Gothic Literature Texts
Primary and Secondary Resources for all your Gothic Literature Needs
Primary Resources
Walpole was writing about Gothic castles and damsels in distress before it was cool.
How is this at all different from Walpole's novel? Well, the supernatural events are less crazy. Do you think that'll make people more likely to think they're true?
Does it count as Gothic if the events take place in a fictionalized Arabia instead of a post-Medieval landscape? Yes. Just this once.
It's got all the supernatural stuff—it just also gives you a semi-plausible reason to believe it.
Lewis just wanted to see how far he could push the boundaries of common 18th-century decency. Shockingly, he didn't push that hard. The people liked it.
I'm Cathy and I think the things I read in Gothic novels are real.
Here's a classic work of Gothic-Romanticism—and no, Frankenstein's monster isn't green.
Northanger Abbey is a parody; Nightmare Abbey is a satire. Totally different.
Remember that ghost story contest that created Frankenstein? This here's another text to come out of that same contest. Less popular; more vampires.
Jane's just trying to do the right thing—it's not her fault there's a mad woman in the attic.
Yep, Char was a queen of the Gothic.
Sisters! Brontë #2 was also into the Gothic game.
Don't cross Colonel Pyncheon—he'll cut a witch.
Who is that woman in white? Why does she look so familiar? And how can we save her?
I'm a mystery story without a detective—pretty interesting, eh?
Jekyll/Hyde has a few identity issues in this one. How very…Gothic.
The guy just wanted to make animals that looked like people and people that looked like animals. Is that so bad?
The O.G. Cullen.
I'm just a very good governess doing a very good job. It's the children; look at what the children are doing. I think they know something we don't.
Secondary Resources
That painting? Sure, it's beautiful, nicely formed, pretty pleasing…but does it overpower and control you? Does it have the power to completely mess you up? Now, that's what Burke calls sublime.
What's the difference between terror and horror? Sit a spell and Radcliff will tell you.
Essays from the early years of Gothic (1760s) all the way to the end of the 20th century. If you don't get it, this book is here to try to explain it.