GOTHIC BOOKS to Read for Fall | 20+ Books, 5 Genres

[@Lorie336]

The Historian is one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. No one ever talks about this book except you and Mara.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

It's such a good one!!

[@HappyforNow]

I am so excited to put a lot of these on my TBR! You know I’m on this gothic journey with you this year for some reason.

[@HappyforNow]

I really liked The Widow of Rose House it’s kinda light in the gothic but I still think it fits into the definition.

[@HappyforNow]

Oh I loved the historian too! I never thought about it being gothic but it really did have those vibes.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Yes!!! Loving all the gothic things this year!

[@elinsreadinglife4745]

I'm getting into gothic fiction now before I had just read Frankenstein and I hated it thought it was boring. I just finished Catherine house and loved it, currently reading the Year of the Witching and am really excited to read Mexican Gothic

[@BookishTrina]

I love all things gothic so I loveddddd this video so much! I actually have His Hideous Heart and now plan to move it up on my TBR.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I do too!!! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@lisaleckler6691]

Love this video!!! I’m suddenly on this Gothic kick with the supernatural so this list sooo helpful! Can wait bc to read them ALL! Which there was a book box w this style

[@TheGoofy1932]

Jane Eyre is so good. I love Rebecca and the Picture of Dorian Grey too for some good old school Gothic style. The Raven's Tale sounds good. Poe is my all time favorite author. He's a great one for Gothic reads-Fall of the House of Usher is almost a personification of a quintessential Gothic story. Also, gonna give Hester Fox a try. You and Mara keep recommending her. 😂

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

So good! And yes, we are both Hester Fox fans! Lol

[@booklover8872]

KZbin just recommended your video and I'm in love 😍 you should also try Gothikana. I just finished reading it and I think you'll love it!

[@LocDBooktician]

I love this!!! I didn't really know what gothic meant until today.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Glad it was helpful!

[@leticiatoraci9855]

Great recs! I heard the audiobook of The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White and liked it very much. I'll be reading Mexican Gothic and The Distant Hours by Kate Morton too.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thank you!! Hope you enjoy them!

[@TheBookishMom]

I really have been wanting to pick up Gideon the Ninth!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Interested to see what you think!

[@ReadingAce]

Being from Argentina myself I am very intrigued by The Tenth Girl. I'd only heard Mara talk about it before but knowing you loved it so much is making me consider giving it a go. I'm sure it'll be a difficult read but hopefully a good one in the end!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Hope you enjoy it! It's definitely a polarizing one. Her family is from Argentina and I know some details in The Tenth Girl are drawn from stories she heard of that time period.

[@WildeBookGarden]

I never thought of Jane Eyre as a Gothic Romance which is silly because I like Wuthering Heights! lol. Maybe my dislike of Rochester makes me categorize it as a Gothic book but not a romance 😂 ---oh and you just addressed this! Yeah good point, WH is definitely Gothic but not really a romance! I liked the Gothic elements in The Widow of Rose House! the romance didn't work for me (though I liked some of the couple's scenes at the beginning) but the atmosphere was great! A friend of mine loves The Historian so I've been meaning to try it! I would recommend the movie/play Gaslight, I think it really fits some of these tropes! The play is by Patrick Hamilton and I did like it, but I think the 1944 movie with Ingrid Bergman is FANTASTIC and makes the female lead a much more active and interesting character. Spooky occurrences + old house + isolation of main character + "is this real or in the main character's head?", which I feel like is a kind of related trope to the possible paranormal element you talked about! And the play is where the term gaslighting originated from so it's super creepy in a very real-world way. I'm so impressed with how concisely but thoroughly you talked about these, Bethany! I tend to like light Gothic elements, like more atmospheric instead of scary, but then again I loved Mexican Gothic so there are exceptions!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Lol! Yes, definitely both gothic! I'm looking forward to trying Widow of Rose House. You should read The Historian! I feel like you would like it. Thanks for sharing! I've heard about Gaslight but never actually seen it. Thanks for watching!

[@luciacotelo2282]

I absolutely loveeee your channel! I definitely am going to check out the Historian, it seems really interesting. Btw you look like you could be Victoria Aveyard’s twin!!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thank you so much!! Wow. I hope you enjoy The Historian!

[@sophieq5036]

That's the first time I see someone mentioning Kate Morton on Booktube. Love her books! :)

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

They're the best!

[@mirnatius]

The Widow of Rose House is one I’m really looking forward, I’ve had it on my tbr for a while now! And I need to continue with Hester Fox, those books sound awesome! 😮💖

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I really want to read it! Hope you enjoy more Hester Fox.

