Have you read gothic fiction?
I have read a few and this genre has become my favorite. Whenever I want to read a horror book, I look for these gothic traits. I mainly connect the term “gothic” with death, darkness, terror, castles, trapdoors, creepy things, and haunted houses. These things make the story intriguing and full of suspense. Plus, the eerie atmosphere brings up the image of reading a book on a rainy night with thunder and lightning.
For me, gothic fiction is a package of all the right elements. After I read some short stories by Edgar Allan Poe, I dived into this genre by checking out some classics. Rebecca is a romantic gothic fiction that I liked a lot. It’s not a cheesy love story with a love triangle. There is a crime, murder mystery that will keep you guessing for the culprit amidst deception and a dark past.
Just like this, there are two more amazing novels I couldn’t put down: Parting the Veil and Mexican Gothic. They both also involve romance with dark secrets, evil versus good, and paranormal.
When you read these books, you will get lost in their stories. You should definitely check them out, if you are a horror fan. Even if you are not, you might develop a new taste for this genre.
Parting the Veil by Paulette Kennedy
Parting the Veil is an engrossing romantic, gothic fiction set during the nineteenth century rural England. The suspenseful plot, damsel-in-distress gothic heroine, haunted mansion with secret passageways, and English gentry society make the novel unputdownable. It feels like an ideal escape for gothic horror and forbidden romance lovers.
Eliza Sullivan has just inherited an estate, Sherbourne House, from her deceased aunt in Essex, England. She leaves behind New Orleans to start a new life in a foreign country with her half-sister Ldyia. Her dream is to become an independent woman, running her own horse stable instead of pursuing marriage like other women.
But her fate has something else stored in for her when she is invited to a ball party. In the party, she meets a mysterious, charming man named Malcolm Winfield who resides in an infamous estate, Havenwood Manor. She falls in love with him and gets married, despite societal dark rumors about Malcolm and his seemingly unsettling manor.
The marriage feels like something out of a fairytale until Eliza notices Malcolm’s erratic and strange behavior. Maids and servants are on guard around her and she is restricted from entering the burned portion of the estate.
Her suspicions take ground when she hears eerie whispers at night, and pipe clanging in the bedroom walls. She realizes nothing is as she first thought about Malcolm and Havenwood Manor. What is being kept from her? Are rumors true after all?
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic is an engrossing gothic house adventure that will keep you turning pages. There is terror, violence, appalling secrets, revenge, and an unimaginable dark side of the family that pulls you right in.
Naomi Taboada receives an alarming letter from her newly-wed cousin who needs her help. Her cousin is married to an English man and they live at a distant countryside home in Mexico called High Place. Upon arrival, Noami learns that her cousin is bed-ridden and a doctor often visits her. The husband strikes her as a caring and hospitable man after first meeting, but her cousin still seems uneasy.
High Place is not a usual dwelling. It is vacant except for the staff and the grotesque-faced father-in-law who only shows himself at meal times. There is an unsettling silence, emptiness with barely-lit, eerie corridors and isolated bedrooms. Despite the treatment and daily doses of medicine, her cousin does not seem like she is getting well.
As days pass and Noami spends more time at High Place, she is invaded with disturbing dreams. These dreams are not her imagination but they are visions of the house she is staying in. They show things that are graphic and sexually-intimate in nature.
The impending doom her cousin has been hinting at in the letter is the house and its inhabitants. Noami, herself allured into unintentional attraction towards the husband, tries to rescue her cousin. But how can she do this when High Place has tightened its hold on her and won’t let her escape.
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Rebecca is an atmospheric and suspenseful tale of romance and marriage. The highly-vivid and enticing writing style of Daphne du Maurier makes this book a captivating read. The storyline is simple but the main characters, the nameless young female narrator and Maxim de Winter, carry deep emotions. In addition to that, the element of mystery surrounding the death of Maxim de Winter’s first wife deepens our interest.
The narrator is a nameless young orphan girl who works as a maid for a nosy old lady. On a chance encounter, she becomes acquainted with Maxim de Winter at a hotel lobby where her mistress chit-chats with passersby. The first impressionable meeting turns into something more intimate when Maxim proposes marriage to the narrator. He invites her to his estate called Manderley that is a small distance from the sea. She lives there with him as his young bride.
It’s not long after her arrival that she hears rumors in the society about Maxim’s first wife, Rebecca. But Maxim does not want to talk about her. He tries to make the narrator feel that she is the best thing that happened to him. Yet, she won’t rest until she unearths secrets from his past and finds the truth behind his silence.
This novel may feel slow-paced but that’s where the beauty of the story and characters lies. You feel emotions for the narrator as she falls in love with Maxim in a house that is haunted by Rebecca’s memories. She has died but her presence lingers among her belongings and in the society where people haven’t forgotten her. How can she become a wife to a man whose first wife is more loved and valued over her. It’s a heartfelt story that will give you chills.
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