8 Winter Gothic Books to Get Cozy With

The Silent Companions is a shining example of the Victorian Gothic aesthetic, with a 19th-century woman as the protagonist and set in a countryside haunted house. 

It’s easily reminiscent of the works of Daphne Du Maurier and Shirley Jackson, with an eerie sense of foreboding pervading through the narrative. 

If you’re looking for a ghost story that will affect you profoundly, try Laura Purcell’s astute and expertly crafted novel.

Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale is one of the masterpieces of contemporary Gothic thriller literature, and Once Upon a River is in a similar vein, combining folklore, science, and history into a spellbinding, sweeping current of storytelling. 

The story begins in an inn by the river Thames on midwinter’s night, with the arrival of a stranger carrying a seemingly lifeless child in his arms. Compelling with evocative prose, Once Upon a River promises to be a magical read. 

As the title and cover art may suggest, this one’s definitely set during the year’s coldest season, and is a tale riddled with secrets and spooks. 

Most Gothic narratives feel a tad incomplete without a derelict mansion, and in the case of Jennifer McMahon’s The Winter People, much of the action takes place in a remote farmhouse. Inhabited by Ruthie and Alice, her mother, the house was originally inhabited by one Sara Harrison Shea, found dead in a field nearby back in 1908. 

Now, when Alice mysteriously disappears, and Ruthie stumbles upon Sara’s old diary, past mysteries come to light, and history may end up repeating itself.

If you’re in the mood for a queer historical fantasy with Gothic vibes and majestic prose, the story ensconced within the pages of Bridget Collins’ The Binding will surely mesmerize you. 

It’s literally a story about memories being bound to beautiful books — and safely preserved by the bookbinders. Slow-paced, heavily atmospheric with a quiet and sumptuous love story at its heart, The Binding makes for an alluring winter read. 

Mary Shelley, more or less, inaugurated the genre of science fiction with Frankenstein — an epistolary novel where a young, arrogant, misguided scientist succeeds in creating life from nothing, and shuns his own creation, thereby unleashing a monster on humanity and precipitating his own downfall. 

A part of the story actually takes place in the frozen Arctic, and the themes of scientific ethics and parental obligation are ripe topics for a fireside discussion. Told mostly in the form of nested letters, the story of Frankenstein remains as relevant as ever.  

Something about the frozen tundra has captivated writers for centuries, including Michelle Paver, who penned a fascinating ghost story set in the remote wilderness in the late 1930s. 

The narrative follows Jack, a lonely, poverty-stricken young man who joins an expedition to the Arctic in a desperate bid to change his life — only, of course, spooky things are afoot. 

Enlivening the prose is Isaak, a not-so-brave but utterly loyal husky who might end up being the real star of the show. Immersive and atmospheric, Dark Matter is a rather engaging read. 

Those who are up for something a little more experimental, surreal, and puzzling will definitely be enthralled by Helen Oyeyemi’s narrative, which blends ghosts, vampires, and a haunted house in a searing tale about identity and sisterhood. 

With plenty of perspective shifts and unreliable narrators, White is for Witching makes for an utterly unconventional and distinctively unnerving reading experience. 

Infused with Russian folklore and history, with a slow-burning romance between a witchy girl and Morozko, the frost demon, The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is the ideal winter read. 

Much of the story takes place in the snowy countryside, exploring the threat of Orthodox Christianity and the dwindling of folkloric spirits and local superstitions, as a result. 

Engagingly written, it’s a thrilling start to Arden’s Winternight trilogy, and feels like the flawless Gothic fairytale to read on a midwinter night.