Autumn is just round the corner, and no genre is as closely associated with this time of year as Gothic – well, perhaps apart from horror. Whilst I was recently having a look through my books, I realised just how many Gothic works I’ve collected over the last few years, so it seems only fair to share some of my favourites with you. I suppose this post is only for you if that’s your genre, but if I had to choose ONE genre to live in forever, it would probably be this one. I mean, moody houses or castles? Ghosts? Secrets and unsolved mysteries from the past? Costumes? Fantasy balls and fairy-tale creatures? I could go on, but you get the picture. Pick up one of the books listed below and lose yourself in it!

The Knight and The Moth: Since I picked up the first Rachel Gillig book I am convinved she’s truly one of the best living writers out there. This one is dark, intricate and has some of the most unusual characters in the fantasy-verse I’ve read in a long time. You get an old gothic abbey, gargoyles, a badass main character development and a plot that has drive and a mystery. I loved the setting, the language and the love story plus the idea of having to drown to see a vision of the future is unique and not comparable to what else is out there at the moment. You’re also in luck: if you pick up book one now, you can head on to the second book right away, it released this month!

The Binding & The Betrayals: Not related storywise but written by the same author. Both books display a lyrical, very descriptive speech that draws you into alternative societies and magical talents. In The Binding, the main character is able to read the life-stories of people and put their life into books. Very dark, compelling, has an unexpected love story and is beautifully crafted; PLUS I loved the fantasy idea of being able to bind your life into pages. In The Betrayals the main characters play a game based on intellectual abilities and magical display. The whole thing takes place in a gothic academy, people sharing rooms and having to follow rules within a strict society. I’d say a different but very effective way to portrait the classical academy with mysteries and weird, spooky characters.

Frankenstein: The classic. In case you didn’t take the time until now; this is actually a VERY readable classic. Of course you’ll get a little of the “old” speech and the style isn’t as short-cut as we are used to by now. But the charme of the story doesn’t come from the language in itself and more from the new idea of a monster, the love story behind the diary entries and the loss of control over the entire situation. I truly think this is a good one to start in case you always wanted to dive into the typical books that you “should have read” during your liefetime.

Wakenhyrst: This book might be the darkest one I’m presenting here, no idea why they chose a happy colour like lilac as a cover to present something with such a deep mistrust. The whole story is based around a country house close to a river, the house is haunted by a dark atmosphere, but we can’t pinpoint the exact reason for it in the beginning. But of course the river smells bad, there are stories about people who died in that water and the author wants us to dig into the past of that whole place to find out what made it so. I clung to the pages of this and the ending is still shocking. So in case you’re craving something a little more gothic-horror-esque, this might be yours.

A Great And Terrible Beauty: Loved this from start to finish and think this matches “Gothic” to a T. A school full of dark subjects and decade-old-secrets, an interesting and not completely see-through main character, a lot of gothic descriptions when it comes to ghosts, the building, the surroundings and creatures. Leads you to doubt what is real and what’s not real in the story, which, personally, I find super interesting. Well written and told with some unexpected turns.

Finally, at least for a first round; The Scarletti Curse. This one is older but I think a must if you love romance and spicy books. Of course really stereotypical in the way the characters are depicted (he’s bad, she’s good, they aren’t meant for each other and so on) but isn’t erotical fiction allowed to be stereotypical? Maybe I’m starting a big discussion over here that needs to be discussed at another point ;).
This tells the story of a young healer who is chosen by the lord of a castle to break the Scarletti Curse – a whole family who’s losing their partners through unthinkable ways and all of them are cursed to stay alone for life. You get a hot hero, a castle, dark going-ons and mysteries and sex scenes. So yeah… why not? Have to admit this one really got me started on gothic reads in general.

Any recommendations on more great Gothic books for autumn? If you read any of the above; what was your opinion on them?