Lately I’ve been curating my list of books in the niche subgenre of gothic horror known as dreadpunk.

What is dreadpunk?

See my earlier post on writing dreadpunk for a deep dive into the genre.

It isn’t quite gothic horror, although it is heavily influenced by it. It isn’t exactly cosmic horror either, though its influences can be felt in many works of dreadpunk, including Cherie Priest’s Maplecroft and Jonathan Barnes’ The Somnambulist. Dreadpunk takes gothic horror and views it through a modern lens and imbues it with a sense of righteous rage against the systems that oppress us.

The dread of dreadpunk is from the Victorian pulp fiction known as penny dreadfuls, published serially for a penny a page. The stories were mostly inspired by (or directly stolen from) the gothic novelists of centuries past, and many tended towards melodrama. Vampires, ghosts, and ghouls haunted the pages of these dreadful stories like A Feast of Blood, or Varney The Vampire and Wagner The Wehr-Wolf, while urban gothics like The Mysteries of London, Dick Turpin, and A String of Pearls: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street gave Victorian readers a romanticized glimpse into the lives of highwaymen, murderers, and grave-robbers.

Penny dreadfuls were criticized for the moral depravity of sensationalizing horror, especially given that many of those reading penny dreadfuls were youths. There was a moral panic surrounding these dark works of fiction, yet those writing it stood firm in their convictions, doubling down and giving the public what they wanted: blood and gore.

Dreadpunk is not simply a revival of gothic horror, but an exploration of the dread of penny dreadfuls.

If that sounds like your sort of thing, here are five novels I’d highly recommend.

1. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Few novels capture slow burn dread as effortlessly as Mexican Gothic.

What begins as a visit to check on a cousin slowly transforms into a nightmare of suffocating silence, family intrigue, and a house that seems strangely alive. Moreno-Garcia builds tension patiently, layering unsettling details until every moment feels hostile.

I especially love how the novel embraces classic gothic traditions while transporting them to a fresh setting. Rather than the classic setting of Victorian England, the story takes place in a decaying English manor in 1950s Mexico. This gives Moreno-Garcia’s novel a point of view, which is really the point of dreadpunk.

It’s a way of looking at the past with a modern point of view.

2. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has inspired countless retellings.

This one tells the story through the eyes of Elizabeth, rather than Victor Frankenstein.

The shifted POV shines new light on an old story, taking on Shelley’s Frankenstein and flipping it upside down. The novel explores ambition, societal expectations, and the terrifying lengths people will go to protect the things they hold dear.

3. What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher

I’ve always had a fondness for the works of Edgar Allan Poe, so naturally I was drawn to this novella which builds upon The Fall of the House of Usher, casting the unnamed narrator from the original into the main role and fleshing out their backstory, personality, and role in the events of The Fall of the House of Usher.

I also loved Kingfisher’s invention of the fictional country of Gallacia, which has its own language, and even its own pronouns, allowing the protagonist, a Sworn Soldier, to have gender-neutral pronouns at a time when the English language did not have a concept of non-binary pronouns. Again, this gives the novel a fresh twist and modern sensibilities that give new meaning to Poe’s original story without losing sight of what made Poe’s story so strong: the gothic, beating heart.

Again, this is the heart of dreadpunk. Gothic themes with a strong point of view.

The novella has a wonderful blend of gothic horror, eco-horror, and cosy horror.

It’s also wonderfully paced. At barely over 150 pages, it definitely left me wanting more…which is perfect, because there are two more books in the series!

4. The Resurrectionist by A. Rae Dunlap

Considering my current obsession with resurrectionists (body-snatchers whose profession involved digging up bodies to sell to anatomists) and nineteenth-century medicine, it should come as no surprise that this novel found its way onto my shelf.

Set within the dangerous world of a Victorian anatomy school, the novel explores grave robbing, medical ethics, and the murky relationship between scientific progress and ambition.

The novel is brilliantly researched, but it is the characters that kept me hooked.

If you’re fascinated by the real history behind body-snatching—or you’ve been enjoying my research into resurrectionists—you’ll probably enjoy this one as much as I did.

I’ve also just started on Dunlap’s newer novel, The Dreadfuls, which promises to be an equally engaging historical thriller with dreadpunk sensibilities.

5. Maplecroft by Cherie Priest

If I had to point to one novel that best embodies the term dreadpunk, it would probably be Maplecroft.

Priest imagines a world in which the notorious Lizzie Borden is not only innocent, but the only person standing against the dark forces threatening the citizens of Fall River…

Presented in epistolary format through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles, the novel gradually reveals an infection spreading through the town and its inhabitants. Cosmic horror blends seamlessly with historical fiction, while Priest wields her craft with a master’s hand, revealing and concealing information at just the right moments.

It’s eerie, unsettling, and perfectly paced. I’d also recommend the sequel, Chapelwood, and I find myself wishing the series had continued beyond the duology, as this was a world I loved to spend time in.

This is also one of the first books I always recommend whenever I’m asked for a recommendation in the gothic horror genre. I’d also note that Priest was amongst the founders of the dreadpunk genre, and therefore not to be missed.

Bonus: DeadSteam and DeadSteam II

This isn’t exactly a self-recommendation, although my name is on the front cover.

This is a multi-author anthology, with short dreadpunk stories exploring gothic themes through a modern lens. Ghosts, witches, vampires, and all manner of undead creatures stalk the night in this collection of short fiction.

My own writing graces the pages of each volume, but I’ve also collected stories from David Lee Summers, CC Adams, Jen Ponce, Ross Smeltzer, Steve Carr, James Dorr, Melanie Cossey, and many more talented authors. The foreword is written by bestselling author Leanna Renee Hieber, who is also one of the founding members of the dreadpunk subgenre.

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If you’ve read any of these, I’d love to hear what you thought!

And if you have your own favourite dreadpunk horror novels, please leave a comment and tell me which ones I should add to my list!