Summons to the Chateau D'Arc


Kay Cornelius - 2005
    She finds herself falling for the attractive estate manager, who carries secrets of his own. As the tension grows more unbearable, Ellen will have to risk everything she holds dear to discover the secrets that lurk in the shadows of the Chateau D'Arc.

In the Shadow of Lakecrest


Elizabeth Blackwell - 2017
    Kate Moore is looking for a way out of the poverty and violence of her childhood. When a chance encounter on a transatlantic ocean liner brings her face-to-face with the handsome heir to a Chicago fortune, she thinks she may have found her escape—as long as she can keep her past concealed.After exchanging wedding vows, Kate quickly discovers that something isn’t quite right with her husband—or her new family. As Mrs. Matthew Lemont, she must contend with her husband’s disturbing past, his domineering mother, and his overly close sister. Isolated at Lakecrest, the sprawling, secluded Lemont estate, she searches desperately for clues to Matthew’s terrors, which she suspects stem from the mysterious disappearance of his aunt years before. As Kate stumbles deeper into a maze of family secrets, she begins to question everyone’s sanity—especially her own. But just how far will she go to break free of this family’s twisted past?

The Vanished Bride of Northfield House


Phyllis M. Newman - 2019
    Times are hard. Anne Chatham is a clever, modest young woman with little money, no prospects for marriage, and a never-shared secret—she can see spirits. Anne finds employment as a typist at Northfield House, the grand country manor of the Wellington family. Her employer, the wheelchair-bound Mr. Wellington, is kindly. His haughty wife is not. He has two handsome sons, the wry and dashing Thomas and the dark and somber Owen. Anne feels sure her prayers have been heard. Until the terrifying night she stumbles upon a tortured spirit roaming the dark halls of Northfield, a spirit that only she can see. In a search for answers, she finds herself drawn to Owen as they unearth a tragic story from the Wellington family’s past—a beautiful young bride gone missing on her wedding day. Then tragedy strikes again on the night of a glittering masquerade ball...

Hauntings: Is There Anybody There?


Norah Lofts - 1974
    

The Tilsit Inheritance


Catherine Gaskin - 1963
    When Virginia left for England, she did not know then that she had become the new Tilsit heiress. Nor did she know that this new-found life of wealth and luxury would turn instead into an awesome and terrifying burden. Lawrence had once dreamed of the inheritance. A man hungry and ambitious for success. A man who found only mockery and ruin at the Tilsit house. And there was the beautiful and sensuous Vanessa, whose life of worldly pleasure came crashing down when she, too, entered the ancestral home. Finally there was Mark. The man Virginia loved and wanted but could not have-for he was already possessed by Tilsit. THE TILSIT INHERITANCE-a story of a house and its family, both cursed by a mysterious and dark secret. A secret that would destroy everything and everyone if it were not destroyed first.

Wishwood


E.B. Wheeler - 2020
    The family members talk about a curse, lights move through the ruins at night, and Kate’s maid won’t spend the night in the house. Thomas is hiding something from Kate as well, but as she grows closer to him, a series of accidents makes her suspect that someone is willing to kill to keep Wishwood’s secrets buried in the past.

A Red, Red Rose


Susan Coryell - 2012
    Their lives, loves and secrets. Especially their secrets. 20-year-old Ashby Overton is invited by her aunt and uncle to spend the summer at historic Overhome Estate as a companion to her young cousin. Ashby has ulterior motives: She hopes to unearth her ancestral roots and the cause of a mysterious family rift surrounding the horseback riding death of her Grandmother Lenore many years ago. Situated high above Moore Mountain Lake, Virginia, the imposing mansion is an idyllic setting for Ashby, the aspiring romance writer. From the moment she enters her room in the oldest wing, Ashby feels an invisible, enfolding presence. This was Rosabelle's room, the housekeeper tells Ashby. But no one is willing to talk about Rosabelle. As summer unfolds, so does the shroud of silence surrounding Overhome. Ever present is a force Ashby never sees, only feels. Candles light themselves, notes from an old lullaby fall from the ceiling, the radio tunes itself each day. And roses, always meant for Ashby, appear in the unlikeliest places. Are the roses a symbol of love, or do they represent something dark, something deep and evil? Full of heartbreak and adventure, fear and passion, the summer leads Ashby on a suspenseful, sometimes terrifying journey as she navigates centuries of family strife alongside the puzzling parameters of the spirit world. Ultimately she discovers that some secrets, even the most fiercely guarded, are destined to be revealed.

