From 1765 to 1840, Gothic tales held Britain and much of Europe in thrall. Readers found retreat from drab reality in ruined abbeys, moonlit castles, pathless woods and blasted heaths — peopled by knightly heroes, oppressed maidens and wicked tyrants; haunted by ghosts, spectres, vampires, animated corpses and grinning skulls. Peter Haining introduces and provides a linking commentary for thirty of the finest British Gothic stories, charting their seventy-five-year reign of
terror, mystery and suspense from Walpole to Sheridan Le Fanu. Pioneers of the macabre like Mrs Radcliffe, Maturin and 'Monk' Lewis are here. So, more surprisingly, are Shelley, Byron and Thackeray among many others, each providing proof that a revival of the Gothic Revival was long overdue. [Back Cover]
Author(s): Haining, Peter (ed.)
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1973
Language: English
Pages: 543
City: Baltimore, MD
Tags: Gothic Fiction
Acknowledgements
Introduction II
Maddalena, or The Fate of the Florentines Horace Walpole 21
Sir Bertrand Mrs Anne Letitia Barbauld 44
The Haunted Chamber Mrs Ann Radcliffe 49
The Abbey of Clunedale Dr Nathan Drake 68
The Anaconda Matthew Gregory Lewis 82
The Monk of Horror, or The Conclave of Corpses Anonumous 133
The Nymph of the Fountain William Beckford 138
The Black Spider Anonymous 176
The Water Spectre Francis Lathom 201
Secrets of Cabalism, or Ravenstone and Alice of Huntingdon William Child Green 218
The Unknown! or The Knight of the Blood-Red Plume Anne of Swansea 230
The Dance of the Dead Anonymous 261
Leixlip Castle Charles Maturin 271
The Vampyre Dr John Polidori 286
The Assassins Percy Bysshe Shelley 308
The Dream Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley 327
The Burial Lord Byron 343
A Tale for a Chimney Corner Leigh Hunt 350
The Spectre Bride William Harrison Ainsworth 360
The Dice Thomas de Quincey 371
The Astrologer's Prediction, or The Maniac's Fate Anonymous 399
Glenallan Lord Lytton 408
The Tale of the Mysterious Mirror Sir Walter Scott 431
The Magic Watch Raphael 458
The Demon of the Hartz, or The Three Charcoal Burners Thomas Peckett Prest 472
The Devil's Wager William Makepeace Thackeray 485
The Expedition to Hell James Hogg 496
The Iron Shroud Anonymous 507
The Ghost and the Bone-Setter Joseph Sheridan le Fanu 523
The Tribunal of the Inquisition G. W. M. Reynolds 534
