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
9375 The Romance Of The Forest, Interspersed With Some Pieces Of Poetry Ann Radcliffe 1791 British English
9375 Manfrone Mary-Anne Radcliff 1809 British English
9375 The Children Of The Abbey Regina Maria Roche 1796 Irish English
9375 Clermont Regina Maria Roche 1798 Irish English
9375 The Nocturnal Visit Regina Maria Roche 1800 British English
9375 The Ghost Seer Friedrich Schiller 1787 German German
9375 Zastrozzi Percy Bysshe Shelley 1810 British English
9375 Saint Irvyne Percy Bysshe Shelley 1811 British English
9375 The Orphan Of The Rhine Elanor Sleath 1798 British English
9375 Emmeline Charlotte Smith 1788 British English
9375 The Old Manor House Charlotte Smith 1793 British English
9375 The Mysterious Mother Horace Walpole 1768 British English
9375 Tales For Christmas Eve Rhoda Broughton 1873 British English
9375 Monos And Daimonos Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1830 British English
9375 After Dark Wilkie Collins 1856 British English
9375 The Night Side Of Nature Catherine Crowe 1848 British English
9375 Alice Doane's Appeal Nathaniel Hawthorne 1835 American English
9375 Checkmate Sheridan Le Fanu 1871 British Unknown
9375 The Five Nights Of St. Albans William Mudford 1829 British English
9375 The Iron Shroud William Mudford 1830 British English
9375 The Vroucolacas James Kirke Paulding 1846 American Unknown
9375 Varney, The Vampire Thomas Prest 1845 British English
9375 Wagner, The Wehr Wolf George William MacArthur Reynolds 1847 British English
9375 Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1928 British English
9375 Ghost And Horror Stories Of Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Bierce 1904 American English
9375 Ancient Sorceries And Other Tales Algernon Blackwood 1927 British English
9375 The Dance Of Death And Other Tales Algernon Blackwood 1927 British English
9375 Strange Stories Algernon Blackwood 1929 British English
9375 The Willows And Other Queer Tales Algernon Blackwood 1907 British English
9375 The Maker Of Moons Robert W. Chambers 1896 American English
9375 The Mystery Of Choice Robert W. Chambers 1897 American English
9375 The Slayer Of Souls Robert W. Chambers 1920 American English
9375 The Spider Hanns Heinz Ewers 1908 German German
9375 The Stone Dragon And Other Tragic Romances R. Murray Gilchrist 1894 British English
9375 Stories Of The Supernatural Henry James 1908 American English
9375 More Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1911 British English
9375 A Thin Ghost And Others M. R. James 1919 British English
9375 A Warning To The Curious And Other Ghost Stories M. R. James 1925 British English
9375 The Phantom Rickshaw Rudyard Kipling 1888 British English
9375 They Rudyard Kipling 1904 British English
9375 The Purcell Papers Sheridan Le Fanu 1838 Irish English
9375 The Glorious Mystery Arthur Machen 1924 British English
9375 The Terror Arthur Machen 1917 British English
9375 The Three Imposters Arthur Machen 1895 British English
9375 The Painted Face G. Oliver Onions 1929 British English
9375 Tales And Fantasies Robert Louis Stevenson 1905 British English
9375 Tales Of Men And Ghosts Edith Wharton 1910 American English
9375 Fishhead Irvin S. Cobb 1913 British English
9375 The Beast With Five Fingers, And Other Tales W. F. Harvey 1928 British English
9375 Midnight Tales W. F. Harvey 1928 British English
9375 At Dead Of Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1931 British English
9375 By Daylight Only Christine Campbell Thomson 1929 British English
9375 Gruesome Cargoes Christine Campbell Thompson 1931 British English
9375 Not At Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1925 British English
9375 More Not At Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1930 British English
9375 Lenore Gottfried Burger 1773 German German
9375 The Haunted Hour Margaret Widdemer 1920 American English
9375 Wilkie Collins, Le Fanu, And Others Stewart Marsh Ellis 1931 Unknown English
9546 The Man Who Laughs Victor Hugo 1869 French French
