Robert Eggers has become the reigning king of Gothic cinema, a director whose name alone signals meticulous craft, historical depth, and bone-chilling atmosphere. Since his 2015 breakout The Witch, he's built a filmography that feels both timeless and unsettlingly fresh. His follow-ups—The Lighthouse, The Northman, and the recent Nosferatu—have cemented his reputation as a modern master of dread. But Eggers is also famously picky about his settings: he's declared he won't make a contemporary film, preferring worlds before World War II. That's good news for Gothic literature, which is overflowing with stories that would thrive under his direction. Here are five ambitious tales that deserve the Eggers treatment.
Edgar Allan Poe's 'Ligeia'
Poe and Eggers are a natural match—Eggers even directed a short film of The Raven back in 2008. But Ligeia, a lesser-known 1838 tale, offers a richer canvas. It follows an opium-addicted narrator obsessed with his first wife, Ligeia, a raven-haired beauty who dies after composing a poem about mortality. He remarries, but his new wife, Lady Rowena, seems haunted by Ligeia's presence. When Rowena dies, she mysteriously returns—transformed into Ligeia. Is it vampirism, madness, or something else? Eggers could lean into the ambiguity, crafting a psychological horror that blurs reality and hallucination.
Christopher Buehlman's 'Between Two Fires'
Set in 1348 France during the Black Death, this novel is a sprawling historical horror epic. A disgraced knight escorts a young girl with prophetic visions to Avignon, battling demons and encountering a priest along the way. It's a road movie through hell, blending medieval realism with dark fantasy. Eggers proved with The Northman that he can handle brutal, mythic violence. This story would let him explore faith, plague, and the supernatural in a way that feels both grounded and terrifying.
Laura Purcell's 'The Silent Companions'
This Victorian Gothic novel is tailor-made for Eggers' period precision. A young widow, Elsie, discovers life-size wooden figures in her late husband's estate—one of which looks exactly like her. The narrative jumps between Elsie's 1800s timeline and the 1600s story of Anne Bainbridge, with asylum interludes. It's a haunted house tale that evolves into a multi-layered mystery, perfect for Eggers' slow-burn suspense and his ability to create oppressive, claustrophobic settings.
P. Djèlí Clark's 'Ring Shout'
Eggers has explored New England folk horror and Icelandic myth, but Southern Gothic is new territory. Ring Shout is set in Prohibition-era Georgia, where a group of resistance fighters battles demons born from the racist propaganda of The Birth of a Nation. It's a bold, politically charged horror story that mixes historical reality with supernatural allegory. Eggers could bring his signature authenticity to this unique blend of social commentary and visceral terror.
Daphne du Maurier's 'Rebecca'
While not as overtly supernatural as other picks, Rebecca is a Gothic masterpiece of psychological suspense. A young bride is haunted by the memory of her husband's first wife, Rebecca, whose presence looms over their estate. The novel's themes of obsession, identity, and the past's grip on the present would suit Eggers' style. He could emphasize the eerie, dreamlike quality of the story, making it a haunting study of memory and jealousy.
These five stories represent just a fraction of the Gothic literature that could benefit from Eggers' vision. Whether he chooses Poe's madness, Buehlman's medieval horrors, or Clark's Southern demons, one thing is certain: his next project will be an event. For more on upcoming adaptations, check out our list of Fall 2026's book-to-film adaptations you need to read first.
