10 Book Recs For World Goth Day

Happy World Goth Day, Darklings!

If you’re unfamiliar with the holiday, it’s exactly what it sounds like — a day for goths all over the world to celebrate our subculture and let our little black hearts shine bright. Even though many people today are more accepting of alternative folks than in past decades, with the current political climate in the US and elsewhere, I believe that having the bravery to be openly and unapologetically “different” is one of the most radical things we can do to resist authoritarianism.

A common misconception is that goth is merely an aesthetic. While goth encourages self-expression and creativity, and aesthetics are certainly a way for goths to identify ourselves to the world and to one another (and we have the most beautiful styles, if I do say so myself), black lipstick and fishnets do not a goth make. Goth is a musical subculture, and everything else revolves around the tuneage. That being said, goth music is part of a long, rich tradition of Gothic art and literature in the Western world. (I was lucky enough to take not one, but *two* Gothic literature classes in undergrad that changed my life.)

To celebrate this most excellent of holidays, I thought I would share a list of 10 Gothic Literature Recommendations, both fiction and nonfiction. You may recognize a few from your high school or college English classes, while others might be completely new to you. Some are classics, some contemporary, but each offers something darkly delightful for the curious and open-minded (and maybe a tad morbid) reader.

Goth: A History
​Lol Tolhurst

This nonfiction gem from co-founding member of The Cure is part memoir, part historic study of the goth subculture from its post-punk beginnings in the London Underground to its global influence today. Lol Tolhurst (yes, that is his real name) writes with vulnerability and wit, drawing on his treasure trove of personal memories and his extensive knowledge of the art and literature that inspire(d) the genre. Needless to say, the book includes many interesting anecdotes about the early goth scene, featuring the "Architects of Darkness" who started it all – The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, and Bauhaus – and a fascinating discussion of the "Spiritual Alchemists" such as Cocteau Twins, Depeche Mode, Cold Cave, and others, who helped bring goth out of the bat cave and into outside world.

​One thing I really appreciate is how Tolhurst writes openly and honestly about his challenges with mental health and the grief he experienced after the death of his mother during the recording of Faith, and how he found comfort and purpose in a scene that gave a home and safe haven to misfits and weirdos. Goth: A History is required reading for baby bats, elder goths, and everyone in between, or anyone with an interest in musical history.

Carmilla
Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu
​
Move over, Dracula. Carmilla predates Bram Stoker's Transylvanian Count by twenty-five years and is a keystone text of modern vampire literature. Featuring a protagonist named Laura who is – very erotically – fed upon by the female vampire Carmilla, the novella is one of the most influential vampiric and queer stories of all time. I mean, sapphic vampires. Louis and Lestat have nothing on these two!

Frankenstein: or, the Modern Prometheus
​Mary Shelley

Gothic or not, Frankenstein is in my Top 10 favorite books of all time. It's not only a seminal Gothic text – it is also arguably the first science fiction novel. The story of how Victor Frankenstein, a gifted young university student and budding scientist, learns the hard way not to play god when his monstrous creation proves to be more than he bargained for, has haunted our collective imagination for over 200 years and inspired numerous books, films, plays, and other artistic works. Not a bad legacy for a teenage girl who bested three grown men at a spooky storytelling contest during a very rainy English summer.

via GIPHY

If not for Mary Shelley, there would be no Dr. Frankenfurter.

The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde

I'm a devoted Oscar Wilde fan in general – perhaps unsurprisingly, his collection of original faerie tales has a special place on my shelf, and his quote "We are all in the gutter; but some of us are looking at the stars" (from Lady Windermere's Fan) is placed on the whiteboard above my desk. The Picture of Dorian Gray has haunted me ever since I first read it in my high school senior English class. Wilde's only novel follows the life of Dorian Gray, a young Adonis who sells his soul so that he can remain eternally youthful and beautiful while a portrait of him painted by his friend Basil Hallward ages and fades, recording each of his ill deeds as he embarks on a hedonistic, libertine lifestyle. The novel explores themes of morality, aestheticism, and social pressures. It is also very, very gay.

