2026 Goth-Coded Reading List: 7 Books to Preorder and (Obsess Over) Next Year
The upcoming launches that deserve a spot on your nightstand next year
By: The Lace Ledger Staff
Cold days are coming, and honestly, that’s half the joy. Winter gives you permission to disappear into your room, wrap yourself in a blanket and lose yourself in a book that you have no intention of reading slowly. The world goes quiet, the light turns warm and suddenly spending an entire afternoon horizontal with a novel feels less like procrastination and more like seasonal self-care.
And 2026 is giving us plenty to escape into. New releases are dropping all year long; memoirs, thrillers, heartbreak, strange stories that stretch your imagination and demand your full attention. Some will wreck you, some will restore; all will decorate your night stand seducing you to devour it.
Consider this your curated permission slip to stay inside, brew something warm and let the titles take over your winter.
Editor’s Choice: Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic (Feb 2026)
Bunnie XO’s first memoir, which chronicles her journey from living in trailer parks to mansions. Bunnie does a great job of truly telling the whole story, not glazing over the hard stuff — this promises to be a gritty, authentic read told with humour and pose.
Nowhere Burning by Catriona Ward (Feb 2026)
A haunting, slow-burn psychological horror that unravels memory, fear and the monsters that we swear aren’t real. Wards has a special way of elegantly building terror with an undertone of dread.
You Did Nothing Wrong by C.G. Drews (Mar 2026)
A dark, emotional contemporary about guilt and blame as well as the lies we tell ourselves to keep ourselves above water. It’s easy to connect with its aching honesty and the way softness and brutality coexist on every page.
Wolf Worm by T. Kingfisher (Mar 2026)
A weird, unsettling creature-feature wrapped in dark humour with a side of impossible-to-shake imagery. It blends charm, horror and heart in an overall eerie tale thick with folklore.
In This City, Where It Rains by Lyndsey Croal (2026)
A moody, atmospheric novella stepped in wet streets, quiet grief and the kind of tension that sticks with you. You’ll love its cinematic gloom and the way it turns bad weather into an emotional backdrop.
Helpless by Jessica Knoll (July 2026)
A razor-edge story about survival and power; a commentary on the impossible rules places on women to refuse to stay quiet. It promises ferocity with Knoll’s signature brand of unapologetic punch.
The Grass Is Always Bloodier by Jeneva Rose (Fall 2026)
A sharp, gossipy thriller about envy, ambition and the secrets that rot beneath polite suburban smiles. Its strangely satisfying to watch the facade crack under the weight of constant drama.
These are books that will follow you into winter, sit beside your coffee, ruin your sleep schedule and maybe change your perspective on a thing or two along the way?
Preorder them now, stack them on your nightstand and let 2026 become the year your reading habit runs rampant.
Which title are you claiming first?
