Books to Read If You Loved Robert Eggers’ 'Nosferatu'

1. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

Approx. reading time: 10–11 hours


Dracula is the foundation of vampire lore and shares Nosferatu’s blend of dread and fascination. Its epistolary form creates a creeping tension, similar to the film’s slow-building dread. The novel explores the gothic appetite through themes of faith, corruption, and forbidden desire, mirroring Ellen’s insatiable hunger and the destructive pull of Nosferatu.

2. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice (1976)

Approx. reading time: 9–10 hours


Rice’s novel reflects Nosferatu’s melancholic tone and explores immortality as a burden and a curse. The introspective vampire narrator wrestles with an unending appetite and the loneliness that comes with it, much like Ellen’s unavoidable desire, an eternal hunger that leaves her misunderstood even by her lover.

3. Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda (2023)

Approx. reading time: 5–6 hours


This contemporary vampire story shares Nosferatu’s intimate focus on identity. Lydia’s struggle with her monstrous nature echoes Ellen’s insatiable desire.

4. Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu (1872)

Approx. reading time: 2–2.5 hours


Carmilla captures the haunting atmosphere of Nosferatu with its gothic setting and undercurrents of erotic tension. The novella’s themes of confinement and repressed desire reflect Ellen’s unavoidable yearning. It is an early example of feminine monstrosity, a topic that Nosferatu explores brilliantly through centering Ellen’s story. Robert Eggers has discussed in interviews this choice, explaining that it was the vital perspective change that would make a retelling of an iconic story fresh and worth it. Laura’s relationship with Carmilla reflects that of Ellen and Nosferatu in the push and pull dynamic, exploring the conjunction of repulsion and obsession.

5. The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith (Book 1: The Awakening, 1991)

Approx. reading time: 4–5 hours


Though more modern in style, Smith’s novel shares Nosferatu’s exploration of desire entwined with danger. The vampires’ struggle between love and hunger mirrors Ellen’s hunger, the dark appetite that pulls characters toward both connection and destruction. In Stefan Salvatore in particular, readers can experience the inner conflict that is on show in Nosferatu.

6. The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1979)

Approx. reading time: 2.5–3 hours


Carter’s gothic fairy tales resonate with Nosferatu’s mythic storytelling. Her themes of transformation and power reflect the gothic appetite at the heart of Ellen’s story. The collection repeatedly subverts expectations through broken gender roles with historic backdrops.

'I saw the very face which had visited me in my childhood at night, which remained so fixed in my memory, and on which I had for so many years so often ruminated with horror, when no one suspected of what I was thinking.' - Carmilla