[@miriamgomez9296]

thank you I want to read Mexican Gothic I read the year of within loved it I appreciated this video enjoy

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@lisaleckler6691]

Jane eyre is one of my all time fav books! I’ve read it so many times❤️❤️

[@sunandmoodreads2333]

Omg I literally just clicked download on all these on my kindle as I was listening to you! And Jane Eyre is my all time favourite ♥️ Thanks for the recs. I love your channel, yay for super bookish mums! Cheers xx

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Yay! Thank you!

[@LocDBooktician]

The Historian is being added for sure!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Such a good one!

[@ClandestineGirl16X]

This is fantastic! Thank you so much!

[@abigaillarion9365]

I will read any book described as Gothic! My favorite this year has been Ghost Wood Song -- a Southern Gothic murder mystery inspired by a bluegrass song.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I love gothic books! Oh, that sounds really interesting!

[@MandyHiHello]

I love this video! It's so helpful!! Could you make a video for November recommendations as well? I feel like it's a weird, in-between time that can be difficult to figure out what to read.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thanks for watching! Yeah, that's a good idea. I'll give that some thought!

[@katiepatterson7292]

Thank you for all the recommendations! I hadn’t heard of a lot of these before. The turn of the key is one of my favorite books. I’m reading Mexican Gothic right now and am almost halfway and don’t feel like anything “horror” has happened yet?

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

You're so welcome! Yeah, Mexican Gothic is definitely a slow-burn, but it gets to be plenty horror.

[@VanessaMarieBooks]

Home Before Dark has some gothic elements. It's got the isolation piece, and the "maybe it's supernatural but maybe not" trope going on. Also, Lock Every Door by Riley Sager has that trope as well. Though I think Lock Every Door has more of a gothic feel than Home Before Dark, because of the setting it's in and the history of the place. But I would say both of those would be great gothic mysteries. Lock Every Door is hit or miss for a lot of people because of the ending. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, but overall I did still enjoy the story. I love horror stories, so I lean on the side of gothic horror, but I do also like gothic mysteries.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thanks for sharing! I'm looking forward to reading some Riley Sager. Endings for these kinds of books always seem polarizing.

[@sakshi2897]

I love The Historian by Kostova 💕

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

It's so good!

[@rebeccassweetmusic4632]

I saw your review on Mexican Gothic, and it looks interesting. It's on hold through my Libby at the moment. White is for Witching too

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I hope you enjoy it!

[@the_broken_spine]

I love Jane Eyre. I reread it every few years. The copy that I read is starting to fall apart and it has all sorts of stickie notes and handwritten notes in it. I'm rereading Frankenstein this month. And I really want to read The Year of the Witching.

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Oh I love that! I have old copies of some favorite books too. Year of the Witching is great!

[@stacypienaar4365]

I don't read horror or gothic novels very often but when I think of those themes I immediately thing of Crimson Peak the movie. Do you have any books that are similar to that?

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I haven't watched it yet, but yes that's a lot of what I'm talking about here!

[@Amanda-nq6mw]

A couple YA Gothic books I really like are Roseblood by A.G. Howard which is a cool retelling of phantom of the opera and then The Bone Houses is just a perfect book that is perfect for those who love the gothic atmosphere but not really scary

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I haven't read those! Thanks for sharing.

[@Amanda-nq6mw]

@@BeautifullyBookishBethany You're welcome 😁

[@readersgottoread1443]

When you talked about Frankenstein, I thought of This Dark Endeavor by Kenneth Oppel. I thought it was a good read and I need to read the sequel. I would prefer gothic romance. Thanks for the video!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Oh interesting! I haven't heard of that one. Thanks for watching!

[@Tarasreadingnook]

Love it all

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Thank you!

[@JayGTheAwkwardBookworm]

Ooo yay! Ruth Ware is so great!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

I like her!

[@Tarasreadingnook]

I love Frankinstine

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

same!

[@LocDBooktician]

Unrelated: How do you do the sections in your video with the genres?

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Oh, look at the bottom of the video description! You just make a list with the time markers and titles.

[@LocDBooktician]

@@BeautifullyBookishBethany Thank you. I forgot to tell you that I figured out after I messaged this. Sorry for wasting your time on this. lol

[@BohoBookworm]

I really wish I enjoyed Ruth Ware's books. I just haven't ever been able to get into them!

[@BeautifullyBookishBethany]

Yeah, she's not for everyone! I like them, but I know you aren't alone.