Gothic Texts to read to complement ‘The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories’
Title
Author
Description
Difficulty
rating (1 =
easy, 5 =
difficult)/
comment
3
A pivotal
gothic text
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley
Frankenstein is a Gothic romance written by Mary Shelly (1797 – 1851) and
published in 1818. The tale begins with letters from Captain Walton as he
journeys Northward to undiscovered lands. There, in the frozen wastelands of
the North, Walton encounters Victor Frankenstein and there hears the strange
sequence of events that lead the poor Doctor Frankenstein to those remote
reaches of the earth. The Doctor’s tale is strange indeed, and explores the
limitations of human knowledge while showing, through Frankenstein’s
Monster, the way in which evil is created and how knowledge we’re
unprepared for can destroy us.
Dracula
Bram Stoker
In this novel Jonathan Harker is sent by his law firm to Castle Dracula to
discuss business with Transylvania noble Count Dracula. His nightmare
experience there is just the start of a macabre chain of events. Harker soon
finds himself in a race against time to free his wife, Mina, and other souls who
are in thrall to the evil count. Dracula must be destroyed at all costs.
3
A great, fun
read and a
pivotal text
The Castle of Otranto
Horace Walpole
First published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otrantopurported to be
a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole
attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the second edition, `to blend the two
kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern'. He gives us a series of
catastrophes, ghostly interventions, revelations of identity, and exciting
contests. Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel
was an immediate success and Walpole's own favourite among his numerous
2
A short text
which is
quite good
fun. A key
gothic text.
works. His friend, the poet Thomas Gray, wrote that he and his family, having
read Otranto, were now `afraid to go to bed o'nights'.
Northanger Abbey
Jane Austen
Northanger Abbey is often referred to as Jane Austen’s “Gothic parody.”
Decrepit castles, locked rooms, mysterious chests, cryptic notes, and tyrannical
fathers give the story an uncanny air, but one with a decidedly satirical twist.
The story’s unlikely heroine is Catherine Morland, a remarkably innocent
seventeen-year-old woman from a country parsonage. While spending a few
weeks in Bath with a family friend, Catherine meets and falls in love with
Henry Tilney, who invites her to visit his family estate, Northanger Abbey.
Once there, Catherine, a great reader of Gothic thrillers, lets the shadowy
atmosphere of the old mansion fill her mind with terrible suspicions. What is
the mystery surrounding the death of Henry’s mother? Is the family concealing
a terrible secret within the elegant rooms of the Abbey? Can she trust Henry, or
is he part of an evil conspiracy? Catherine finds dreadful portents in the most
prosaic events, until Henry persuades her to see the peril in confusing life with
art.
2/3
Fairly short
– a fun
parody of
the gothic
The Mystery of
Udolpho
Ann Radcliffe
With The Mysteries of Udolpho, Ann Radcliffe raised the Gothic romance to
a new level and inspired a long line of imitators. Portraying her heroine's inner
life, creating a thick atmosphere of fear, and providing a gripping plot that
continues to thrill readers today, The Mysteries of Udolpho is the story of
orphan Emily St. Aubert, who finds herself separated from the man she loves
and confined within the medieval castle of her aunt's new husband, Montoni.
Inside the castle, she must cope with an unwanted suitor, Montoni's threats, and
the wild imaginings and terrors that threaten to overwhelm her.
3/4
Chunky but
with good
gothic
elements
Wuthering Heights
Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights is a wild, passionate story of the intense and almost
demonic love between Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, a foundling adopted
by Catherine's father. After Mr Earnshaw's death, Heathcliff is bullied and
humiliated by Catherine's brother Hindley and wrongly believing that his love
for Catherine is not reciprocated, leaves Wuthering Heights, only to return
3
A seminal
text with an
interesting
narrative
years later as a wealthy and polished man. He proceeds to exact a terrible
revenge for his former miseries. The action of the story is chaotic and
unremittingly violent, but the accomplished handling of a complex structure,
the evocative descriptions of the lonely moorland setting and the poetic
grandeur of vision combine to make this unique novel a masterpiece of English
literature.
structure.
Very
passionate
and
romantic.
The Woman in Black
Susan Hill
Set on the obligatory English moor, on an isolated causeway, the story has as
its hero Arthur Kipps, an up-and-coming young solicitor who has come north
from London to attend the funeral and settle the affairs of Mrs. Alice Drablow
of Eel Marsh House. The routine formalities he anticipates give way to a
tumble of events and secrets more sinister and terrifying than any nightmare:
the rocking chair in the deserted nursery, the eerie sound of a pony and trap, a
child's scream in the fog, and most dreadfully--and for Kipps most tragically-The Woman In Black.
2
You’ve seen
the film;
now read the
book!
The Picture of Dorian
Gray
Oscar Wilde
Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a
fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is the
author’s most popular work. The tale of Dorian Gray’s moral disintegration
caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, but though Wilde was attacked
for the novel’s corrupting influence, he responded that there is, in fact, “a
terrible moral in Dorian Gray.” Just a few years later, the book and the
aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by
Wilde’s homosexual liaisons, which resulted in his imprisonment. Of Dorian
Gray’s relationship to autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, “Basil Hallward
is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I
would like to be—in other ages, perhaps.”
Rebecca
Daphne du Maurier
The novel begins in Monte Carlo, where our heroine is swept off her feet by
the dashing widower Maxim de Winter and his sudden proposal of marriage.
