The Pocket Garden: Gothic Fiction

Hello, dear reader, hope the season is treating you well. Welcome to The Pocket Garden book club, please come on in.

This is the first installment of what I plan to make into a series. The Pocket Garden is a place where I discuss books that have brought something special to my life over the years. And before we get into the actual recommendations, I would like to explain the name a little bit.

“A book is like a garden carried in the pocket” is a phrase I’ve heard over and over again in my life, and while some attribute it to a specific person, others just call it an old proverb. Whichever it is, I like the phrase, because I feel a very similar sense of serenity in a garden and in a library. It’s very fitting.

That being said, books may be an even bigger part of my life than gardening. I don’t describe myself as an avid reader or a critic of any sort, but I love reading and I have a lot of opinions about the books that I read. With that, I thought I’d recommend some books for other people, and at the very least invite people to tell me what they think of my recommendations. We’ll all have differing opinions, but that’s the beauty of it. These are MY recommendations and based on MY opinions, so agreements and disagreements are both inevitable.

Now, please grab a blanket, get a nice beverage and some snacks and join me on this journey through my bookshelf. Now, I would like to sit and enjoy Halloween and the eeriness of the season a little bit longer before all the airways get overrun by Christmas. And what better way to enjoy this than with gothic fiction, the genre of mansions, monsters and mysteries? I love gothic fiction, and the following is a list of some of my all-time favourites, which do tend to be classics from the 19th and 20th centuries. Maybe someday I’ll recommend some of my more contemporary favourites but for now, classics it is.

Here’s the list (in no particular order):

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

Is it an obvious choice? Yes. Am I biased? Absolutely. And I am aware that it’s a cliché to recommend the book you’re writing a thesis on, but I frankly do not care. Frankenstein is a great book, and hailed as a classic of both gothic horror and science fiction for a reason.

Frankenstein tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a scientist who creates a living being out of human body parts, and the story of the creature’s loneliness and rage. The narration is done by multiple different characters at different points of the novel, so it might get slightly convoluted at times but not to the point that you lose track of the main story. As a novel, Frankenstein explores humanity, monstrosity and agency in fascinating ways and I cannot recommend it enough.

It does have to be said that classics can be tough to get into, because language and writing conventions have changed so much over time. That being said, I think they’re worth the effort. Frankenstein has sent echoes through horror and science fiction in a multitude of mediums, and while some has inspired literature, movies, shows, and games, just to name a few things. Give it a go and see for yourself.

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde (1890)

Another kind of obvious choice but I simply do not care because it’s a great book. Not as focused on a house and its mysteries, more so mysteries in interpersonal relationships and the dangers lurking within the self. But there is still a locked room in a mysterious house so that’s still very much on brand.

The Picture of Dorian Gray tells the story of Dorian Gray as he explores all that life has to offer and eludes the passage of time by passing his aging to a painting rather than his own physical body. Dorian and his social circles navigate questions of morality, vanity and material luxuries, and amidst the chaos, Dorian remains ever youthful.

I love the depictions of gender and gender roles in this novel. Oscar Wilde is incredibly good at painting a picture and capturing the nuances of relationships in the network of characters. It is also another novel that has inspired a lot of adaptations over time and remains relevant to this day. And while The Picture of Dorian Gray may be very different from my other Oscar Wilde favourite, The Importance of Being Earnest, both are quintessentially Wilde.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)

A proper novel of mansions and mysteries and a notably more modern addition to my list of favourites. For fans of the Mike Flanagan series, reading the book may be a slight shock, because the series deviates from its source material more than just a little. The only similarities between the two are some character names (not even character relations, just names), the manor house setting and some paranormal elements.

At the centre of Jackson’s original story is the titular Hill House, and the events that unfold at the mansion after a paranormal investigator, Dr John Montague, gathers a few guests there to find scientific evidence of paranormal activity. As the story progresses, strange things start happening at the house and Dr Montague and his guests Eleanor, Theodora and Luke must find ways to deal with it all.

While a lot of readers may know The Yellow Wallpaper as an early feminist take on the gothic, I think The Haunting of Hill House is equally relevant for that discussion. Eleanor and Theodora are both interesting, multifaceted characters and the story focuses on both as integral actors with agency of their own.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (1832)

I could have put so many of Poe’s stories on this list, but had to contain myself. If given the chance, I’d probably rant and rave about Poe’s literature for hours at a time. Say what you want about him and his actions as an individual, he’s one of the most notable gothic authors of all time. Much like Shelley’s Frankenstein, Poe’s poetry and prose can be seen in horror writing to this day.

As the title suggests, this short story is once again focused on a mysterious manor house, the family home of the Usher family. The narrator of the story is invited to the house by its master, Roderick Usher, who lives there with his twin sister, Madeline Usher. Upon arrival at the house, the narrator finds the house and its occupants in a state of eerie disarray, and can only observe what transpires.

Everyone (and I do admit that includes me as well) talks about The Raven and The Tell-Tale Heart when it comes to Poe’s gothic atmospheres and eerie tones, but The Fall of the House of Usher is also a masterful piece of writing. It is incredibly detailed without being too complex or convoluted, but also reveals new little things with every re-read.

Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen (1817)

Yeah, yeah, I know, Jane Austen is not typically associated with the gothic or anything, I am acutely aware. But as a lover of gothic fiction and historical literature, Austen’s parody of the gothic really hits home. To a 21st century reader Austen may not seem like the snarkiest author, but trust me, she’s hilarious, and Northanger Abbey is one of my favourite examples of her wit and humour.

In Northanger Abbey, we’re introduced to Catherine Morland, the daughter of a country clergyman and one of ten children, who joins her neighbours on an extended trip to Bath. On this trip, she meets all kinds of people, including the Tilneys who live in the titular Northanger Abbey. And as a lover of gothic literature, Catherine finds them very interesting…

I’d recommend this book to those of you who either know that gothic fiction is not your thing or those who are looking for something a bit more light-hearted. Gothic fiction tends to be gloomy and dark, but Northanger Abbey takes that doom and gloom and laughs in its face. Absolute perfection.

That’s it for the list! Hope you find some new favourites among these or at least that you get to try out a genre that was previously unfamiliar to you.

Until next time, I hope you’ve enjoyed visiting The Pocket Garden.