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
9379 The Romance Of The Forest, Interspersed With Some Pieces Of Poetry Ann Radcliffe 1791 British English
9379 Manfrone Mary-Anne Radcliff 1809 British English
9379 The Children Of The Abbey Regina Maria Roche 1796 Irish English
9379 Clermont Regina Maria Roche 1798 Irish English
9379 The Nocturnal Visit Regina Maria Roche 1800 British English
9379 The Ghost Seer Friedrich Schiller 1787 German German
9379 Zastrozzi Percy Bysshe Shelley 1810 British English
9379 Saint Irvyne Percy Bysshe Shelley 1811 British English
9379 The Orphan Of The Rhine Elanor Sleath 1798 British English
9379 Emmeline Charlotte Smith 1788 British English
9379 The Old Manor House Charlotte Smith 1793 British English
9379 The Mysterious Mother Horace Walpole 1768 British English
9379 Tales For Christmas Eve Rhoda Broughton 1873 British English
9379 Monos And Daimonos Edward Bulwer-Lytton 1830 British English
9379 After Dark Wilkie Collins 1856 British English
9379 The Night Side Of Nature Catherine Crowe 1848 British English
9379 Alice Doane's Appeal Nathaniel Hawthorne 1835 American English
9379 Checkmate Sheridan Le Fanu 1871 British Unknown
9379 The Five Nights Of St. Albans William Mudford 1829 British English
9379 The Iron Shroud William Mudford 1830 British English
9379 The Vroucolacas James Kirke Paulding 1846 American Unknown
9379 Varney, The Vampire Thomas Prest 1845 British English
9379 Wagner, The Wehr Wolf George William MacArthur Reynolds 1847 British English
9379 Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1928 British English
9379 Ghost And Horror Stories Of Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Bierce 1904 American English
9379 Ancient Sorceries And Other Tales Algernon Blackwood 1927 British English
9379 The Dance Of Death And Other Tales Algernon Blackwood 1927 British English
9379 Strange Stories Algernon Blackwood 1929 British English
9379 The Willows And Other Queer Tales Algernon Blackwood 1907 British English
9379 The Maker Of Moons Robert W. Chambers 1896 American English
9379 The Mystery Of Choice Robert W. Chambers 1897 American English
9379 The Slayer Of Souls Robert W. Chambers 1920 American English
9379 The Spider Hanns Heinz Ewers 1908 German German
9379 The Stone Dragon And Other Tragic Romances R. Murray Gilchrist 1894 British English
9379 Stories Of The Supernatural Henry James 1908 American English
9379 More Ghost Stories Of An Antiquary M. R. James 1911 British English
9379 A Thin Ghost And Others M. R. James 1919 British English
9379 A Warning To The Curious And Other Ghost Stories M. R. James 1925 British English
9379 The Phantom Rickshaw Rudyard Kipling 1888 British English
9379 They Rudyard Kipling 1904 British English
9379 The Purcell Papers Sheridan Le Fanu 1838 Irish English
9379 The Glorious Mystery Arthur Machen 1924 British English
9379 The Terror Arthur Machen 1917 British English
9379 The Three Imposters Arthur Machen 1895 British English
9379 The Painted Face G. Oliver Onions 1929 British English
9379 Tales And Fantasies Robert Louis Stevenson 1905 British English
9379 Tales Of Men And Ghosts Edith Wharton 1910 American English
9379 Fishhead Irvin S. Cobb 1913 British English
9379 The Beast With Five Fingers, And Other Tales W. F. Harvey 1928 British English
9379 Midnight Tales W. F. Harvey 1928 British English
9379 At Dead Of Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1931 British English
9379 By Daylight Only Christine Campbell Thomson 1929 British English
9379 Gruesome Cargoes Christine Campbell Thompson 1931 British English
9379 Not At Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1925 British English
9379 More Not At Night Christine Campbell Thomson 1930 British English
9379 Lenore Gottfried Burger 1773 German German
9379 The Haunted Hour Margaret Widdemer 1920 American English
9379 Wilkie Collins, Le Fanu, And Others Stewart Marsh Ellis 1931 Unknown English