Orphaned and working as a lady's maid, she can barely believe her luck. It is
only when they arrive at his massive country estate that she realizes how large
3
You will be
doing this at
A2 so if you
want to get a
head start…
however,
this does not
mean you
won’t have
to read it
again!
2/3
Long but
easy reading
and
a shadow his late wife will cast over their lives--presenting her with a lingering
evil that threatens to destroy their marriage from beyond the grave.
First published in 1938, this classic gothic novel is such a compelling read that
it won the Anthony Award for Best Novel of the Century.
Carmilla
J.S Le Fanu
Carmilla is a Gothic novella and one of the early works of vampire fiction. It
was first published in 1871 as a serial narrative in The Dark Blue. It tells the
story of a young woman's susceptibility to the attentions of a
female vampire named Carmilla. It predates Bram Stoker's Dracula by 26
years. The story has been adapted many times in film and other media.
The Hunchback of
Notre Dame
Victor Hugo
In the vaulted Gothic towers of Notre-Dame lives Quasimodo, the
hunchbacked bellringer. Mocked and shunned for his appearance, he is pitied
only by Esmerelda, a beautiful gypsy dancer to whom he becomes completely
devoted. Esmerelda, however, has also attracted the attention of the sinister
archdeacon Claude Frollo, and when she rejects his lecherous approaches,
Frollo hatches a plot to destroy her that only Quasimodo can prevent. Victor
Hugo's sensational, evocative novel brings life to the medieval Paris he loved,
and mourns its passing in one of the greatest historical romances of the
nineteenth century.
The Raven
and short stories
Edgar Allen Poe
It's late. The poem's speaker is tired and weak, reading an old collection of
folklore (note that Ravens are prevalent in folklore). As he's about to fall
asleep, he hears something tapping at his door. The speaker, somewhat startled,
consoles himself by muttering "tis some visitor" and "nothing more." The
narrator returns to his chamber and soon hears a louder tapping, this time at his
window. He decides to explore the noise, telling himself it is merely the wind.
The narrator opens the shutter and a raven flies in. The narrator opens the
shutter and a raven flies in and keeps coming back reciting ‘nevermore…’
atmospheric.
It will keep
you on the
edge of your
seat all the
way
through!
2
Short and
fun.
2
The Raven
is a poem so
it’s
short(ish).
The Masque of the
Red Death
Edgar Allen Poe
In 'The Masque of the Red Death'and other tales of Gothic horror, Edgar Allan
Poe writes as no one else ever has of creeping, mounting terrors - of the deadly
approach of a terrible pendulum, of the awful end of an ancient and noble
house, and of the impossible beating of a dead heart.
The Phantom of the
Opera
Gaston Leroux
First published in French as a serial in 1909, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a
riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé. Her
father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with
his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her. After a time at
the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to
sing beautifully. All goes well until Christine's childhood friend Raoul comes
to visit his parents, who are patrons of the opera, and he sees Christine when
she begins successfully singing on the stage. The voice, who is the deformed,
murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in
his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. The phantom is in
love, but it can only spell disaster. Leroux's work, with characters ranging from
the spoiled prima donna Carlotta to the mysterious Persian from Erik's past, has
been immortalized by memorable adaptations. Despite this, it remains a
remarkable piece of Gothic horror literature in and of itself, deeper and darker
than any version that follows.
The Little Stranger
Sarah Waters
The Little Stranger follows the strange adventures of Dr. Faraday, the son of a
maid who has built a life of quiet respectability as a country doctor. One dusty
postwar summer in his home of rural Warwickshire, he is called to a patient at
Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for more than two centuries, the
Georgian house, once grand and handsome, is now in decline-its masonry
crumbling, its gardens choked with weeds, the clock in its stable yard
permanently fixed at twenty to nine. But are the Ayreses haunted by something
more ominous than a dying way of life? Little does Dr. Faraday know how
closely, and how terrifyingly, their story is about to become entwined with his.
2
Long but
simple.
Sarah
Waters is a
fabulous
modern
author.
The Legend of Sleepy
Hollow
Washington Irving
The story of Ichabod Crane and his hapless attempt to win the heart and hand
of Katrina Van Tassel in the context of a comical ghost story. Ichabod comes
to Sleepy Hollow, New York, from his home state of Connecticut, to be the
schoolmaster of the village. Sleepy Hollow is a small, very quiet town said to
be under some kind of enchantment. Its residents all seem to move a little
slower, daydream a little more, and be more prone to believe in the
supernatural. Sleepy Hollow, maybe for that reason or maybe because its
residents are almost all descended from its original Dutch settlers, has more
than its fair share of supernatural occurrences, or at least stories of them.
The Turn of the Screw Henry James
A very young woman's first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely
distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate...An estate
haunted by a beckoning evil. Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and
dusty windows- silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come
closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the
fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess
their minds, own their souls...
4
Seriously
creepy with
some
slightly
challenging
language.
The Canterville Ghost Oscar Wilde
This is Oscar Wilde's tale of the American family moved into a British
mansion, Canterville Chase, much to the annoyance its tired ghost. The family
-- which refuses to believe in him -- is in Wilde's way a commentary on the
British nobility of the day -- and on the Americans, too. The tale, like many of
Wilde's, is rich with allusion, but ends as sentimental romance.
2
Very short!