Since tomorrow is Halloween, I figured a post dedicated to dark, scary novels would be the perfect way to celebrate the upcoming day. I’ve only recently stumbled into the gothic genre of books, but I will say, when it’s done right, it’s done right. According to Merriam Webster, the definition of a gothic novel is this:
Of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents.
While I am still fairly new to this genre, I’m going to share with you four gothic horror books I’ve read, the ones I think are the perfect way to get your feet wet, and sink your teeth into this style of storytelling.
Arrowood
Author: Laura McHugh
Goodreads Synopsis:
Arrowood is the most ornate and grand of the historical houses that line the Mississippi River in southern Iowa. But the house has a mystery it has never revealed: it’s where Arden Arrowood’s younger twin sisters vanished on her watch twenty years ago—never to be seen again. After the twins’ disappearance, Arden’s parents divorced and the Arrowoods left the big house that had been in their family for generations. And Arden’s own life has fallen apart. She can’t finish her master thesis, and a misguided love affair has ended badly. She has held on to the hope that her sisters are still alive, and it seems she can’t move forward until she finds them. When her father dies and she inherits Arrowood, Arden returns to her childhood home determined to discover what really happened to her sisters that traumatic summer.
Arden’s return to the town of Keokuk—and the now infamous house that bears her name—is greeted with curiosity. But she is welcomed back by her old neighbor and first love, Ben Ferris, whose family, she slowly learns, knows more about the Arrowoods’ secrets and their small, closed community than she ever realized. With the help of a young amateur investigator, Arden tracks down the man who was the prime suspect in the kidnapping. But the house and the surrounding town hold their secrets close—and the truth, when Arden finds it, is more devastating than she ever could have imagined.
Arrowood was the first gothic novel I read, and I LOVED it. This story captivated me from the beginning and had me turning pages well into the silent, long hours of the night (bad idea if you’re reading a horror story). I found the thriller aspect of this book to be a slow burn with twists and turns that unfolded flawlessly. The plot was simple, relatable, and gripping, which makes this a good starter book. All of the elements of a gothic novel—romance, mansions, ghosts, tarot cards—were present throughout. If you’re unsure, let me seal the deal with this: there was one page in this book that literally chilled me to the core. Literally. I was laying in bed, alone, around midnight, and my entire body went cold from reading this page. It was the craziest thing in the world—no book has ever done that to me before or since. It was a terrifying and wonderful and creepy experience. Of course, I lapped it up.
The death of Mrs. Westaway
Author: Ruth Ware
Goodreads Synopsis:
On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money. Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the centre of it.
Much like Arrowood, The Death of Mrs. Westaway is a slow burn with the elements of a traditional gothic horror novel. The old, desolate mansion with the shady characters gives off a sense of unease throughout. With a formidable atmosphere, this is the kind of book that needs to be savored, and Ware pulls back the curtains gradually, building and building until the final reveal.
An unwanted guest
Author: Shari Lapena
Goodreads Synopsis:
A remote lodge in Upstate New York is the perfect getaway…until the bodies start piling up. It’s winter in the Catskills and the weather outside is frightful. But the Mitchell’s Inn is so delightful! The cozy lodge nestled deep in the woods is perfect for a relaxing—maybe even romantic—weekend away. The Inn boasts spacious old rooms with huge wood-burning fireplaces, a stocked wine cellar, and opportunities for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, or just curling up with a book and someone you love. So when the weather takes a turn for the worse, and a blizzard cuts off the electricity—and all contact with the outside world—the guests settle in for the long haul. The power’s down but they’ve got candles, blankets, and wood—a genuine rustic experience! Soon, though, a body turns up—surely an accident. When a second body appears, they start to panic. Then they find the third body.
Within the snowed-in paradise, something—or someone—is picking off the guests one by one. They can’t leave, and with no cell service, there’s no prospect of getting the police in until the weather loosens its icy grip. The weekend getaway has turned deadly. For some couples, it’s their first time away. For others, it will be their last. And there’s nothing they can do about it but huddle down and hope they can survive the storm.
I don’t know if it’s because I live in a state where I’ve seen blizzards (albeit not anywhere as bad compared to the upper northeast), but this book felt so real. I could totally picture the dazzling and enchanting Inn in the woods with the promise of a glimmering snow-filled view. Lapena’s writing style is easy to follow and hold onto. The atmosphere and guests were all equally unsettling in their own right, and the dark tension surrounding and inside the hotel emanated from the pages. This book at times reminded me of Stephen Kings’ The Shining. Lapena paints a vacation gone wrong, horribly wrong, and saves the biggest twist of all for the very last pages.
The turn of the key
Author: Ruth Ware
Goodreads Synopsis:
When she stumbles across the ad, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss—a live-in nannying post, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan Caine arrives at the Heathborne House, she is smitten—by the luxurious “smart” home fitted out with modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family. What she doesn’t know is she’s stepping into a nightmare—one that will end with a child dead and herself in prison awaiting trial for murder.
Writing to her lawyer from prison, she struggles to explain the unraveling events that led to her incarceration. It wasn’t just the constant surveillance from the cameras installed around the house, or the malfunctioning technology that woke the household with booming music, or turned the lights off at the worst possible time. It wasn’t just the girls, who turned out to be a far cry from the immaculately behaved model children she met at her interview. It wasn’t even the way she was left alone for weeks at a time, with no adults apart from the enigmatic handyman, Jack Grant. It was everything. She knows she’s made mistakes. She admits that she lied to obtain the post, and that her behavior toward the children wasn’t always ideal. She’s not innocent, by any means. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty—at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.
This book is interesting because going into it we already know right away that one of the children Rowan—our narrator and main character—nannied for is dead. We don’t know which child it is, or how we got to that point, but before we even start reading we know what we’re working up to. I personally loved this because it helped create the slow, dramatic build. The story unfolds through the long letter Rowan writes to her lawyer in prison. Through the letter, she unveils what really happened leading up to that fateful night. She takes us back to the beginning to explain to the lawyer (and reader) what Heathborne House is really like behind closed doors. Unfolding the story like this was so unique and brilliant.
Like the books above, this is a slow burn that needs to be appreciated. It took me until around page 80 to start flipping the pages frantically. After that, I found I was unable to put the book down, and grabbed it to read any chance I got—waiting for water to boil while cooking dinner, waiting for something to load for my blog; you get the picture. The tension and darkness bubbles underneath the surface, and helps create doubt in the readers mind; unsure of what to think, of what’s real and what’s not. An old, beautiful mansion with modern flair, a remote location, a family that is not what they seem; and ghosts and creepy gardens. There’s a twist I didn’t see coming, too. I devoured this book, it’s my favorite Ruth Ware book to date.
Amazing forum posts. Many thanks!
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