9550 The Man Who Laughs Victor Hugo 1869 French French
9633 More Spook Stories E. F. Benson 1934 British English
9723 Tales of H. P. Lovecraft H. P. Lovecraft 1997 American English
9737 The Grimoire And Other Supernatural Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9737 Victorian Ghost Stories Montague Summers 1936 British English
9737 The Children Of The Pool And Other Stories Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9737 The Cosy Room Arthur Machen 1936 British English
9737 The Wind Blows Over Walter de la Mare 1936 British Unknown
9737 Grim Death Christine Campbell Thomson 1936 British English
9768 Shadowplay Joseph O'Connor 2019 Irish English
9802 Ghosts Edith Wharton 1937 American Unknown
9850 The Gothic Quest Montague Summers 1938 British English
9957 A Gothic Bibliography Montague Summers 1940 British English
9964 Asylum Patrick McGrath 1996 British English
10012 Edgar Allan Poe Arthur Hobson Quinn 1941 American English
10080 Nightmare By Daylight Christine Campbell Thomson 1942 British English
10133 Nine Ghosts R. H. Malden 1943 British English
10180 The Haunted Wood Sam Leith 2024 Unknown English
10207 Monsieur, Or The Prince Of Darkness Lawrence Durrell 1974 British English
10209 Elsie Venner Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. 1861 American English
10226 Great Granny Webster Caroline Blackwood 1977 English English
10361 Wylding Hall Elizabeth Hand 2015 American English
10376 The Doll And One Other Algernon Blackwood 1946 British English
10376 West India Lights Henry S. Whitehead 1946 American English
10376 Who Knocks? August Derleth 1946 American English
10432 This Mortal Coil Cynthia Asquith 1947 British English
10432 Revelations In Black Carl Jacobi 1947 American English
10432 The Night Side August Derleth 1947 American English
10546 Sweeney Todd Stephen Sondheim 1979 American English
10598 Shocks Algernon Blackwood 1949 British English
10598 The Alabaster Hand, And Other Ghost Stories A. N. L. Munby 1949 British English
10675 The Hounding Xenobe Purvis 2025 Unknown English
10689 The Bewitching Silvia Moreno-Garcia 2025 Mexican English
10782 Tales From The Nightside Charles L. Grant 1981 American English
10855 The Second Ghost Book Cynthia Asquith 1952 British English
10940 The Bone Key Sarah Monette 2024 American English
10964 The Bird's Nest Shirley Jackson 1954 American English
11137 The Gothic Flame Devendra P. Varma 1957 British English
11226 Malpertuis Jean Ray 1943 Belgian French
11239 The Horla Guy de Maupassant 1887 French French
11275 The Turn Of The Key Ruth Ware 2019 British English
11469 The Real Charlotte Edith Somerville, Violet Florence Martin 1894 Irish English
11470 Furnace Livia Llewellyn 2016 American English
11473 Lonesome Places August Derleth 1962 American English
11473 The Surly Sullen Bell Russell Kirk 1962 American English
11473 Dark Mind, Dark Heart August Derleth 1962 American English
11473 A Biography Of Dracula Harry Ludlam 1962 British English
11489 Mary Reilly Valerie Martin 1990 American English
11497 The Black Prophet William Carleton 1847 Irish English
11539 Benito Cereno Herman Melville 1855 American English
11547 Old St Paul's William Harrison Ainsworth 1841 British English
11625 Dark Entries Robert Aickman 1964 British English
11625 The Third Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1964 British English
11802 The Ballad Of Black Tom Victor LaValle 2016 American English
11830 The Sixth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1965 British English
11877 Powers Of Darkness Robert Aickman 1966 British English
12021 An Illustrated History Of The Horror Film Carlos Clarens 1967 American English
12104 Vantage Point Sara Sligar 2025 Unknown English
12120 Hauntings Henry Mazzeo 1968 American English
12218 The Fifth Fontana Book Of Great Ghost Stories Robert Aickman 1969 British English
12446 Hungerstone Kat Dunn 2025 Unknown English
12454 The Possession Of Alba Díaz Isabel Cañas 2025 Unknown English