25+ Gothic Novels Free! [PDF]

The gothic narrative developed in the 18th century and was well received by the public of the time. Some works of this genre have become classics. As we know that you are attracted to this genre, we present you this selection of gothic novels in PDF format.

The first gothic novels have a strong romantic setting. The first of them was The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpol and there was production within the genre until the first decade of the 19th century. 

All the works were characterized by dark and gloomy landscapes. They also abound in medieval architecture, especially castles.

In these castles there are countless distressing and terrifying things like dragging chains, heartbreaking screams, presence of monsters, ghosts, demons or strange and grotesque beings. 

In this type of novel you feel a strong atmosphere of suspense that usually does not leave the reader until the end. Check out this great collection of more than 25 gothic novels in PDF format, ready for free download on any of your electronic devices.

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Featured Gothic Novels

1) Northanger Abbey

Author: Jane Austen

Northanger Abbey tells the story of Catherine Morland, a young woman fond of reading gothic novels, who receives an invitation from the Tilneys to spend some time at their country house. 

Once there, the young woman will spend much of her time investigating twisted and imaginary family secrets.

But when all her research is over and all of Catherine’s assumptions come to an end, the young woman will come to understand that real life is not a novel and that everything she created in her mind was the result of her imagination. 

This will lead the young protagonist to put her feet on the ground to direct her life according to the social norms and doctrines of the time.

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*Public Domain Material

2) The Picture of Dorian Gray

Author: Oscar Wilde

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of a full-length oil portrait of Basil Hallward, an artist impressed and enamored of Dorian’s beauty; he believes that Dorian’s beauty is responsible for his new state of mind as a painter. 

Through Basil, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton and is soon captivated by the aristocrat’s hedonistic worldview: that beauty and sensual fulfillment are the only things worth pursuing in life.

Conscious that his beauty will fade, Dorian expresses the desire to sell his soul to ensure that the image, instead of him, will grow old and fade. 

The wish is granted, and Dorian pursues a debauched life of varied amoral experiences while remaining young and beautiful; all the while, his portrait ages and records every sin.

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3) The Phantom of the Opera

Author: Gaston Leroux

The Phantom of the Opera is one of those literary classics that are worth reading over and over again because of its richness of writing and depth of story, its success has been such that it has been adapted into musicals, movies, and much more.

The Phantom of the Opera tells the story of Erik, a totally disfigured man who yearns for revenge, however, he meets love in a beautiful woman and that causes divided thoughts in his mind.

This gothic novel takes the reader through a beautiful and at the same time painful plot, where romanticism, mystery, and unbridled passion greatly adorn each of its pages.

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Gothic Novels

Northanger Abbey

Jane Austen

The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

The Phantom of the Opera

Gaston Leroux

The Castle of Otranto

Horace Walpole

Frankenstein

Mary Shelley

Dracula

Bram Stoker

The Monk

Matthew Gregory Lewis

The Turn of the Screw

Henry James

The Mysteries of Udolpho

Ann Radcliffe

Wuthering Heights

Emily Brontë

Vathek

William Beckford

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Brontë

Carmilla

Sheridan Le Fanu

The Vampyre

John William Polidori

Melmoth the Wanderer

Charles Maturin

The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Arthur Conan Doyle

Wieland

Charles Brockden Brown

A Sicilian Romance

Ann Radcliffe

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame

Victor Hugo

The Italian

Ann Radcliffe

The House of the Seven Gables

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Washington Irving

The Tell-Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe

In a Glass Darkly

Sheridan Le Fanu

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson

The Woman in White

Wilkie Collins

The Beetle

Richard Marsh

Salathiel the Immortal

George Croly

Here ends our selection of free Gothic Novels in PDF format. We hope you liked it and already have your next book!

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