When you hear the name Edgar Allan Poe, you probably think of ghosts, gloom and death. Though he only lived to be 40 years old, the stories Edgar Allan Poe left behind have certainly outlived him. January 19, 2025 would have been Poe’s 216th birthday, so today we look back at his iconic legacy. From “The Raven” and “The Cask of Amontillado” to “The Fall of the House of Usher” and my personal favorite (read: most feared) “The Tell-Tale Heart”, Poe’s words have haunted readers for generations.
Inspiring new screen adaptations, concept albums, and numerous literary retellings, the work of Poe is a staple of popular culture. So, in celebration of the late, great Edgar Allan Poe’s 216th birthday, I’ve gathered a handful of new and upcoming Gothic novels that are sure to terrify you like any good Poe story. Blending the horrifying, the supernatural, the macabre and plenty of haunted houses, these 10 books will make your heart pound. And the one under the floorboards, too.
The Artist Of Blackberry Grange by Paulette Kennedy
After her mother’s death and a broken-off engagement, Sadie Halloran’s life is thrown off course. Her devastation is only assuaged by a new purpose as a live-in caretaker for her great aunt Marguerite in Blackberry Grange.
Marguerite, once a renowned artist, suffers from dementia and is now compelled to paint eerie portraits of old lovers. Some beastly and all horrifying, the paintings fill the days, while time begins to pass strangely. Truth and delusion blur as Marguerite’s obscured past comes into focus, and Sadie works to reveal these secrets before reality slips out of her grasp.
Beneath The Poet’s House by Christa Carmen
Saoirse White is grieving the death of her husband and searching for something to tether her to life and bring back her creativity. When she moves into the home of Sarah Helen Whitman, a poet and spiritualist who was the object of Edgar Allan Poe’s affection, Saoirse hopes the quiet solitude will bring inspiration.
As she befriends a group of writers obsessed with the mystic beliefs held by Whitman, her grief and loneliness begin to feel like things of the past. Romance blossoms between Saoirse and author Emmit Powell and the writer’s block begins to fade. But buried secrets can only be held at bay for so long, and old fears aren’t the only thing that come back to haunt her.
Hungerstone by Kat Dunn
This feminist vampire novel reimagines Carmilla, a classic queer vampire novel. Lenore and her husband Henry’s marriage is on the rocks. When Henry takes them to the remote British moorlands to go hunting, an unexpected carriage accident brings a stranger into their lives. Carmilla, who comes alive at nighttime after pale, quiet days, consumes Lenore’s thoughts. Soon, local women and girls in villages begin to grow sick, overtaken by hunger.
As the day of the hunt approaches, Lenore is driven mad with uncertainty about the course of her life. Should she continue to pursue with obsession with Carmilla, or work to repair things with her husband? And what of this terrible hunger she experiences and the newly uncovered secrets about her household?
Gothictown by Emily Carpenter
Anyone who has been haunted by The Lottery by Shirley Jackson since the day they’ve read it will be equally captivated by Gothictown. Billie Hope is eager to move to a Victorian home in Georgia and leave her life behind. Endeared to the southern charm of the town of Juliana, Billie’s family is ready to start over.
In Juliana, Billie is kept awake by strange dreams, her marriage is faltering, and the town elders seem more oppressive and less hospitable by the day. Is it worth staying in this menacing town, and could the Hope family leave, even if they wanted to?
The Book Of Witching by C.J. Cooke
Her name isn’t Erin; it’s Nyx. Or at least, that’s what she insists when she wakes up in the hospital after a horrifying accident. Something went wrong during a hiking trip on remote islands that led to the death of Erin’s boyfriend and the disappearance of her best friend.
Her mother, Clem, terrified that Erin doesn’t recognize her, travels back to the Orkney Islands to uncover the truth. What she finds is a history of women accused of witchcraft, and the murders that followed four centuries ago. Could this have something to do with the accident — if it even was an accident?
This Cursed House by Del Sandeen
Jemma Barker has always been able to see spirits. It is 1962, and she is ready to leave Chicago for a job in New Orleans that might just give her a chance to leave the spirits behind. Her employers, the Duchon family, though they are Black themselves, look down on Jemma for her darker skin.
But the Duchons are under a curse, and they think Jemma is the one who might be able to break it. With secrets that wind back into the past, the task is not going to be easy. And the consequences are grave if Jemma fails to break the curse for this mysterious family.
Grimstone by Sophie Lark
Is Blackleaf Manor haunted, or can Remi Hayes flip the manor she inherited from her uncle? Remi hasn’t had great luck — she’s been cheated on, her bother is making life difficult, and now she’s being blackmailed by handsome doctor Dane Covett. The doctor is the most eligible bachelor in town, but he may or may not have murdered his wife. And when he kisses Remi, she really hopes the rumors aren’t true.
Soon, the renovations on Blackleaf Manor take an unexpected turn. Remi wonders if Dane is haunting her or if he’s the one trying to save her. Can she trust him or are her feelings clouding her judgment? Will Dane be the one to finally help her move on from an unlucky and dark past? This dark gothic romance is a BookTok fave for a reason.
Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton
Angelo is Sarita’s guardian angel, whom she keeps a secret from the world. Her lifelong companion isn’t the perfect angel he seems, and when he murders someone she loves, the truth lurking in the shadows becomes clearer. Is Angelo really a guardian angel, or is there a dark danger present in every part of Sarita’s life?
This Southern gothic horror novel is abundant with vampires, demons, ghosts and haunted houses as one woman is pitted against evil. Can she make it out alive?
The House At Watch Hill by Karen Marie Moning
When Zo Grey’s mother dies, her grief is disrupted by the news that a distant relative has left her a manor in Louisiana. Of course, there are terms that he will only discuss in person. The mansion and a huge sum of money are hers. But, there’s a catch — she must first live, alone, in the manor for three years.
At the peak of Watch Hill, Zo lives in the mansion, uncovering riddles and puzzles, doors that lead nowhere, and impossible phenomena within its walls. She’ll come to learn that there is a power within her that is beginning to grow, and she must harness it in order to face off against sinister adversaries and avoid being consumed.
When The Bones Sing by Ginny Myers Sain
In Lucifer’s Creek, Arkansas, bodies have been disappearing off local hiking trails throughout the Ozark Mountains. With no trace of the bodies until they’re discovered, buried in the ground, rumor begins to spread that the legendary Ozarks howler is responsible.
But Dovie doesn’t believe it, and she doesn’t believe in magic either, even though she comes from a family of women who can hear the bones of the dead sing. And these bones have been singing for years, begging for Dovie to uncover them. When her best friend Lo swears he is being haunted by shadows, Dovie knows he is seeing the murdered hikers. So, Lo and Dovie must take to the mountains to reveal the truth of their deaths and make sure nobody else gets killed.