Books like “Rebecca”

What to read after “Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë · 1847
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
An orphan becomes a governess at the brooding Thornfield Hall. A bond grows between her and its stern master, but the house hides a dangerous secret that threatens the life she is beginning to hope for.
2
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe · 1794
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
After her parents die, Emily St. Aubert is left to the care of an aunt who marries an Italian nobleman. Taken to the gloomy castle of Udolpho, she is surrounded by unexplained sounds, sealed rooms and sinister men, while she tries to keep her love and her safety.
3
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Anne Brontë · 1848
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Gothic Manor
A young widow, Helen Graham, moves into the half-ruined Wildfell Hall and keeps to herself, refusing to explain her past. The farmer Gilbert Markham falls for her, then hears rumours about her and her son. Helen's hidden diary slowly reveals the marriage she fled and why she lives in hiding.
4
Wuthering Heights
Emily Brontë · 1847
From the same world: “Gothic”
On the Yorkshire moors, the foundling Heathcliff and Catherine grow up inseparable, then are torn apart by class and marriage. His long, bitter revenge consumes the next generation until their children find a way out.
5
Dracula
Bram Stoker · 1897
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
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.
6
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson · 1962
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
Eighteen-year-old Merricat lives with her sister and uncle in a large house outside a village that despises them, after the rest of the family died years earlier from poison. When a cousin arrives hoping to claim the estate, the careful order of Merricat's world is broken.
7
Carmilla
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu · 1872
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
In a lonely Styrian castle, Laura longs for companionship. A carriage accident brings Carmilla, a charming guest her own age, to stay with the family. As Laura's health fades and strange dreams visit her at night, she begins to suspect that her new friend is not what she seems.
8
Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
Robert Louis Stevenson · 1886
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
- Gothic
- Creeping Dread
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.
9
The Beetle
Richard Marsh · 1897
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
- Gothic
- Creeping Dread
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.
10
The Silent Companions
Laura Purcell · 2017
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
A young widow is sent to her late husband's crumbling estate and finds an eerie painted wooden figure that seems to move on its own. As the figures multiply, she begins to doubt her own mind. A gothic horror set in the English countryside, told through an asylum diary.
11
The Little Stranger
Sarah Waters · 2009
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
In post-war England, a country doctor is drawn into the fading life of a once-grand family living in a decaying mansion. Strange events unsettle the house and its residents, and suspicion falls in every direction. An unnerving story about class, decline and things that may not be ghosts.
12
The Hacienda
Isabel Cañas · 2022
Similar atmosphere: “Creeping Dread”
After her father is killed in Mexico's war of independence, Beatriz marries a widower and moves to his country estate. The housekeeper burns copal and chalks signs on the doorways, and Beatriz begins to fear that her husband's first wife never left.