Publication February 2006
234 x 156 mm
Paperback
320 pp
50 black-and-white illustrations
ISBN 1 85437 599 7
£17.99

Not since the canonical phase of the Gothic that stretched from Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto (1764) to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818) have the themes of the Gothic, horror and fantasy been so prevalent within culture and criticism. ‘We are’, as Angela Carter once put it, ‘living in Gothic times.’ Gothic literature is more widely read and studied than ever, and the weird and visionary images produced by the visual artists of the time continue to exert an influence today.

The Gothic Reader brings together texts and images from the origins of Gothic art and writing up to the twentieth century providing an indispensable resource for students and an engaging and stimulating anthology for the general reader. Writers represented include Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley and Horace Walpole; artists include William Blake, Henry Fuseli, John Martin and J.M.W. Turner. The anthology encompasses novels, essays and criticism, letters and memoirs, and pieces from contemporary newspapers and magazines.

The Gothic Reader will be the first publication to represent the Gothic through both the visual arts and literature, and will help establish a new framework for its analysis and appreciation.

Martin Myrone is a curator at Tate, editor of Gothic Nightmares and author of Henry Fuseli in the British Artists series.

Christopher Frayling is Rector of the Royal College of Art and Chairman of the Arts Council. His many publications include Vampyres: Lord Byron to Count Dracula and Nightmare: Birth of Horror.