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The best gothic and horror
Gothic romance, the supernatural and horror. Ranked by tier, then by how often the lists chose them.
8 novels, ranked best first
Wuthering Heights is the highest-rated gothic or horror novel, on 10 of the 13 lists it could have made.
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The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson, 1886
On 2 of the 13 lists it was eligible for
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More with gothic or southern gothic at their heart
Jane Eyre leads these 21 books, each filed under another genre but with gothic or southern gothic at its heart.
Lists used on this page
- The 100 best novels of all time, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The 100 best novels written in English, The Guardian / Observer (2015). Original list
- The 100 greatest novels of all time, The Observer (2003). Original list
- The 100 best books of the 21st century, The Guardian (2019). Original list
- The 100 greatest British novels, BBC Culture (2015). Original list
- 100 novels that shaped our world, BBC Arts (2019). Original list
- 100 novels everyone should read, The Telegraph (2009). Original list
- All-Time 100 Novels, Time (2005). Original list
- 100 Best Novels (board's list), Modern Library (1998). Original list
- The 100 best books of the 21st century, The New York Times (2024). Original list
- Bokklubben World Library, Norwegian Book Clubs (2002). Original list
- 100 books of the century, Le Monde (1999). Original list
- Booker Prize (winners and shortlists), Booker Prize Foundation (1969-). Original list
- Women's Prize for Fiction (winners and shortlists), Women's Prize Trust (1996-). Original list
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction (winners and finalists), Columbia University (1918-). Original list
- Costa (Whitbread) Novel Award (winners and shortlists), Costa (1971-2021). Original list
- British Book Awards: Fiction Book of the Year (winners and shortlists), The Bookseller (1990-). Original list
- National Book Award for Fiction (winners and finalists), National Book Foundation (1950-). Original list
- The Big Read top 100, BBC (2003). Original list
- Readers' top 100 novels, The Guardian (2026). Original list
- The Big Jubilee Read, BBC Arts and The Reading Agency (2022). Original list
- The Great American Read, PBS (2018). Original list
- Waterstones Book of the Year (winners and shortlists), Waterstones (2012-). Original list
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime, Amazon.co.uk (2014). Original list
- Oprah's Book Club picks, Oprah's Book Club (1996-). Original list