Gothic Literature Suggested Readings and Resources

Start here for research into Gothic literature. Then try out this site and then proceed to some individual authors and texts. What follows is by no means and exhaustive list.

Pre-Eigtheenth Century

  • "The Wanderer"
  • Hamlet - William Shakespeare
  • Dr. Faustus - Christopher Marlowe
  • Anatomy of Melancholy - Robert Burton

    Eighteenth Century
  • The Graveyard Poets. Begin here and here. Then see where it takes you.
  • The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole
  • The Monk - Matthew Lewis. For criticism on this novel look here.
  • The Castle Spectre - Matthew Lewis
  • Vatek - William Beckford
  • The Italian - Ann Radcliffe
  • The Mysteries of Udolpho - Ann Radcliffe. Read excerpts here
  • Northanger Abbey - Jane Austen
  • Tales of Superstition and Chivalry - Anne Bannerman
    		•

    Nineteenth Century
  • Melmoth The Wanderer - Charles Maturin
  • "Christabel" - Samuel Taylor Coleridge
  • "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" - John Keats
  • "The Eve of St. Agnes" - John Keats
  • "Lamia" parts I and II - John Keats
  • "Manfred" - George Gordon, Lord Byron
  • Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
  • Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
  • "The Fall of the House of Usher" - Edgar Allen Poe. Follow the links through this excellent page on Poe to get to the story plus much more.
  • "Young Goodman Brown" - Nathanial Hawthorne
  • Goblin Market - Christina Rosetti
  • Great Expectations (as well as much of his vast output) - Charles Dickens.
  • Carmilla - Sheridan Le Fanu. For a page of Le Fanu resources, look here
  • The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde - Robert Louis Stevenson
  • "The Picture of Dorian Gray" - Oscar Wilde
  • Dracula - Bram Stoker
    		•

    Twentieth Century
  • Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
  • A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh
  • The Music of Erich Zann" - H.P. Lovecraft. This site also contains links to additional resources. Be sure to click on "Home".
  • I Am Legend - Richard Matheson
  • Sunglasses After Dark - Nancy A. Collins
  • Lost Souls - Poppy Z. Brite
  • Interview With a Vampire - Anne Rice
  • Bloodsmoor Romance - Joyce Carol Oates
  • Count Zero- William Gibson. You might want to check out more on cyberpunk as well.
    		•

    Graphic Novels/Illustrated Works
  • The Crow
  • "Sandman" comic books
  • Johnny the Homicidal Maniac
  • most things by Edward Gorey
  • anything by Tim Burton - for example The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy
    		•

    General Web Resources

  • The Literary Gothic - an important and exhaustive site on Gothic literature up to 1950. Gothic is defined very broadly here. Will be referring to these pages quite often.
  • The Gothic Pages on Voice of the Shuttle.
  • The Gothic Literature Page - great set of resources on early gothic texts (1764-1840). Also, check out the Catalogue page to get an idea of early illustrations of Gothic texts.
  • Blackmask Online. A rich and varied collection of, among other things, Gothic tales.
  • Gothic Literature Read by the Romantic Writers - explores what the second generation of gothic writers were influenced by. Also provides links to other, related resources.
  • Just for fun, here's the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest page. It's not strictly Gothic, but anyone doing any research on Gothic parody should certainly take a look.