The latest installment of The Conjuring movie franchise hit theaters last week, and nothing — not even a banned movie trailer — will stop fans from flocking to see the prequel film about a demonic nun. If you want to read books likeThe Nun, I have 13 gothic novels you're going to want to add to your TBR.
Set in the mid-20th century, The Nun follows a Vatican priest and a nun-in-training to a Romanian abbey, where three nuns have died. Once there, Father Burke and Sister Irene uncover a series of strange events that don't quite square with the story that Frenchie, the man who found one of the nuns dead by suicide, is telling. All three of them become haunted by the ghosts of both the abbey and their respective pasts, but the evil entity that killed the Romanian nuns wants more victims.
For those of you who just can't wait to stuff your fall full of horror galore, I've picked out 13 gothic horror novels you're going to want to read. The books on the list below are chock-full of hauntings, manor houses, moors, possessions, and other ghostly fare, and none of them is worth missing. Check out my recommendations below:
'The Silent Companions' by Laura Purcell
Newly widowed and pregnant, Elsie goes to live in her late husband's ancestral home, where painted figures, one of which looks just like her, haunt the hallways.
'Melmoth' by Sarah Perry
Drawing from the 19th century Gothic novel Melmoth the Wanderer, Sarah Perry's Melmoth presents readers with the story of Helen Franklin, a recent transplant to Prague, whose friend Karel discovers a legendary evil . . . and then promptly disappears.
'The Job of the Wasp' by Colin Winnette
Set at a school for boys on the edge of nowhere, Colin Winnette's The Job of the Wasp follows a new, orphaned student who quickly uncovers the horrors that lurk beneath the surface of his new home.
'Creatures of Want and Ruin' by Molly Tanzer
Bootlegger Ellie West accidentally supplies customers with a cursed elixir in this novel from Vermilion author Molly Tanzer.
'Baby Teeth' by Zoje Stage
Suzette fears that her young daughter may be the epitome of evil, but her husband assures her there is nothing wrong with their little girl. Is Hanna really a danger to her mother, or is Suzette losing her mind?
'In the House in the Dark of the Woods' by Laird Hunt
In this novel from Neverhome author Laird Hunt, a Puritan woman goes missing from her colonial New England village, but soon finds that she is not the only person wandering in the woods.
'The Hidden People' by Alison Littlewood
When Albie Mirralls murders his wife, the neighbors accept his excuse: the creature they called "Lizzie" was, in reality, a changeling, and no longer the woman he married. But was Albie right, wrong, or worse?
'Foxlowe' by Eleanor Wasserberg
This debut novel revolves around a cast of adults and children who call themselves "the Family," live in the eponymous Foxlowe — a manor house on the moors — and do everything possible to avoid the influence of the outside world.
'The Devil in Silver' by Victor LaValle
A recent arrival at New Hyde Hospital, Pepper has been locked up for his involvement in an incident he can't remember. But he has bigger problems on his hands, as a ravenous, evil presence stalks through the corridors at night.
'Mr. Splitfoot' by Samantha Hunt
When Cora becomes pregnant, her Aunt Ruth, a mute medium, whisks her off on a walking tour of New York, intent on showing her something connected to Ruth's dark and distant past.
'The Graveyard Apartment' by Mariko Koike
Japanese horror writer Mariko Koike shines in this dark novel, first published in Japan in 1986, in which a young couple discover that their dream home is more of a nightmare.
'Black Rabbit Hall' by Eve Chase
Engaged couple Lorna and Jon book a stay at a crumbling manor house in Cornwall, which is haunted by events that transpired some 30 years prior, and whose ghosts have their eyes on Lorna.
'A Head Full of Ghosts' by Paul Tremblay
Years after their parents agreed to take part in a reality series that would document her older sister's exorcism, Merry sits down with a reporter to talk about what really happened.