Wuthering Heights
​Emily Brontë

The middle sister of the famous literary Brontë family, Emily was first and foremost a poet. Wuthering Heights was her only novel. This dark gothic romance tells the story of the doomed love between Catherine Earnshaw and her foster brother Heathcliff. Set against the misty wild Yorkshire moors, this haunting, passionate novel about the lengths we're willing to go for love – no matter how condemnable – will leave your heart rattling like the wind blowing over the heath on a stormy autumn night.

A personal anecdote: I spent three days in Haworth – the home of the Brontës – during my study abroad trip to the United Kingdom in the summer of 2014. I had the privilege of touring the Brontë Parsonage, and to hike across the moor to Top Withins, the ruined farmhouse believed to have inspired Emily Bront​ë as she wrote ​Wuthering Heights! If you happen to be interested, here are a few snapshots from my visit. Looking at them makes me Very Happy.

The Bloody Chamber
​Angela Carter

Think faerie tales for grown-ups. Then, think faerie tales for grown-ups born from the darkest corners of your childhood nightmares and the most gnarled and twisted realities of the waking adult world. That’s what you get in this compelling short story collection by the twentieth century queen of dark fantasy. From Bluebeard to Puss In Boots, Angela Carter’s unique vision will shock and mesmerize you. I first read this marvelous short story collection in high school (in hindsight, it probably wasn’t the most age-ppropriate choice for a sixteen year old, but I turned out relatively fine); to this day, The Bloody Chamber and Angela Carter remain among my greatest influences as a writer.

The demented fun doesn't stop there: one of my all-time favorite horror movies, Neil Jordan's The Company of Wolves (1984), is based on Carter's short story of the same name and possibly the most famous in this collection. Carter herself co-wrote the screenplay with Jordan, and it is by far one of the most disturbing and beautiful Red Riding Hood reimaginings in film and literature.

We Have Always Lived In the Castle
Shirley Jackson

American mistress of domestic terrors, Shirley Jackson is a must for any gothic reading list. In less than 200 pages, this gothic masterpiece of a novella opens with what is quite possibly the most gut-punching opening paragraph in Western lit and ends with a shattering agoraphobic sort of beauty that will leave you questioning your own morality. There is also a cat (who is alive and well at the end).

Nothing But Blackened Teeth
​Cassandra Khaw

I am a fan of Japanese horror. Some of you may not be – it is pretty intense compared to a lot of the dark fiction we have in the West. But if you enjoy disturbing tales of yōkai and ghosties from our friends across the Pacific, you'll enjoy this short novella featuring a bunch of spoiled rich twentysomethings, a spooky Heian-era mansion, and a pissed off lady ghost of a bride who gets very lonely in the soil beneath the house.

Cemetery Boys
Aiden Thomas

Cemetery Boys has earned an almost cult status since its 2020 debut, and for good reason. Set against the macabre yet festive backdrop of Día de los Muertos, the story of a trans teen and the ghost of boy taken before his time unfolds in a heartbreaking, tender, and hard-hitting tale of magic, queer love, belonging, and what it means to feel truly at home. If Cemetery Boys doesn't have you tearing up by the end, nothing will.

When We Entered That House
​Clair L. Smith

This quick read involves two girls who go into a creepy house in the woods. You don't want to know what they find inside. Except yes, yes you do! Australian author Clair L. Smith has woven a deeply unsettling yet lush story of female friendship and what we owe to the people closest to us by turning the haunted house trope on its head.

"Hold up!" You might be thinking, "What about Dracula? What about Poe? What about Plath, for crying out loud?!"

​This is by no means an exhaustive list. Gothic literature is a vast genre with something for everyone, and there is no shortage of fascinating spooky stories to explore. These is are just a few of my personal favorites to get you started. Happy reading, and remember – every day is Halloween.

Oh, and BAN FASCISTS, NOT BOOKS!