Gothic Book and Candle Pairings for a Spooky Winter Read
Why Gothic Literature is Perfect for Winter in the UK
As winter grips the UK, the season brings with it frosty nights, icy winds, and lengthening shadows. It’s the perfect backdrop for revisiting gothic literature - stories of haunted estates, cursed relics, and lingering ghosts that echo the season’s dark beauty.
To heighten the atmosphere, pairing a book with a candle can create a richly immersive reading ritual. A carefully chosen scent can conjure landscapes, characters, and emotions from the page, bringing the gothic mood into your own home. We’ve selected a mix of classic and modern gothic novels and matched them with candle pairings from our range designed to complement their themes.
Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu × Carmilla
Published 25 years before Dracula, Le Fanu’s Carmilla is an early gothic vampire tale suffused with mystery and forbidden desire. Set in a remote castle in Styria, the story’s dreamlike quality makes it perfect for reading on long December nights.
The Carmilla candle mirrors this hypnotic tone. Complex layers of incense, herbs, lavender, and rose recall the novella’s unsettling mix of tenderness and menace, while the darker notes of patchouli and musk reflect Carmilla’s dangerous allure.
Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury × Temperance
Bradbury’s dark fantasy classic follows two boys ensnared by a travelling carnival where time, temptation, and fate intertwine. Fortune tellers, sinister bargains, and the inevitability of growing older give the novel its haunting power - a modern gothic tale steeped in prophecy and dread.
With lilac, saffron, and cedarwood at its core, the Temperance candle reflects the story’s atmosphere of looming destiny. Its blend of warmth and shadow recalls the carnival’s flickering lights, capturing the tension between wonder and danger.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë × Love Potion
Brontë’s gothic masterpiece is steeped in obsession, passion, and devotion that defies even death. The bond between Heathcliff and Catherine is intoxicating, destructive, and inescapable. The windswept moors and restless ghosts embody the darker side of desire, where adoration comes to ruin.
The Love Potion candle captures this mood with an intoxicating blend designed to enchant and unsettle. Sweet floral notes bloom with impossible perfection, while deeper undertones hint at something more perilous - devotion that lingers, irresistible and binding.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth by H.P. Lovecraft × Kraken
Lovecraft’s seaside horror The Shadow Over Innsmouth imagines a decaying town plagued by sea-born terrors. The story’s damp docks and creeping dread resonate with the gothic’s fascination with decay and the unknown.
Here, the Kraken candle is a fitting match. Its aquatic freshness, combined with damp earth and mossy undertones, parallels the novella’s atmosphere of salt, sea, and the uncanny.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson × Spinning Wheel
Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle brings gothic unease into a modern domestic space. Its story of two isolated sisters and a house full of secrets is claustrophobic, intimate, and quietly haunting.
The Spinning Wheel candle offers a contrasting calm: sweet floral notes with hints of green apple and anise. This gentle but unsettling fragrance mirrors the novel’s deceptive charm - beautiful on the surface, but shadowed by what lies beneath.
Creating a Gothic Winter Ritual
These pairings invite readers to slow down and embrace the gothic mood of winter. Each book brings its own shadows, atmospheres, and unsettling beauty; each candle adds another sensory layer to the experience.
Whether you’re revisiting the windswept passion of Wuthering Heights, discovering the eerie allure of Carmilla, or immersing yourself in Jackson’s unsettling domestic mystery, lighting a candle can help you sink deeper into the story’s world.
Our candles are hand-poured in London, vegan-friendly, and designed with an eye toward mood and atmosphere - a perfect companion for cosy reading nights this winter.