Top Ten Tuesday: 10 Books with Eerie, Gothic Vibes

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week’s topic is Typographic Book Covers, but I want to switch it up a bit. I’ve been reading a lot of atmospheric and eerie books lately, and I thought I’d highlight some of my faves today. Many of these books have amazing Gothic vibes, and they’re all dark and mysterious. Let’s check them out!

---

1. Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft

Title: Down Comes the Night

Author: Allison Saft

Page Length: 400

Publication Date: March 2, 2021

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Synopsis: He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.

Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend—the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.

The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.

With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.

Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.

Love makes monsters of us all.

LINKS:     Goodreads    |      Amazon    |   My Review

---

2. A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft

Title: A Far Wilder Magic

Author: Allison Saft

Page Length: 384

Publication Date: March 8, 2022

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Synopsis: When Margaret Welty spots the legendary hala, the last living mythical creature, she knows the Halfmoon Hunt will soon follow. Whoever is able to kill the hala will earn fame and riches, and unlock an ancient magical secret. If Margaret wins the hunt, it may finally bring her mother home. While Margaret is the best sharpshooter in town, only teams of two can register, and she needs an alchemist.

Weston Winters isn’t an alchemist–yet. Fired from every apprenticeship he’s landed, his last chance hinges on Master Welty taking him in. But when Wes arrives at Welty Manor, he finds only Margaret and her bloodhound Trouble. Margaret begrudgingly allows him to stay, but on one condition: he must join the hunt with her.

Although they make an unlikely team, Wes is in awe of the girl who has endured alone on the outskirts of a town that doesn’t want her, in this creaking house of ghosts and sorrow. And even though Wes disrupts every aspect of her life, Margaret is drawn to him. He, too, knows what it’s like to be an outsider. As the hunt looms closer and tensions rise, Margaret and Wes uncover dark magic that could be the key to winning the hunt – if they survive tht long. In A Far Wilder Magic, Allison Saft has written an achingly tender love story set against a deadly hunt in an atmospheric, rich fantasy world that will sweep you away. 

LINKS:     Goodreads    |      Amazon   |  My Review  |  Favorite Lines

---

3. For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

Title: For the Wolf

Author: Hannah Whitten

Series: Wilderwood #1

Page Length: 448

Publication Date: June 1, 2021

Publisher: Orbit Books

Synopsis: The first daughter is for the Throne.
The second daughter is for the Wolf.

For fans of Uprooted and The Bear and the Nightingale comes a dark fantasy novel about a young woman who must be sacrificed to the legendary Wolf of the Wood to save her kingdom. But not all legends are true, and the Wolf isn’t the only danger lurking in the Wilderwood.

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods.

Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again.

But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.

LINKS:     Goodreads    |      Amazon    |   My Review

---

4. A Forgery of Roses by Jessica S. Olson

Title: A Forgery of Roses

Author: Jessica S. Olson

Page Length: 368

Publication Date: March 1, 2021

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Synopsis: Myra Whitlock has a gift. One many would kill for.

She’s an artist whose portraits alter people’s real-life bodies, a talent she must hide from those who would kidnap, blackmail, and worse in order to control it. Guarding that secret is the only way to keep her younger sister safe now that their parents are gone.

But one frigid night, the governor’s wife discovers the truth and threatens to expose Myra if she does not complete a special portrait that would resurrect the governor’s dead son. Desperate, Myra ventures to his legendary stone mansion.

Once she arrives, however, it becomes clear the boy’s death was no accident. Someone dangerous lurks within these glittering halls. Someone harboring a disturbing obsession with portrait magic.

Myra cannot do the painting until she knows what really happened, so she turns to the governor’s older son, a captivating redheaded poet. Together, they delve into the family’s most shadowed affairs, racing to uncover the truth before the secret Myra spent her life concealing makes her the killer’s next victim.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon | My Review

---

5. In a Dark, Dark Wood by Cece Louise

Title: In a Dark, Dark Wood

Author: Cece Louise

Series: The Forest Tales #4

Publication Date: Feb. 22, 2022

Publisher: Jabberwocky Tales

Synopsis: In a dark, dark wood, there was a dark, dark man . . .

Calia believes in ghosts. How could she not when she is haunted by a past encounter that sent her into hiding? She concocts a plan so crazy, it just might save her— if it doesn’t lead to her downfall. All she has to do is impersonate a missing princess and fulfill that princess’s betrothal to the Prince of Ebonwood.

Prince Brone believes in nothing—certainly not the curse rumored to plague the royal wives of Ebonwood. After the untimely death of his first wife, all he wishes is to be left alone. Once more facing a marriage not of his choosing, he vows not to make the same mistakes that cost him so dearly last time.

Calia soon discovers that fooling the prince will be much harder than she thought. As her complicated feelings for him begin to grow, so does her fear of Ebonwood—a kingdom shrouded in darkness, secrets, and even murder.

Will a warning from beyond the grave save Calia from the fate of the previous Ebonwood wives, or will it spell her ultimate ruin?

Inspired by the classic poem “In a Dark, Dark Wood,” this clean, standalone romantic suspense is perfect for anyone who loves fairy tales with a Gothic twist. 

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon | My Review

---

6. Lakesedge by Lyndall Clipstone

Title: Lakesedge

Author: Lyndall Clipstone

Series: World at the Lake’s Edge

Page Length: 384

Publication Date: Sept. 28, 2021

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company

Synopsis: A lush gothic fantasy about monsters and magic, set on the banks of a cursed lake. Perfect for fans of Naomi Novik and Brigid Kemmerer.

There are monsters in the world.

