{"id":308520,"date":"2026-03-25T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T11:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/?p=308520"},"modified":"2026-03-24T19:58:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:58:49","slug":"7-contemporary-gothic-novels-by-african-american-authors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/electricliterature.com\/7-contemporary-gothic-novels-by-african-american-authors\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Contemporary Gothic Novels by African American Authors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I once had the pleasure and good fortune of interviewing<\/a> self-proclaimed Afro-gothicist Leila Taylor about her book, Darkly: Black History and America\u2019s Gothic Soul<\/a>, <\/em>a poignant text that is part memoir and part cultural critique. Our discussion was eye-opening for me because Taylor and I both grew up in Detroit, Michigan, and our talk centered on the ways that the gothic in America is viewed as a predominantly white space, when Blackness in America and all its forced socio-economic trappings are inherently gothic\u2014blighted homes in the middle of a residential street, boarded up housing projects, rusted vehicles, overgrown grass, potholes, abandoned storefronts, dilapidated schools, unclean drinking water. Adding violence and horror to the mix, I\u2019d say urban ghettos have cornered the market on the gothic, and yet.<\/p>\n\n\n

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In recent years, I\u2019ve been returning to my conversation with Taylor because my debut novel, The Curse of Hester Gardens<\/a><\/em>, is a gothic horror set in a public housing project built in a fictional midwestern city with similarities to Detroit and Flint, Michigan. Like the abandoned homes in Detroit and the poisonous water in Flint, in Hester Gardens the trash is rarely collected, and residents must contend with mountains of garbage and a stench that permeates their lives and weaves itself into the fabric of their clothes.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, Taylor was definitely onto something. With an eye towards the gothic as a literary genre, I\u2019ve noticed recent growth in popularity and readership for gothic works written by Black authors, particularly of the Black Southern gothic in the vein of Ryan Coogler\u2019s Sinners<\/em>, which smashed 2025 box office records. I sense that this trend is here to stay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ll always recommend classic Black gothic works like Toni Morrison\u2019s Beloved<\/a><\/em>, Octavia Butler\u2019s Kindred<\/a><\/em>, and Gloria Naylor\u2019s Linden Hills<\/a>,<\/em> but here are seven contemporary gothic novels written by African American authors that will shatter your heart and make you think. <\/p>\n\n\n\n