Books like “The Monk”

What to read after “The Monk” by Matthew Gregory Lewis: a list matched by tropes, mood and atmosphere. Under each book you will see what it has in common.

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1
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.
2
The Beetle
Richard Marsh · 1897
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
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.
3
The Mysteries of Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe · 1794
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Forbidden Love
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.
4
Lady Audley's Secret
Mary Elizabeth Braddon · 1862
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Femme Fatale
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.
5
The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner
James Hogg · 1824
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Faustian Bargain
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.
6
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson · 1962
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
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
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
Anne Brontë · 1848
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Forbidden Love
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.
8
Carmilla
Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu · 1872
From the same world: “Gothic”
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.
9
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde · 1890
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Faustian Bargain
A beautiful young man surrenders to his vanity when his portrait begins to age and wither in place of his body. Sheltered by a cynical friend, Dorian chases pleasure without consequence until the hidden painting becomes a record of his cruelty.
10
Jamaica Inn
Daphne du Maurier · 1936
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Forbidden Love
After her mother's death, Mary Yellan goes to live with her aunt at Jamaica Inn on the bleak Bodmin Moor. Her uncle keeps the inn closed to travellers and answers to dangerous men from the coast. Mary must work out what her one remaining family is hiding before the moor and its secrets close over her.
11
The Hunchback of Notre-Dame
Victor Hugo · 1831
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Forbidden Love
Quasimodo, the deformed bell-ringer of Notre-Dame, is kept hidden by the archdeacon Frollo. When the gypsy dancer Esmeralda is accused of witchcraft, several men desire or condemn her, and the cathedral becomes both her refuge and her trap. Set in 1482 Paris among beggars, judges and stone gargoyles.
12
Jane Eyre
Charlotte Brontë · 1847
From the same world: “Gothic”
- Gothic
- Forbidden Love
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.