r/GothicLiterature

Architecture:

• Otranto Castle (The Castle of Otranto)

• Notre-Dame de Paris (The Hunchback of Notre Dame)

• Palais Garnier (The Phantom of the Opera)

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Tyrant, patriarchal, aristocratic, rapist, sociopathic:

• Manfred - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Marquis - The Romance of the Forest (1791)

• Mr. Weimar and Count Wolfenbach - The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Montoni - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Classical hero, handsome, aristocratic:

• Theodore - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Count De Bouville - The castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Valancourt - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) 

• Raoul - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Saintly, sensibility, proper, usually blond:

• Matilda - The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• Adeline - The Romance of the Forest (1791)

• Matilda - The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Emily - Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) 

• Esmeralda - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

• Mina - Dracula (1897)

• Christine - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Byronic, moody, charismatic, defiant, self-destructive:

• Hamlet (1603), Macbeth (1623)

• Satan - Paradise Lost (1667) (heavily influenced the Romantics, resulting in the Byronic character)

• Victor Frankenstein — Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• The Creature - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Claude Frollo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) 

• Heathcliff — Wuthering Heights (1847)

• Edward Rochester — Jane Eyre (1847)

• Erik — The Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Mad Scientist:

• Varthek - Vathek an Arabian Tale (1786)

• Victor Frankenstein - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Dr. Jekyll - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886)

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Shunned for his appearance, longs for love, anti-villain, lonely, tragic:

• The Creature - Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818)

• Quasimodo - The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831)

• Erik - Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Masquerade ball:

• The Masque of the Red Death (1842)

• Phantom of the Opera (1909-1910)

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Vampires:

• Glenarvon - Glenarvon (1816) (technically not a vampire, but heavily influenced The Vampyre)

• Lord Ruthven - The Vampyre (1819)

• Varney - Varney The Vampire (1845-1847)

• Carmilla - Carmilla (1872)

• Dracula - Dracula (1897)

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Sorcery/Alchemy:

• Varthek The History of the Caliph Vathek (1782)

• St. Irvyne or the Rosicrucian (1811)

• Frankenstein a Modern Prometheus (1818) 

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Mystery about the protagonist's family:

• The Castle of Ontranto (1764)

• The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Crazy men revealing dark truths:

• The Rime of the Ancient Mariner (1798)

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Supernatural explained:

• The Castle of Wolfenbach (1793)

• Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)

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Inquisition:

• The Monk (1796)

• The Italian (1797)

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Devil:

• The Monk (1796)

• Melmoth The Wanderer (1820)

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Catholicism:

• The Monk (1796)

• The Italian (1797)

• Melmoth The Wanderer (1820)

i need a gothic book that is in the Victorian era ( does not have to be ) mainly looking for something psychological with deep meaning, something that is a really good read

I saw this quote recently and it sounds familiar but I can’t remember where it’s from. This is the quote, "Darkness descended, and into the darkness a-went I, evil and unafraid." When I looked it up I got some websites about Paradise Lost and some about the christian Bible. I feel like it would definitely more of come from Paradise Lost. Definitely sounds like the language used there.
It also brought up lyrics from a song by Bathory who I think I’ve listened to a couple times before (the song name is “Return of the Darkness and Evil” if anyone is wondering). I’m pretty sure that band is in the goth genre. Often times bands will reference movies or books like Dracula and things like that (at least for a couple of the bands I listen to). They’ll put audio clips in and make it sound all cool.
If anyone recognizes where this is from please let me know. I just cannot remember. Thank you so much.

Looking for novels and novellas (preferably under 150-200 pages or so) that are either southern gothic, horror, or suburban mystery/thriller/horror genre.

Any recs are appreciated, thank you!

