gothic summer reading

and fragrance pairings

hello.

i’ve never really related to the idea that summer is lighthearted. i know it’s supposed to be tan lines and beach reads and serotonin, but for me, summer has always felt just a little bit haunted. it’s too hot, too still, too alive. the sun stays out longer than it should. the flowers feel slightly overripe. time warps. everything becomes a little surreal. and suddenly, i don’t want joy. i want intensity. i want to read something that feels like walking barefoot through a house you’re not supposed to be in.

gothic literature isn’t just about ghosts and castles. it’s about obsession. interiority. women unraveling in beautiful rooms. longing that curdles. bodies that misbehave. nature that watches. it’s a genre that loves contradiction between the known and the uncanny, the beautiful and the grotesque, the living and the dead. and there’s something about reading it in the heat that makes it even headier, like drinking red wine in a hot room. the gothic is not a genre, it’s a temperature. it’s a tension. a mood. and for me, it’s a way of staying connected to depth and something more ancient, haunted, and uncomfortably intimate.

this list is a love letter to that feeling. it’s for the girls who romanticize decay, who feel most alive when reading about loneliness, ghosts, madness, desire. it’s for those of us who carry autumn in our chest year-round. whether you're reading in a quiet room with the fan on or outside in a garden that feels slightly overgrown, i hope these books give you what they’ve always given me: a place to haunt and be haunted.

this next section is for paid subscribers. i’ll be sharing my recommendations plus some scent pairings to get you in the mood for gothic summer. thank you for supporting this newsletter <3

if you’re curious about sampling you can use my link at scent split for a discount on all samples and full size bottles