Daughters of Fire Gerard de Nerval 1854 French French
2677 The Vampyre John William Polidori 1819 British English
2688 The Ceremonies T. E. D. Klein 1984 American English
2706 The Works Of Thomas Lovell Beddoes Thomas Lovell Beddoes 1851 British English
2727 They Return At Evening H. Russell Wakefield 1928 British English
2729 Overcoat Nikolai Gogol 1842 Russian Russian
2731 Lost Souls Poppy Z. Brite 1992 American English
2734 The Circular Staircase Mary Roberts Rinehart 1908 American English
2811 The Haunted Omnibus Alexander Laing 1937 American English
2818 The Empty House And Other Ghost Stories Algernon Blackwood 1906 British English
2818 On The Edge Walter de la Mare 1930 British English
2821 The Damnation Game Clive Barker 1985 British English
2830 Alraune Hanns Heinz Ewers 1911 German German
2830 The Room In The Tower E. F. Benson 1912 British English
2830 The Listener And Other Stories Algernon Blackwood 1907 British English
2848 The Ghost Stories Of Edith Wharton Edith Wharton 1937 American English
2860 The Haunters And The Haunted Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1859 British English
2860 The Sorcerer's Apprentice Hanns Heinz Ewers 1910 German German
2860 Tales Of Wonder Matthew Lewis 1801 British English
2904 Longsword, Earl Of Salisbury Thomas Leland 1762 Irish English
2904 Zofloya Charlotte Dacre 1806 British English
2904 The Return Walter de la Mare 1910 British English
2916 The Woman In Black Susan Hill 1983 British English
2938 Best Ghost Stories Sheridan Le Fanu 1923 Irish English
2938 The Demon Lover Elizabeth Bowen 1927 British English
2938 The Ghost Book Cynthia Asquith 1926 British English
2938 Dracula's Guest Bram Stoker 1914 British English
2938 The Supernatural Omnibus Montague Summers 1931 British English
2938 Wandering Ghosts F. Marion Crawford 1911 American English
2971 Collected Ghost Stories G. Oliver Onions 1935 British English
2978 The Demon Mikhail Lermontov 1829 Russian Russian
2984 The Vampire Lestat Anne Rice 1985 American English
3070 Kecksies And Other Twilight Tales Marjorie Bowen 1946 British English
3093 The Travelling Grave L. P. Hartley 1948 British English
3115 Affinity Sarah Waters 1999 British English
3137 The Keep F. Paul Wilson 1981 American English
3154 We Are For The Dark Robert Aickman 1951 British English
3254 All Hallows' Eve Charles Williams 1945 British English
3267 Tales Of Mystery And Imagination Edgar Allan Poe 1908 American English
3307 The Amber Witch Wilhelm Meinhold 1838 German German
3391 Bomarzo Manuel Mujica Lainez 1962 Argentinian Spanish
3407 All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By John Farris 1977 American English
3439 The House Next Door Anne Rivers Siddons 1978 American English
3463 The Raven Edgar Allan Poe 1845 American English
3465 Sweetheart, Sweetheart Bernard Taylor 1977 British English
3486 Descent Into Hell Charles Williams 1937 British English
3587 Collected Poems H. P. Lovecraft 1963 American English
3637 Leviathan Julien Green 1929 French French
3637 The Golden Pot E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
3637 The Second Wife E. Marlitt 1899 German German
3905 Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1964 British English
4093 Biserica Neagră A.E. Baconsky 1970 Romanian Romanian
4102 Selected Poems Of Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith 1971 American English
4104 Wolfskin Hans Lebert 1960 Austrian German
4146 The Dark Descent David Hartwell 1987 American English
4159 The Burning Court John Dickson Carr 1937 American English
4177 De Roos Van Dekama Jacob van Lennep 1836 Dutch Dutch
4197 The Mysterious Portrait Nikolai Gogol 1835 Ukrainian Russian
