By the John W. Graham Library and Trinity College Archives
The last student in the library sat alone in the dim reading room.
There was a soft tap on the window… on the third floor.
When dusk falls across Trinity College, the John W. Graham Library becomes a sanctuary for night owls, lovers of mystery, and late-night readers. For this special feature, Nightfall in the Reading Room, our library team has gathered our top eerie book recommendations from across the collection. Whether you are looking for dark academia or gothic lore, our library staff have opened the vaults to share the most atmospheric stories on our shelves.
Eerie Book Recommendations from Graham Library Staff:
To guide your after-hours wandering, each of our staff picks includes a few nocturnal field notes:
- The Hook: A brief glimpse into why this story haunts us (in a good way).
- Ideal Atmosphere: The perfect setting–rain on the glass, midnight quiet, or flickering candlelight.
- Intensity Level: Measured on a scale from 1 (a gentle, misty chill) to 5 (keep the lamps burning and lock all the doors).
- Ideal Reading Atmosphere: A warm brew, a dark confection, or an ambient melody for total immersion.
From eerie gothic tales to cozy twilight mysteries, here is what our library staff recommend pulling from the stacks this season.
The Body in the Library: A Miss Marple Mystery,
by Agatha Christie
Recommended by: Heather Buchansky, Head Librarian of User Services
The Hook: A classic Agatha Christie Miss Marple title always has me guessing until the end. And a murder in a library? Yikes!
Intensity Level: 2 = A solid mystery sans the guts and gores!
Pair With: A cup of Earl Grey tea and digestive biscuits.
Where to Find?: Popular Reading: PR6005 .H66 B718 2022
The Dark Library,
by Cyrille Martinez
Recommended by: Rebekah Bedard, Distinctive Collections Librarian
The Hook: Get wrapped up in this short piece of absurdist fiction, with a quirky cast of library characters – from readers and staff to personified books. The Dark Library is a magical commentary on the value of libraries.
The Ideal Reading Atmosphere: Best read in your favourite library at dusk.
Spooky/Intensity Level: 2 – thought-provoking
Pair With: A cup of tea and a notebook.
Where to Locate?: Popular Reading: PQ2713 .A79 B5313 2020
The Darkness Manifesto: On Light Pollution, Night Ecology, and the Ancient Rhythms That Sustain Life
by Johan Eklöf (Translated by Elizabeth DeNoma)
Recommended By: Billy J. Choi-Gekas, Circulation Supervisor
Why You’ll Love It: Finally, a book that offers a beautifully written account on how much happens in the dark to sustain and facilitate life. Swedish conservationist Johan Eklöf provides essential wisdom and accessible practices to cultivate a relationship with these essential processes in our ecosystems. This is especially needed in a growing context where the daytime and lit environments are privileged and believed to be “good” technological advancements but consequentially is at the detriment of ecological health of all Earth members and communities.
Intensity Level: 3
Ideal Reading Atmosphere: Outside bundled up with a heavy blanket, warming tea in hand, during the night facing the moon, under the stars, with just a candle to light my pages.
Where to Locate?: Popular Reading: TD195 .L52 E4413 2023
The Name of the Rose,
by Eco Umberto (Translated from the Italian by William Weaver)
Recommended by: Allison Graham, Instruction and Theology Librarian
Why You Love It: It’s 1327 and a string of suspicious deaths occur at a Benedictine monastery in northern Italy. Brother William of Baskerville and his assistant Adso must use cryptic manuscripts, laughter, and debates about apostolic poverty to investigate the murders, leading them into the depths of the monastery’s labyrinthine library.
Intensity Level: 2 most of the time, but 5 if you’re lost in Robarts at closing time.
Where to Find It?: Stacks: PQ4865 .C6 N613 1983
The Autobiography of Jane Eyre,
by Charlotte Bronte
Recommended By: Adrienne Findley-Jones, Research & Collections Support Library Technician
Why You’ll Love It: By the eldest of the goth trio of sisters, Charlotte Bronte. This text falls into the gothic genre with the descriptions of the landscape, the experiences, and the personalities of the characters. The narrator takes a reflective journey over her abusive childhood, her development into adulthood and navigating relationships despite her being “plain and small”; it also demands the reader to decide between doing what is dutiful and what is fulfilling.
Best Read: Quiet, rainy, day (there will be no chance for a walk).
Intensity Level: Emotionally intense, but worth it.
Paired Well With: A Fleet Foxes’ record, and a cup of Earl Grey.
Where to Find It?: Stacks: PR4167 .J35 2006
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, by Patrick Süskind;
Translated from the German by John E. Woods
Recommended by: Daniela Mazic, Public Services & Community Engagement Library Technician
The Hook: Set in 18th century Paris, this is a haunting, creepy tale wrapped up in the ancient art of perfumery. The growing obsessiveness of the genius main character leads to a horrific ending.
The Ideal Reading Atmosphere: Douse yourself in your favourite scent, diffuse a soothing essential oil, or bake/cook up something that smells divine.
Intensity Level: Probably a 2 as it’s disturbing historical fiction.
Pair With: A highly aromatic tea such as chai and freshly baked croissants.
Where to Locate?: Popular Reading: PT2681 .U74 P313 2001
Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus,
by Mary Shelley
Recommended By: Adrienne Findley-Jones, Research & Collections Support Library Technician
Why You’ll Love It: By the original goth girl and mother of science fiction, Mary Shelley. This text is written as a series of letters, spelling and spilling out the horrors of a science experiment gone rogue. The narrator is in a constant state of disbelief, moving from doubting what he hears to doubting what he sees.
Best Read: As how it was written – at night by candle/firelight, when you’ve had enough of people.
Intensity Level: Intense doesn’t begin to describe this journey. It’s a lot.
Paired Well With: Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and a hot mug of cider.
Where to Locate It?: Stacks: PR5397 .A1 1996
The Short Fiction of Edgar Allan Poe,
edited by Stuart Levine and Susan Levine
Recommended by: Sandy Soud, Acquisitions and Cataloguing Library Technician
Why You’ll Love It: This collection is a deep dive into the darkest corners of the human psyche, filled with buried alive anxieties, haunting fixations, revenge plots, and brilliant logic. The Levine annotations anchor every story in its original 19th-century magazine context, letting you experience Poe’s uncanny tales of terror, satire, and mystery just as his original readers did, complete with all the subtle literary jabs and historical nuances intact.
The Ideal Reading Atmosphere: In a single, shadowy sitting under late-night lamp light while a storm rattles the windowpanes; perfect for when you want to channel your inner dark romantic.
Intensity Level: 4 out of 5 (keep the lamps burning and maybe lock the doors).
Paired Well With: Chopin’s Nocturnes, a glass of dark red wine, and a faint flickering shadow on your doorframe…
Where to Locate?: Stacks: PS2612 .A1 L4 1990
As the lights dim across Trinity College and the autumn night settles in, there’s no better companion than a good story.
Track down these titles in the stacks on your next visit to the Graham Library. Just remember to keep a lamp burning nearby…
Until next time,
— The John W. Graham Library
Need help finding a call number?
Visit the circulation desk or check our library catalogue to locate these items across the stacks.
