Southern Gothic is a creepy, macabre genre - but it's not necessarily stuck in the past.
What exactly is Southern Gothic literature? The genre may elicit ideas about mint juleps or debutantes, but it's a much darker, spookier version of the South than you might expect. For the most part, Southern Gothic literature contains elements of the supernatural, sinister characters, a touch of madness, and general hints (if not grand gestures) of the grotesque and the vile.
Some people spent their teen years reading the Twilight or Harry Potter series - I grew up reading Southern Gothic. Admittedly, I was a weird kid, but teen fiction wasn't really a thing when I was growing up, and I also love scaring myself silly. Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" was my introduction to the genre, but William Gay's "The Paperhanger" was the short story that made me realize there was a whole world of literature like this. I'm also happy that there are newer, more diverse Southern Gothic books out there, as the definition of the genre continues to broaden and incorporate more viewpoints.
If you, like me, enjoy eerie ghost stories with a hint of Spanish moss, consider this list for the Halloween season and beyond.