While Doyle is most famous for his detective fiction, his early works were heavily influenced by the Gothic genre. He wrote several Gothic novels and short stories, including:
* The Mystery of Cloomber (1889)
* The Captain of the Polestar (1890)
* The Firm of Girdlestone (1890)
* The Sign of Four (1890), which, while a detective novel, contains elements of the Gothic.
These works feature eerie settings, supernatural elements, and dark, mysterious characters, typical of the Gothic genre. This early interest in the Gothic undoubtedly influenced his later writing, particularly in the way he built suspense and created chilling atmospheres in his Sherlock Holmes stories.