4198 The Elementals Michael McDowell 1981 American English
4283 A Rose for Emily William Faulkner 1930 American English
4296 The Year's Best Horror Stories Richard Davis 1972 British English
4308 The Strange Borders Of Palace Crescent E. Phillips Oppenheim 1934 British English
4308 The Three Sisters May Sinclair 1914 British English
4308 Vril Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1871 British English
4308 The Victorian Chaise Longue Marghanita Laski 1953 British English
4383 Flowers in the Attic V. C. Andrews 1979 American English
4399 Ariosto Chelsa quinn yarbro 1972 American Unknown
4472 Alias Grace Margaret Atwood 1996 Canadian English
4547 Mistress Of Mellyn Victoria Holt 1960 British English
4560 The Haunted Woman David Lindsay 1922 British English
4621 The Bride Of Lammermoor Sir Walter Scott 1819 Scottish English
4677 Of Love And Other Demons Gabriel García Márquez 1994 Colombian Spanish
4818 Hotel De Dream Emma Tennant 1976 British English
4834 Black Magic Marjorie Bowen 1909 British English
4834 The Uninhabited House Mrs. Joseph H. Riddell 1875 British English
4834 One Of Cleopatra's Nights Théophile Gautier 1838 French French
4834 A Haunted Man And The Ghost's Bargain Charles Dickens 1848 British English
4898 Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare 1594 British English
4898 The Last Man Mary Shelley 1826 British English
4952 Songs Of A Dead Dreamer And Grimscribe Thomas Ligotti 1985 American English
4955 The Man Who Was Born Again Paull Busson 1921 Austrian German
4955 Uncanny Stories May Sinclair 1923 British English
4955 The Fiery Angel Valeri Briussof 1908 Russian Russian
4955 Supernatural Horror In Literature H. P. Lovecraft 1927 American English
4955 The Human Chord Algernon Blackwood 1910 British English
4997 A Nest Of Nightmares Lisa Tuttle 1986 American English
4997 The Pet Charles L. Grant 1986 American English
5011 The Hungry Moon Ramsey Campbell 1986 British English
5043 Peter Ibbetson Daphne du Maurier 1891 British Unknown
5043 The Death Of Halpin Frayser Ambrose Bierce 1891 American English
5043 The White Old Maid Nathaniel Hawthorne 1837 American English
5043 The Sandman E. T. A. Hoffmann 1816 German German
5043 The Supernatural In English Romantic Poetry, 1780 1830 Sukumar Dutt 1932 Unknown English
5043 A Predicament Edgar Allan Poe 1838 American English
5043 The Minister's Black Veil Nathaniel Hawthorne 1836 American English
5043 For The Blood Is The Life F. Marion Crawford 1905 American English
5043 Still She Wished For Company Margaret Irwin 1924 British English
5043 The Lord Of The Dark Red Star Eugene Lee-Hamilton 1903 British English
5129 The Influence Ramsey Campbell 1988 British English
5171 Ghost Stories H. Russell Wakefield 1928 British English
5171 The Citadel Of Fear Francis Stevens 1918 American English
5171 Mosses From An Old Manse Nathaniel Hawthorne 1846 American English
5171 Best Tales E. T. A. Hoffmann 1814 German German
5188 Washington Irving's Tales Of The Supernatural Washington Irving 1824 American English
5188 The Wind In The Rose Bush Mary E. Wilkins Freeman 1903 American English
5188 Witch Wood John Buchan 1927 British English
5188 To Walk The Night William M. Sloane 1937 American English
5188 Xelucha And Others M. P. Shiel 1896 British English
5188 The Snow Image And Uncollected Tales Nathaniel Hawthorne 1852 American English
5188 The Smoking Leg John Metcalfe 1925 British English
5188 The Ghostly Tales Of Henry James Henry James 1898 American English
5188 Some Ghost Stories A. M. Burrage 1934 British English
5188 A Century Of Creepy Stories Hugh Walpole 1934 British English
5188 The Bell In The Fog Gertrude Atherton 1905 American English