High School Reads: Ten Gothic Novels Written by and About Women
By Rachel Holley, Academic Coach
It’s spooky season, and Gothic literature is the perfect companion for chilly days and long nights. Marked by crumbling manors, brooding landscapes, and the supernatural, the Gothic genre has also tended to prominently feature female writers and characters.
*Many of the below have recently been adapted into films and tv series. It’s a perfect scary accompaniment to a spooky book – and a great way to motivate your teen to read!*
1. Frankenstein, Mary Shelley (1818)
It’s a common misconception that “Frankenstein” is the name of the monster – it’s actually the name of the mad scientist who creates him! Reading this chilling tale may change your mind on who is the monster and who is the man.
2. Wuthering Heights, Emily Brontë (1847)
The Brontë sisters are giants of the Gothic genre. This is a classic story of doomed love, featuring stormy nights, creaking buildings, and lovers both ghostly and monstrous.
3. Jane Eyre, Charlotte Brontë (1847)
Jane Eyre follows a young orphan from a difficult past as she takes the job of governess in an isolated English manor. She slowly discovers that the master of the house, Mr. Rochester, has a dark secret hidden in the attic.
Film Adaptation: Jane Eyre, Cary Fukunaga (2011)
4. Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu (1872)
Preceding Dracula by twenty years, this novella follows a female vampire and is sometimes considered an allegory for lesbian love, which was forbidden and highly taboo at the time.
6. The Turn of the Screw, Henry James (1898)
A governess cares for two orphans in an isolated estate, and strange things start to happen. One of the scariest things about this book is it’s difficult to say what’s real and what’s not.
Netflix Adaptation: The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan (2020)
7. Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier (1938)
A young, unnamed narrator marries a dashing English widow and is whisked away to his quiet country estate, Manderly. In these unfamiliar and at times hostile surroundings, she becomes obsessed with her husband’s first wife and tries to unravel the mystery of her untimely death.
Netflix Adaptation: Rebecca, Ben Wheatley (2020)
8. The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson (1959)
Four strangers are brought together to explore a haunted house at the invitation of an occult scholar. Their stay quickly veers from the merely spooky to the downright terrifying.
Netflix Adaptation: The Haunting of Hill House, Mike Flanagan (2018)
9. Beloved, Toni Morrison (1987)
This dark American addition to the genre explores the Gothic through the lens of slavery. Set after the Civil War, it follows a formerly enslaved woman who is haunted – both metaphorically and literally – by the ghost of horrors past.
10. Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020)
This contemporary novel transposes the Gothic genre – often set in the English countryside – to 1950s Mexico. A young woman sets out to a haunted ancestral mansion to save her cousin from a mysterious fate at the hands of the family into which she has married.
Rachel Holley,
Academic Coach
About the Author
Rachel has a master's in Irish Literature from Trinity College Dublin and a bachelor's in English Literature and French Language from Seattle Pacific University. Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, she lived in Europe for several years before returning home to pursue her work as an educator. She has been tutoring for more than ten years and specializes in working with students with ASD, ADHD, depression, and anxiety, as well as working with queer students.
We provide academic coaching, executive function support, and subject tutoring for students of all ages.