After much fanfare, the latest Wuthering Heights movie is finally out. And while Emerald Fennell’s adaptation strays quite a bit from the novel, hopefully the release of this film had you going back to the source material to discover (or rediscover) just how special Emily Brontë’s Victorian Gothic classic truly is.
There is no other novel quite like Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights. But if you love atmospheric gothic novels like Wuthering Heights, there are new ones worth reading that are coming out this year. Here are a few of our favorites.
Bloodfire, Baby by Eirinie Carson (Dutton, February 17)
This dark and moody horror novel explores racism, generational trauma, and the difficulties of motherhood. Sofia always thought she would love being a new mother, but when her husband leaves her alone with her newborn so that he can go on a work trip, a shadow descends over her. After many sleep-deprived nights, reality begins to slip away, and she is sure she is being haunted by a ghost that has been with her family for generations. She fears for her baby’s safety, and nobody seems willing to help her.
Innamorata by Ava Reid (Del Ray, March 17)
Ava Reid’s latest novel is a dark, gothic romantasy about an all-consuming love. Several noble houses versed in the art of necromancy once lived together on an island. But then one day, a conqueror destroyed it all: the families, their libraries and sources of knowledge, and the magic that they held so dear. Now the only house remaining is the House of Teeth. Marozia is the heiress to the house, and her cousin, Lady Agnes, has been tasked with uncovering the secrets of the death magic and arranging a betrothal for her cousin to restore their family’s honor. But Lady Agnes’s heart seeks out other things: revenge and love.
Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker (Hanover Square Press, April 14)
Gothic novels rely heavily on setting, and in Kylie Lee Baker’s Japanese Gothic, the setting of this haunted house in Japan, crumbling and surrounded by sword ferns and wild ginger, is an essential character in the story. The house is the place where two stories collide. In 2026, Lee Turner is hiding from a terrible crime he committed but can’t remember. In 1877, Sen is a young samurai in exile. But the house is hiding something: animals avoid it. Ghosts haunt it. And Lee and Sen will both regret ever coming there.
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May the Dead Keep You by Jill Baguchinsky (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, April 21)
Loosely inspired by Wuthering Heights, this atmospheric YA novel follows Catie East, a loner who finds solace in the redwood forest surrounding her family’s home, The Heights. Then she meets Hunter Solis, who moves into the cabin next door with his scientist father. Hunter fascinates and enthralls Catie. But the closer she gets to him, the more strange things start happening around The Heights. It turns out that the home that Catie has always known and loved is hiding a dark and painful past.
Want even more Gothic stories to add to your TBR? Check out these 50 must-read gothic fiction books.
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