I am reading books for an upcoming Gothic Workshop in May. I love gothic novels. Many of the classics I had read and sadly, made me feel old. I realized that I had read some of these about 50 years ago. Needless to say, I am re-reading.
One of the things I like about gothic novels is when the author successfully incorporates a level of what may or may not be supernatural. They walk that careful line between the narrator believing their might be ghosts or afraid there might be ghosts and perhaps it just being someone trying to trick them.
When we find the resolution, we realize that it’s been a person. Mostly. But there may be one or two things that troubled our narrator that aren’t fully explained, leaving the reader to question whether the antagonist was lying, just didn’t explain, or if there was a supernatural result.
So far my reading has mostly been this world gothics. No ghosts and barely a hint of a haunting. One of the books coming up has the promise of a haunting or perhaps a haunting, so we’ll see.
And if you’re looking for some creepy reading, consider taking a look at this book sale (of which one of my paranormal cozies is part—maybe I should have put one of my afternoon gothics in there, although my gothics have always fallen over into the actual supernatural category).
But whatever you’re reading, enjoy!