10 Books to Read After You’ve Finished REBECCA

This is everything we want from a gothic novel. If Ann Radcliffe were still alive, she would adore this book. It’s a perfect turnaround of the often xenophobic tropes of the gothic. The villains are a white, colonialist family, and it’s chef’s kiss good.

Our main character, Noemi, is a young socialite who’s sent to investigate the strange letters her father has been receiving from her cousin. Her cousin, who was recently married off, is experiencing an odd illness, and the family she married into might be poisoning her.

Moreno-Garcia has a gift. I actually finished this book in one sitting; I could not put it down.

Merricat and her older sister live in a manor with their elderly uncle, totally shunned by their neighbors in town. Merricat is perfectly happy to live in this isolation, and her sister seems content as well, until an intriguing young man named Charles visits the manor house.

Slowly but surely, Shirley teases out the family’s mysterious past, and also what their newest visitor’s true intentions are.

This is a wonderful text that turns the traditional gothic novel inside out, and then flips it upside down for good measure. The house is both a space of immense trauma, but also safety. Rather than dragging the characters off to dangerous locations, Charles merely disrupts their lives slightly. Truly a great read.

A classic gothic novel translated from Japanese in 2016. A perfect addition to any spooky bookshelf.

A young couple and their child move into a new apartment that happens to be built right next to a graveyard. Mysterious and terrifying things begin to happen, and the neighbors start to move out until the family is left all alone. The longer you stay in the apartment building, the more trapped you become.

Taking place in late 19th century Louisiana, our main character, Gilda, escapes slavery and finds freedom by working in a brothel. In the brothel, she meets two lesbian vampires, and they initiate her into eternal life. Years later, she is still searching for a true home for herself.

This is a personal favorite of mine, and I think it’s one of the most spectacular books ever written. But don’t take my word for it: the author, Jewelle Gomez, won two Lambda Awards for this book.

This memoir sits on on the border between gothic and nonfiction. The events of the book are true, but Machado tells her tale according to gothic theory.

In The Dream House confronts how queer domestic abuse is talked about in the public sphere, by telling us about Machado’s own abusive relationship. Machado operates on two spheres, one the academic, charting and archiving the history of queer abuse, and two, the survivor, telling us her story in a way so personal and so powerful that it defies being confined to one genre.

This is a hard read, but one that everyone should experience at some point. Machado’s way of writing makes it a wonderfully crafted piece. I also recommend her first book, Her Body and Other Parties, which also fits the gothic vibe.

Jessamy, born to an English father and Nigerian mother, finds herself unable to fit in at the British schools. She only makes a friend when she first visits Nigeria: a girl named TillyTilly. But as their visits continue, Jessamy loses her ability to distinguish fantasy from reality.

Oyeyemi draws on Nigerian mythology for this amazing text.

You may think you know everything there is to know about Jane Austen, but hear me out. Northanger Abbey was Austen’s first work, it was published posthumously, and it is deliciously witty parody of the gothic genre.

Catherine Morland visits the town of Bath and enters into a courtship with the suave Henry Tilney. The two of them bond over their mutual love of gothic novels, citing Radcliffe’s Mysteries of Udolpho as a favorite (in the Wishbone adaption, Henry is played by Wishbone). Unfortunately, Catherine’s wild imagination gets the better of her, and she begins to suspect Henry’s father is secretly a gothic villain.

This book is the most fun I’ve ever had with Austen. Perhaps a palate cleanser in between Rebecca and another text on this list?