The Voice of the Dolls


Dorothy Eden - 1950
    Since her mother's accidental death, Jennie has been withdrawn; she plays only with her dolls, "communicating" with them in a macabre game that resembles reality in the secretive Foster household all too accurately.

The Mistress of Trevelyan


Jennifer St. Giles - 2004
    It has long been whispered that Trevelyan Manor hides dark secrets and sinister deeds -- including the murder of Benedict's wife. But Ann refuses to pay heed to spiteful rumor.As she grows to cherish her young charges, Ann also finds herself powerfully drawn to the handsome Benedict, whose passionate persuasion introduces her to a new world of sensual pleasures. But even while falling in love with the master of Trevelyan, Ann wonders if his attentions are intended to blind her to the secrets of the past -- and if Benedict holds he key to her destiny...or her destruction.

Betrayal


Sharon Brownlie - 2014
    Now, as an adult, Helen is spiraling out of control. Old wounds are surfacing; can she face her demons without the drugs? Will revenge help release her from her past? Beating her addiction is her only chance at a new life. But, an encounter with a former school teacher opens up old wounds that had been festering deep within her. While quitting drugs, another craving takes its place. A desire for revenge: payback for those who'd betrayed her. Plagued with bitterness, Helen heads to Edinburgh to begin her killing spree.Police are mystified when her first victim is found. A second death convinces them it’s the same killer. Can they connect Helen to the crimes? How many more will die before she is stopped?

Greygallows


Barbara Michaels - 1972
    Trusting his kind words and gentle manner, she agreed to be his wife and followed the enigmatic lord to Greygallows, his sprawling country estate. But mystery, deception, betrayal, and danger surround the magnificent manor—a ghostly secret charges the atmosphere and terror reigns in its shadowed hallways. Lucy entered Greygallows willingly . . . and now she may never leave.

The Shrouded Walls


Susan Howatch - 1974
    It was Sir Charles Stowell, a friend of my father's who finally told us the my father's forutnes and estates, including even the town house in London where we had lived all our lives with our mother, had reverted to my father's wife in Manchester. My father had been mcuh too gay and carefree to bother to make a will to provide for his mistress and the tiwns she had borne him...' When her parents die in a road accident, Marianne, illegitimate daughter of a French emigree and an English gentleman, loses her home and all her wordly goods. She faces life as a governess until she meets Axel Branson, a man who must marry within the year in order to inherit his father's wealth. Marianne grabs at the chance of a respectable marriage. A remote house in the Kent Marshes is now her home. But distrust of her husband and fear of the house seem to roll in as steadily as the sea mist...

The Vanishing


Wendy Webb - 2014
    So when a stranger appears on her doorstep with a job offer, she finds herself accepting the mysterious yet unique position: caretaker to his mother, Amaris Sinclair, the famous and rather eccentric horror novelist whom Julia has always admired…and who the world believes is dead.When she arrives at the Sinclairs' enormous estate on Lake Superior, Julia begins to suspect that there may be sinister undercurrents to her "too-good-to-be-true" position. As Julia delves into the reasons of why Amaris chose to abandon her successful writing career and withdraw from the public eye, her search leads to unsettling connections to her own family tree, making her wonder why she really was invited to Havenwood in the first place, and what monstrous secrets are still held prisoner within its walls.

Innocent Strangers


Millys Altman - 2012
    Just as they prepare to journey on, they are arrested for the murder of a beautiful heiress to a coal mining fortune. Suddenly, they must escape the noose that is waiting to hang them. How they do this in a parochial town that brands them as criminals and refuses to give up its dark secrets is a tale of dogged sleuthing. Probing uncovers shocking details of intrigue, double-dealing, blackmail, and adultery in the past life and loves of this charming passionate woman. The trail finally leads them close to exposing the identity of the real murderer, but time is running out.

Dark Desires


Eve Silver - 2005
    Damien Cole. Ignoring the whispered warnings and rumours that he's a man to fear, she takes her position at his eerie estate, where she quickly discovers that 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.With her options dwindling and time running out, Darcie must rely on her instincts as she confronts the man she falling in love with. Is he an innocent and misunderstood man ... or a remorseless killer who prowls the East End streets?Note: All books in the Dark Gothic series can be read as stand-alone novels.