Victorian Gothic

Grim Wolds, England: Winifred Notty arrives at Ensor House prepared to play the perfect governess—she’ll dutifully tutor her charges, Drusilla and Andrew, tell them bedtime stories, and only joke about eating children. But long, listless days spent within the estate’s dreary confines come with an intimate knowledge of the perversions and pathetic preoccupations of the Pounds family—Mr. Pounds can’t keep his eyes off Winifred’s chest, and Mrs. Pounds takes a sickly pleasure in punishing Winifred for her husband’s wandering gaze.

It is December 1888. Jack the Ripper has not killed for over a month and London is beginning to relax as Christmas approaches. When Katherine Kramer cuts herself on a strange book at a dinner party, she quickly falls ill. Her husband Richard is a professor of medicine, but even his efforts are futile as the mysterious illness blazes through her. As Katherine dies, she gives birth to something nightmarish. Something which should not exist. Something which spurs Richard to embark on a terrifying journey of discovery as he chases the answer to one question: who or what killed his wife?

On December 19th, 1851, a crime took place in the center of London. One of the few who knows what truly happened is Countess Alina Bronskaya. But she will never speak of it. The crime is her curse and her salvation.

Adelaide Hampton Parke's world is shattered after the loss of her father and a perilous sea journey. Facing a dire ultimatum from her stepmother, she finds refuge in an unexpected marriage proposal from Eldren Llewellyn, a Welsh lord. But as she steps into his remote estate, Cysgod Lys, Adelaide uncovers chilling secrets lurking within its walls. Is her new husband a savior or a harbinger of doom?

Arthur Conan Doyle was the greatest genre writer Britain has ever produced. Throughout a long writing career, he drew on his own medical background, his travels, and his increasing interest in spiritualism and the occult to produce a spectacular array of Gothic tales. Many of Doyle's writings are recognized as the very greatest tales of terror. They range from hauntings in the polar wasteland to evil surgeons and malevolent jungle landscapes. This collection brings together over 30 of Conan Doyle's best Gothic tales

Jacob Ashland's life has taken an unexpected turn. He's now the earl of Ashland and expected to marry. But he's done that before and had his heart ripped from his chest. When Charlotte shows up at his door needing protection, he offers to marry her - in name - only. Charlotte, an orphan, suspects her sinister cousin of terrorizing London. When her maid disappears, she fears for her own life and runs away. Lord Ashland offers marriage, and it's the perfect solution. But it isn't long before she finds herself falling for her new husband.

Jane Bell is torn. Gabriel Locke is back and has made his intentions clear. But Jane is reluctant to give up her inn and destine another man to a childless marriage. Then someone she never expected to see again returns to Ivy Hill. Mercy Grove has lost her school and is resigned to life as a spinster, especially as the man she admires seems out of reach. Should she uproot herself from Ivy Cottage to become a governess for a former pupil? Her decision will change more lives than her own.

The Gallagher family has called Deeprath Castle home for 700 years. Nestled in the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland, the estate is now slated to become a public trust, and book lover and scholar Carragh Ryan is hired to take inventory of its historic library. But after meeting Aidan, the current Viscount Gallagher, and his enigmatic family, Carragh knows that her task will be more challenging than she'd thought.

Pip is an orphan, brought up in a village on the Essex marshes by his disagreeable sister and her husband Joe Gargery, the kind-hearted village blacksmith. Life is harsh and Pip has few prospects until he receives from an anonymous benefactor the chance of escaping the forge for a more promising life in London. But his expectations are fraught with difficulties as he is haunted by figures from his past such as the escaped convict Magwitch, the eccentric Miss Havisham, and her proud, beautiful ward, Estella.

An aristocratic birthright and the luxurious comforts of profound wealth did nothing to comfort Fontaine Pratina following the death of her beloved parents. After two years in the guardianship of her mother’s arrogant and selfish sister, Carileena Wetherton, Fontaine’s only moments of joy and peace were found in the company of the loyal servants of Pratina Manor. Only in the kitchens and servant’s quarters of her grand domicile did Fontaine find friendship, laughter and affection. The life of a wealthy orphan destined to inherit loomed before Fontaine—a dark cloud of shallow, ...

Born with fragile health, Dawn Uxbridge has lived a sheltered existence. Her lonely days are filled by drawing fanciful landscapes and nurturing plants. When tragedy strikes, she finds herself alone and penniless with only one talent - a green thumb. Jasper, the Earl of Seton, is in need of a gardener to reclaim his derelict estate in the remote west of England. He expected a robust commoner, not a fragile young woman.