Hello! I'm writing a Australian gothic book inspired by southern gothic themes. The basic premise is about an 18 year old girl from a religious farm home gets sent into a nearby country town near the bush for education and work placement. It's a very small town with a tiny population, and very kind of conservative religous. She attends the church there, yadda yadda, its actually a cult heavily inspired by Branch Davidians. The preacher subtley spoonfeeds the idea that he is Jesus Christ, an Indigenous family moves in and attends the church once and never returns, sexual exploitation of young women, all that stuff, the girl eventually leaves the cult, never tells anyone what happened, and is haunted by her memories. My question is, does anyone have any tips for me in terms of elements of Australian and southern gothic?

I read the book the Return by Rachel Harrison a couple months ago and I had so much fun discussing with my friend debating with the pieces of clues they were giving us on what entity or creature or what it was because it wasn’t revealed dang near til the end. It ended up involving folklore, and I loved it and there has to be more like it. Similar atleast. Any ideas?

Hey Dracula Reddit,

It's me again on Promotion Saturday, but today I can finally share one of the biggest moments in this project:

Dr. J. Gordon Melton has joined Dracula Legacy as a Founding Member.

I still can’t quite believe I get to write that.

After almost ten years of working on this largely on my own, researching, designing, publishing, restoring, failing, correcting, rebuilding, and obsessing over Dracula by Bram Stoker, this project is entering a new stage.

Dracula Legacy is no longer just my personal obsession.

It is becoming an international project built around scholarship, collecting, design, production, and a deep love for the original novel.

If you know Dr. Melton’s work, you know what this means. His contribution to vampire studies, Dracula bibliography, and the cultural history of the book is enormous. Having him join Dracula Legacy is an honour, and it gives this project a level of scholarly depth and collaboration that I do not take lightly.

That is why the principle remains the same: we are not making another adaptation but returning to the source.

And the first major physical step in this new stage is the Dracula by Bram Stoker 1897 facsimile.

A few days ago, we opened 100 reservation places for the first numbered production run:

Dracula by Bram Stoker — 1897 Academically Reconstructed Facsimile, Numbered Slipcase Edition.

In one day, 88 places were requested. That means only 12 places remain for this first run.

This first group of 100 is not the large 1,000-copy edition planned for the 130th anniversary. This is Run Zero: the first careful production group, made to test the object, control the quality, produce the dummy, and make sure the book exists at the level it deserves.

At this moment, the restored 1897 material is ready. The mechanical files are ready, and the cover and dust jacket files are ready as well. Next week, the physical dummy enters production, and we will have it by September.

That is the part that excites me the most, because this is where the project stops being only research, scans, files, and design decisions and it starts becoming a book.

The goal is to bring back the 1897 presence of Dracula by Bram Stoker: the yellow cover, the red title, the dust jacket, the proportions, the format, the physical feeling of the edition that started everything.

This is not about selling access to a public-domain text. It is about reconstructing the book as a historical, editorial, and collectible object.

One clear note: the current facsimile images are AI-assisted concept visualizations. They are being used only to show the idea while the physical dummy is being produced and to help guide production. Once the dummy is ready, those images will be replaced with real photographs of the object.

https://preview.redd.it/7pamfp4cf6ih1.png?width=1122&format=png&auto=webp&s=0b94c06a143859277016a831554b7607459f3a7e

https://preview.redd.it/2nwy653re6ih1.png?width=1448&format=png&auto=webp&s=85c308ca28969dd6d9f0a10952748eae21a3d363

So yes, these are two separate things:

Dr. J. Gordon Melton has joined Dracula Legacy as a Founding Member and the first 100-copy facsimile run is almost full. But together, they mark the same moment for me: Dracula Legacy is moving from an individual research project into an international collaborative structure, with real production now underway.

Only 12 places remain.

Reserve one here:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScn0nvgN7NbVEfNRfumgn3f95Yp2rtLWtvP5-W_TdjY6h1Jug/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Follow the project here:

https://draculabybramstoker.substack.com

Thank you for helping bring Dracula by Bram Stoker back as an object.

Have a great week. Greetings from Mexico,
Dr. Enrique A. Palafox