Editions

Page /
100%
  1. Home
  2. Fiction Books
  3. Three Gothic Novels
Three Gothic Novels

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780140430363

  • Length: 512  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 22mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 351g

  • RRP: £12.99

Three Gothic Novels

The Gothic novel, which flourished from about 1765 until 1825, revels in the horrible and the supernatural, in suspense and exotic settings.

This volume, with its erudite introduction by Mario Praz, presents three of the most celebrated Gothic novels: The Castle of Otranto, published pseudonymously in 1765, is one of the first of the genre and the most truly Gothic of the three. Vathek (1786), an oriental tale by an eccentric millionaire, exotically combines Gothic romanticism with the vivacity of The Arabian Nights and is a narrative tour de force. The story of Frankenstein (1818) and the monster he created is as spine-chilling today as it ever was; as in all Gothic novels, horror is the keynote.

  • Imprint: Penguin Classics

  • ISBN: 9780140430363

  • Length: 512  Pages

  • Dimensions: 198mm x 22mm x 129mm

  • Weight: 351g

  • RRP: £12.99

More from this Author

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole (1717-97), 4th Earl of Orford, was the son of the Whig Prime Minister, Robert Walpole. In 1747 he moved to Strawberry Hill in Twickenham, which he transformed into his "little Gothic castle". He was at the centre of literary and political society and an arbiter of taste. He is remembered for his witty letters to a wide circle of friends. Michael Gamer is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the author of 'Romanticism and the Gothic' (CUP, 2000).

Horace Walpole

Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley (1797-1851), the daughter of pioneering thinkers Mary Wollstonecraft and William Godwin, eloped with the poet Percy Shelley at the age of sixteen. Three years later, during a wet summer on Lake Geneva, Shelley famously wrote her masterpiece, Frankenstein. The years of her marriage were blighted by the deaths of three of her four children, and further tragedy followed in 1822, when Percy Shelley drowned in Italy. Following his death, Mary Shelley returned to England and continued to travel and write until her own death at the age of fifty-three.

Mary Shelley

William Beckford

William Beckford (1760-1844) inherited a large fortune and, at the age of nineteen, went on a tour of Holland, Germany, Belgium, France and Italy. He was a Member of Parliament and a traveller who spent large sums of money collecting rare books, curiosities and paintings for the embellishment of his Gothic Extravaganza, Fonthill Abbey, where he lived in opulent seclusion until forced by bankruptcy to sell it in 1822.

William Beckford

Read more

/content/dam/prh/articles/adults/2019/october/article-card-scary-audiobooks-read-by-celebrities.jpg

Recommendations

5 classic horror stories to listen to with the lights on

As the dark nights draw in, nothing beats a good old-fashioned horror story. From terrifying Japanese folklore to monster-sized classics, here’s five of our favourite audiobooks sure to haunt your waking hours.
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/halloween-1580x450-2.jpg

Recommendations

10 terrifying classic tales to read
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/Frankenstein movies_Inline.png

Features

In search of the most authentic Frankenstein movie

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein, we asked film critic and broadcaster, Rhianna Dhillon to find the most authentic retelling of the classic novel.

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies to make our website work. If you click 'Accept All’ we will use cookies to understand how you use our services and to show you personalised advertising and other content. You can change your cookie settings by clicking 'Manage Cookies'. For more information please see our Cookie Policy

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.