Books like “The Picture of Dorian Gray”

What to read after “The Picture of Dorian Gray” by Oscar Wilde: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson · 1886
From the same world: “Gothic”
A respected London doctor is oddly close to a violent, mysterious man named Hyde. When a friend investigates the link between them, he uncovers a scientific experiment that set loose a darker self.
2
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg · 1824
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
A young man raised to believe he is one of the elect is drawn into a double life by a stranger who may be a demon, a double, or a delusion. His own account of his crimes is set against an editor's, and the two versions refuse to agree.
3
Dracula
Bram Stoker · 1897
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Victorian London Atmosphere
A young solicitor journeys to a remote castle in the Carpathians to settle a client's estate, only to find his host is no ordinary nobleman. As the count travels to England, letters and diaries record a creeping sickness spreading from Whitby to London.
4
The Beetle
Richard Marsh · 1897
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Victorian London Atmosphere
A strange, insect-like creature arrives in London bent on revenge against a member of Parliament, and its powers reach into the lives of everyone near him. The story is told through several witnesses who each encounter the being and try to stop it.
5
Melmoth the Wanderer
Charles Robert Maturin · 1820
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Faustian Bargain
A scholar finds a manuscript telling of Melmoth, a man who centuries earlier traded his soul for knowledge and an unnaturally long life. Doomed to wander the earth, he appears to people in their worst moments and offers them the chance to take on his burden.
6
Interview with the Vampire
Anne Rice · 1976
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
A young interviewer listens as the vampire Louis tells the story of his long life: turned by the powerful Lestat, endlessly hunting to survive, and raising the child vampire Claudia with him in a small, doomed family.
7
The Vampire Lestat
Anne Rice · 1985
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
Lestat de Lioncourt, the vampire who once narrated Interview with the Vampire, tells his own story: a boy of the Auvergne who fled to Paris for the stage, was taken by an ancient vampire, and rose to become a rock star, awakening forces older than any of his kind.
8
The Monk
Matthew Gregory Lewis · 1796
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Faustian Bargain
Ambrosio, a celebrated monk in Madrid, is admired for his apparent virtue until a novice leads him into pride, desire and crime. Around him runs the legend of a sorcerer, and the story follows the abbot's fall from purity into a bargain he cannot undo.
9
Heart of Darkness
Joseph Conrad · 1899
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Philosophical
- Morally Grey Character
A sailor tells of his journey up an African river to reach a mysterious ivory trader who has become a god to the locals. The deeper he goes, the more he sees of greed and cruelty, and of what people become when no one restrains them. A short, unsettling classic.
10
Faust
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe · 1808
Similar atmosphere: “Philosophical”
- Philosophical
- Faustian Bargain
A brilliant scholar, dissatisfied with everything he can learn, makes a wager with the devil Mephistopheles for a taste of true experience. What follows leads him to love, ruin and the limits of human striving. A verse tragedy about knowledge, temptation and the soul.
11
Lady Audley's Secret
Mary Elizabeth Braddon · 1862
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Dual Identity
When a new, much younger wife arrives at Audley Court, her charm hides an unsettled past. Her husband's nephew's idle curiosity about a missing man turns into a quiet investigation of the woman everyone else adores, and of the secret she has buried.
12
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley · 1818
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Morally Grey Character
Victor Frankenstein discovers the secret of life and assembles a living creature from the dead, then abandons it in horror. Lonely and rejected, the creature turns on its maker, and both are drawn into a cycle of guilt and vengeance.