Specters, dark castles and gloomy weather
gothic horror at its finest
I spent my university years in the Netherlands, in a small town at the border with Germany. Most of autumn and winter days were cold, rainy and spent cycling to and back from classes. During that time, I read very little and what I did read did not stick with me long term. An exception are The Gothic Tales of H.P. Lovecraft edited by Xavier Aldana Reyes. (Truthfully, the cover did influence me to buy the book. It’s a beautiful hardcover.)
I never re-read them, some were too freaky for me to indulge in another spook-fest, and some I chose to interpret as hilarious rather than frightening. As far as I can remember, this collection freaked me out so bad at times, I had to read it with another person in the room.
In hindsight, I might have amplified the spookiness by creating a candlelit atmosphere, dark shadows moving on the walls as the wind blew through the cracked window, me huddled under blankets.
Reading the collection gave me chills and cured me of seeking horror stories for a while. Until I realized those stories were as horror-ish as they were because they were very atmospheric and the prose so good it made me see every detail and feel everything as if I were living in said stories. Once that occurred to me, when I was in a better headspace, I began seeking other books to give me the same adrenaline rush and desire to close the book, yet unable to do so because I had to find out what’s going on.
I failed spectacularly in that department. Every other horror novel I read henceforth disappointed me. While the various writings had their own charm, I did not find what I was looking for. Browsing my favourite bookstore’s shelves, I stumbled upon another collection of Gothic short stories, selected by David Blair. I did not recognise the names of the majority of the featured authors, but taking notice of Poe and Hawthorne in the contents list, I decided to give it a shot.
Only, I had purchased the book in summer 2023, and by the time autumn 2023 rolled in, I had forgotten about the book (my shelf space was limited, so I had accidentally hidden it). Now, as I rearranged my shelves, I uncovered the collection. Unfortunately, I found it after establishing my Autumn TBR. Nevertheless, I’m adding it as an afterthought on my to-be-read list for the spooky season.
I read half of the stories and, my word, the 1800s writing is insanely good. I love myself a good-old classic novel, but so often the prose is over the top, as the style was back then, that I get overwhelmed by the details. The short stories ‘force’ the writer to be more concise, to get to the point, but also to keep the readers on their toes. In these short stories, I believe the true beauty of 19th century’s writing is unveiled.
Since I’ve started writing this bit, I stumbled upon a few posts regarding more “up to date” thriller/horror books, so below are a couple I saved as inspiration for my ever-growing TBR. Any other recommendations are welcome!
I love horror of any kind and more so gothic horror! winter/autumn and rainy days, candles burning and reading a spooky book is such a moooood 😍 i love it 😆 I'll definitely checkout these gothic story collections 😍 and you've inspired me to put together a specific gothic horror books recommendation list 💖please share if you know any gothic movies i can watch!