When Violeta Graceling arrives at haunted Lakesedge estate, she expects to find a monster. She knows the terrifying rumors about Rowan Sylvanan, who drowned his entire family when he was a boy. But neither the estate nor the monster are what they seem.

There are monsters in the woods.

As Leta falls for Rowan, she discovers he is bound to the Lord Under, the sinister death god lurking in the black waters of the lake. A creature to whom Leta is inexplicably drawn…

There’s a monster in the shadows, and now it knows my name.

Now, to save Rowan—and herself—Leta must confront the darkness in her past, including unraveling the mystery of her connection to the Lord Under. 

LINKS:     Goodreads    |      Amazon    |    My Review

---

7. Red Wolf by Rachel Vincent

Title: Red Wolf

Author: Rachel Vincent

Page Length: 368

Publication Date: July 20, 2021

Publisher: Harper Teen

Synopsis:

This high stakes, pacey reimagining of Little Red Riding Hood is perfect for fans of Stephanie Garber and Megan Spooner.

For as long as sixteen-year-old Adele can remember the village of Oakvale has been surrounding by the dark woods—a forest filled with terrible monsters that light cannot penetrate. Like every person who grows up in Oakvale she has been told to steer clear of the woods unless absolutely necessary.

But unlike her neighbors in Oakvale, Adele has a very good reason for going into the woods. Adele is one of a long line of guardians, women who are able to change into wolves and who are tasked with the job of protecting their village while never letting any of the villagers know of their existence.

But when following her calling means abandoning the person she loves, the future she imagined for herself, and her values she must decide how far she is willing to go to keep her neighbors safe.

LINKS:     Goodreads     |    Amazon   | My Review

---

8. The Rose and the Claw by Nancy O’Toole

Title: The Rose and the Claw

Author: Nancy O’Toole

Series: The Twin Kingdoms #1

Page Length: 140

Publication Date: Aug. 2, 2021

Publisher: Midnight Tide Publishing

Synopsis: A woman on a mission…

Rose Gardner never thought she’d leave the small town of West Ridge. But when her husband dies at war, she must return his arms to his place of birth to set his spirit to rest. After traveling into enemy territory, Rose falls into a trap. Held captive in an enchanted manor, she finds herself face to face with a beast who is equally horrifying and kind. Will she manage to complete her quest or be pulled in by the secrets of the manor?

A man haunted by his past…

Trapped within his own home and in the body of a hideous beast, Kris never wanted to share his prison with another. As much as Rose may draw him in with her beauty and stubborn strength, he knows she must escape before the next full moon. After all, he remembers all too well what happened to the previous caretaker.

The dead won’t let him forget the blood on his hands.

LINK:     Goodreads   | Amazon | My Review

---

9. Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young

Title: Spells for Forgetting

Author: Adrienne Young

Page Length: 352

Publication Date: Sept. 27, 2022

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Synopsis: A rural island community steeped in the mystical superstitions of its founders and haunted by an unsolved murder is upended by the return of the suspected killer in this deeply atmospheric novel.

Emery Blackwood’s life was forever changed on the eve of her high school graduation, when the love of her life, August Salt, was accused of murdering her best friend, Lily. Now, she is doing what her teenage self swore she never would: living a quiet existence among the community that fractured her world in two. She’d once longed to run away with August, eager to escape the misty, remote shores of Saiorse Island and chase new dreams; now, she maintains her late mother’s tea shop and cares for her ailing father. But just as the island, rooted in folklore and tradition, begins to show signs of strange happenings, August returns for the first time in fourteen years and unearths the past that no one wants to remember.

August Salt knows he is not welcome on Saiorse, not after the night that changed everything. As a fire raged on at the Salt family orchard, Lily Morgan was found dead in the dark woods, shaking the bedrock of their tight-knit community and branding August a murderer. When he returns to bury his mother’s ashes, he must confront the people who turned their backs on him and face the one wound from the past that has never healed—Emery. But the town has more than one reason to want August gone, and the emergence of deep betrayals and hidden promises that span generations threatens to reveal the truth behind Lily’s death once and for all.

Evocative and compelling, Spells for Forgetting is a vivid exploration of lost love and the unraveling of a small town and its many secrets.

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon  | My Review

---

10. Stalking Shadows by Cyla Panin

Title: Stalking Shadows

Author: Cyla Panin

Publication Date: Sept. 14, 2021

Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Publisher: Amulet Books

Synopsis: A gothic YA fantasy debut about a young woman striving to break her sister’s curse and stop the killing in her small French town

Seventeen-year-old Marie mixes perfumes to sell on market day in her small eighteenth-century French town. She wants to make enough to save a dowry for her sister, Ama, in hopes of Ama marrying well and Marie living in the level of freedom afforded only to spinster aunts. But her perfumes are more than sweet scents in cheap, cut-glass bottles: A certain few are laced with death. Marie laces the perfume delicately—not with poison but with a hint of honeysuckle she’s trained her sister to respond to. Marie marks her victim, and Ama attacks. But she doesn’t attack as a girl. She kills as a beast.

Marking Ama’s victims controls the damage to keep suspicion at bay. But when a young boy turns up dead one morning, Marie is forced to acknowledge she might be losing control of Ama. And if she can’t control her, she’ll have to cure her. Marie knows the only place she’ll find the cure is in the mansion where Ama was cursed in the first place, home of Lord Sebastien LeClaire. But once she gets into the mansion, she discovers dark secrets hidden away—secrets of the curse, of Lord Sebastien . . . and of herself. 

LINKS:   Goodreads   |    Amazon | My Review

---

Have you read any of these? Which books have you read with spooky, Gothic vibes? Comment below!