THE CHILD WAS STRAWBERRY-SWEET AND LOVING…BUT THE MAN WAS FORBIDDEN FRUIT. Annette Jordan had accepted the unavoidable reality that she must toil as a governess to provide for herself. Thankfully, her charge was a joy—a vision of youthful beauty, owning a spirit of delight. But it was Annette’s employer, Lord Gareth Barrett, who proved to be the trial—for she soon found herself living in the all-too-cliché governess’s dream of having fallen desperately in love with the man who provided her wages. The child loved her, but could she endure watching hopelessly as the beautiful woman...

In the wake of a scandal, the Montrose family and their three daughters - Catherine, Lydia and Emeline - flee Boston for their new country home, Willow Hall. The estate seems sleepy and idyllic. But a subtle menace creeps into the atmosphere, remnants of a dark history that call to Lydia, and to the youngest, Emeline. All three daughters will be irrevocably changed by what follows, but none more than Lydia, who must draw on a power she never knew she possessed if she wants to protect those she loves. For Willow Hall’s secrets will rise, in the end....

What if love itself is the greatest threat? Welcome to Blackwood Manor—where even the shadows whisper secrets you may not survive to uncover. I thought I was taking just another caretaker job in a sprawling English estate. How wrong I was. The Blackwood manor harbors secrets, wrapped in whispers and tragic romance. My unique gift lets me speak to spirits, and I find myself in a love that transcends life and death. But there's more than just love and loss in these walls—a sinister force is out to claim us all. As I plunge deeper into a world of spectral love and mortal danger, it's clear...

This collector’s anthology compiles all the penny dreadful short stories from Sarah M. Eden’s five-book Victorian romance series. Included in this edition are three new never-before-released stories. Each short story is written in the style of the Victorian fiction that became so popular during that time period. From ghost stories to adventures to mysteries, Sarah weaves these gothic tales among her romantic storylines, making it the perfect way to celebrate the Dread Penny Society series.

Betrayed by those she trusted, penniless and alone, Darcie Finch is forced to accept a position no one else dares as assistant to dangerously attractive Dr. Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumors he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate, where she quickly discovers nothing is at it seems, least of all her handsome and brooding employer. As Darcie struggles with her fierce attraction to Damien, she must also deal with the blood, the disappearances...and the murders.

SNOWBOUND AND ISOLATED, SHE HAD NO ALTERNATIVE BUT TO ENDURE THE WINTER IN THE COMPANIONSHIP OF THE BRUTAL RACE TREVELIAN… Chalyce LaSalle had been grateful to the handsome recluse, Race Trevelian, when he had delivered her from certain tragedy one frigid winter day. He was addictively attractive, powerful, and intriguing, and there was something else about him—an air of secreted internal torture. Yet as the brutal character of her emancipator began to manifest, Chalyce commenced in wondering whether the fate she now faced would be any less insufferable than the one from which he had ...

Innkeeper’s daughter Jane Heatherington is sold into indentured servitude to cover her father’s debts. She's sold to Aidan Warrick, a man whose handsome face and form mock the rumors that skulk in his shadow, rumors that paint him a smuggler, a pirate...and worse. Isolated and alone, Jane's only companion is the man she dare not trust, the man who looks at her with heated desire she both fears and craves. Jane must decide if Aidan Warrick is the dark prince of her dreams or a monster preying on the innocent....

Clara Penrose was not looking forward to her society debut, but she never imagined it would be interrupted by murder. The murdered man is a pushy suitor who wouldn’t take no for an answer and suspicion quickly falls on Clara. The man’s father, an influential member of high society, holds Clara responsible and is pushing for a fast resolution. As the clues pointing to the culprit being intimate with the Penrose Household pile up, Clara can almost feel the noose tightening around her neck. Unable to trust the police, she turns to her best friend and neighbour, Roland Fisher. The two ...

After the death of her deeply indebted father, nineteen-year-old Abigail Barrow faces a hard future in the workhouses of nineteenth-century London. Her only hope lies in a marriage to Dr. Simon Abbott, a man whose life her father once saved while they both served in Her Majesty’s Navy. But with no education and no dowry, she can hardly expect the esteemed doctor to agree to the match, especially when the stern doctor has little patience for a combative upstart of a woman. Right away, Abigail is taught this is one man who will not tolerate her bad temper. The reserved Dr. Abbott has long ...