9629 More Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1934 British English
9718 Tales of H. P. Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft 1997 American English
9732 The Grimoire And Other Supernatural Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9732 Victorian Ghost Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9732 The Children Of The Pool And Other Stories Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9732 The Cosy Room Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9732 The Wind Blows Over Walter de la Mare 1936 British Unknown
9732 Grim Death Christine Campbell Thomson 1936 British English
9763 Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor 2019 Irish English
9797 Ghosts Edith Wharton 1937 American Unknown
9845 The Gothic Quest Montague Summers 1938 British English
9950 A Gothic Bibliography Montague Summers 1940 British English
9957 Asylum Patrick McGrath 1996 British English
10005 Edgar Allan Poe Arthur Hobson Quinn 1941 American English
10073 Nightmare By Daylight Christine Campbell Thomson 1942 British English
10127 Nine Ghosts R. H. Malden 1943 British English
10173 The Haunted Wood Sam Leith 2024 Unknown English
10200 Monsieur, Or The Prince Of Darkness Lawrence Durrell 1974 British English
10202 Elsie Venner Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 1861 American English
10219 Great Granny Webster Caroline Blackwood 1977 English English
10355 Wylding Hall Elizabeth Hand 2015 American English
10370 The Doll And One Other Algernon Blackwood 1946 British English
10370 West India Lights Henry S. Whitehead 1946 American English
10370 Who Knocks? August Derleth 1946 American English
10426 This Mortal Coil Cynthia Asquith 1947 British English
10426 Revelations In Black Carl Jacobi 1947 American English
10426 The Night Side August Derleth 1947 American English
10541 Sweeney Todd Stephen Sondheim 1979 American English
10593 Shocks Algernon Blackwood 1949 British English
10593 The Alabaster Hand, And Other Ghost Stories A. N. L. Munby 1949 British English
10669 The Hounding Xenobe Purvis 2025 Unknown English
10683 The Bewitching Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2025 Mexican English
10776 Tales From The Nightside Charles L. Grant 1981 American English
10849 The Second Ghost Book Cynthia Asquith 1952 British English
10934 The Bone Key Sarah Monette 2024 American English
10958 The Bird's Nest Shirley Jackson 1954 American English
11132 The Gothic Flame Devendra P. Varma 1957 British English
11221 Malpertuis Jean Ray 1943 Belgian French
11234 The Horla Guy de Maupassant 1887 French French
11270 The Turn Of The Key Ruth Ware 2019 British English
11467 The Real Charlotte Edith Somerville, Violet Florence Martin 1894 Irish English
11468 Furnace Livia Llewellyn 2016 American English
11471 Lonesome Places August Derleth 1962 American English
11471 The Surly Sullen Bell Russell Kirk 1962 American English
11471 Dark Mind, Dark Heart August Derleth 1962 American English
11471 A Biography Of Dracula Harry Ludlam 1962 British English
11487 Mary Reilly Valerie Martin 1990 American English
11495 The Black Prophet William Carleton 1847 Irish English
11537 Benito Cereno Herman Melville 1855 American English
11545 Old St Paul's William Harrison Ainsworth 1841 British English
11623 Dark Entries Robert Aickman 1964 British English
11623 The Third Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1964 British English
11800 The Ballad Of Black Tom Victor LaValle 2016 American English
11828 The Sixth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1965 British English
11875 Powers Of Darkness Robert Aickman 1966 British English
12019 An Illustrated History Of The Horror Film Carlos Clarens 1967 American English
12102 Vantage Point Sara Sligar 2025 Unknown English
12118 Hauntings Henry Mazzeo 1968 American English
12217 The Fifth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1969 British English
12444 Hungerstone Kat Dunn 2025 Unknown English
12452 The Possession Of Alba Díaz Isabel Cañas 2025 Unknown English