Classic Gothic Literature

Als junger Mann lernte Frédéric Boutet bereits in den literarischen Cafés von Paris unter anderem Oscar Wilde kennen und machte Bekanntschaft mit den Symbolisten und den Dekadenten. Und im Alter von 24 Jahren gab Boutet im okkultistischen Pariser Verlag Chamuel eine Sammlung erster fantastischer, dekadenter Erzählungen mit dem Titel Contes dans la nuit heraus. In den folgenden Jahren veröffentlichte er im gleichen Verlag weitere groteske und dekadente Geschichten, von denen einige bereits den kommenden Surrealismus vorwegnahmen.

En esta novela ambientada en el Londres del siglo XIX, el autor nos presenta el dilema entre bien y mal personificados en la persona del Dr. Jekyll y en Mr. Hyde. Además de los misterios de la naturaleza humana situados en la personalidad múltiple del personaje, también se aprecian otros temas como el avance de la ciencia, que ha llevado al hombre a la posición de situarse como un ser superior capaz de desafiar a la propia naturaleza.

1691, Salem, New England: la diciassettenne Lois Barclay sbarca dalla Redemption, il vascello che l'ha portata dal Vecchio al Nuovo Mondo. Dietro di sé, l'Inghilterra, il ricordo dei genitori e un amore; davanti a sé la famiglia dello zio che non ha mai visto e tante incognite. L'America che ci racconta Elizabeth Gaskell (Londra, 1810 - Alton, 1865) è quella della nuova frontiera, di un territorio ostile e selvaggio in cui i continui scontri con le tribù dei Nativi aumentano il senso di precarietà e vulnerabilità.

The first gothic novel! Manfred, the lord of the castle intends to wed his son to a lovely princess. But after the untimely death of his son, Manfred takes up the task of trying to marry the princess Isabella. She does not desire to marry Manfred, and steals away with the help of a peasant named Theodore.

Fitz-James O'Brien, born in Cork, Ireland, in 1826, is considered an important early writer of science-fiction. His three probably best-known stories are included in this volume. They are “The Diamond Lens”, “What Was It?”, and “The Lost Room”.

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was born in Dublin, Ireland and is acknowledged as an influential writer in the genre of gothic and supernatural fiction of the 19th century. Many of his short stories were originally published in various magazines. Here are six of them: “The White Cat of Drumgonnial”, “Dickon the Devil”, “The Drunkard's Dream”, “The Secret of the Two Plaster Casts”, “The Vision of Tom Chuff”, and “An Authentic Narrative of a Haunted House”.

Oscar Wilde's only novel, given a superbly splendid modern reading by the talented Rupert Graves. Many classic Wilde quotes emanate from this horror novel.

During a canoe trip on the Danube, two men are forced to stop on an island due to the current. What was supposed to be a peaceful temporary camping experience turns into a disturbing and supernatural ordeal: the willows covering the island seem to move and whisper in the wind, giving the impression of being alive; the presence of hostile and terrifying invisible entities is perceived, casting doubt on every capacity for rational thought.

Joseph Thomas Sheridan Le Fanu was born on August 28th, 1814, at 45 Lower Dominick Street, Dublin, into a literary family with Huguenot, Irish and English roots. Between 1838 and 1840 Le Fanu had written and published twelve stories which purported to be the literary remains of an 18th-century Catholic priest called Father Purcell. Set mostly in Ireland they include classic stories of gothic horror, with grim, shadowed castles, as well as supernatural visitations from beyond the grave, together with madness and suicide.

This chilling tale of one man’s descent into madness was published shortly before the author was institutionalized for insanity, and so The Horla has inevitably been seen as informed by Guy de Maupassant’s mental illness. While such speculation is murky, it is clear that de Maupassant—hailed alongside Chekhov as father of the short story—was at the peak of his powers in this innovative precursor of first-person psychological fiction.

Ichabod Crane, a schoolteacher, came to Tarry Town in the glen of Sleepy Hollow to ply his trade in educating young minds. He was a gullible and excitable fellow, often so terrified by locals' stories of ghosts that he would hurry through the woods on his way home, singing to keep from hysterics. Until late one night, he finds that maybe they're not just stories. What is that dark, menacing figure riding behind him on a horse? And what does it have in its hands?

Pubblicato nel 1886, Lo strano caso del Dr. Jekyll e Mr. Hyde, è considerato una pietra miliare della letteratura di tutti i tempi. Il capolavoro di Stevenson analizza l'eterna lotta tra il bene ed il male con una potenza drammatica che lo ha reso un’opera di portata universale. Il tema del “doppio” emerge prepotentemente dagli esperimenti del dott. Jekyll, il quale esplorando il lato oscuro di ogni essere umano, incontra il suo spaventoso alter ego: Mr. Hyde.

"Rappaccini's Daughter" is a Gothic short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne first published in the December 1844. It is about Giacomo Rappaccini, a medical researcher in Padua, Italy, who grows a garden of poisonous plants. He brings up his daughter to tend the plants, and she becomes resistant to the poisons, but in the process she herself becomes poisonous to others.

The story is set in Padua and follows botanist Giacomo Rappaccini’s garden of poisonous plants. A student from the university of Padua falls for a maiden in the luscious garden, but he soon learns some troubling information about his beloved’s true nature.

William Legrand si è trasferito da New Orleans a Sullivan's Island, nella Carolina del Sud, dopo aver perso la fortuna di famiglia. Il narratore del racconto è un amico di Legrand e la storia inizia quando, una sera, gli fa visita per osservare un insolito scarabeo d'oro che questi ha trovato. Legrand porta l'attenzione dell'amico-narratore al carapce dello scarabeo, su cui sembrerebbe disegnato un teschio stilizzato. Confuso dall'attenzione morbosa che Legrand sembra prestare a questo sinistro particolare, il narratore si congeda per la notte.

El rancio abolengo de la tradición aristocrática británica, se enfrenta a su peor enemigo: una familia americana.....El gran fantasma de Canterville que había llevado durante más de 500 años una vida tranquila, aunque triste, se va a ver de repente enfrentado a la peor de las pesadillas que se podia imaginar: los Otis.El respeto al terror tradicional, provocado por los fantasmas medievales, el pánico generado por esos espíritus ancestrales.

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) diede vita a una narrativa "americana" radicata nei valori originari dei coloni, stilisticamente impeccabile. Dopo la "Lettera scarlatta" tra le opere più interessanti di Hawthorne troviamo la raccolta dei "Racconti narrati due volte" da cui sono tratti questi tre racconti che mostrano una sapiente organizzazione formale; vi troviamo le dicotomie bene-male, intelletto-emotività, ragione-istinto, la tendenza a trovare una ragione morale ai comportamenti umani.

Edgar Allan Poe's tales of the deaths of three wives and each woman's embrace or rejection of the hereafter.

"The Horla" is the chilling tale of one man's descent into madness. Maupassant established a reputation in France as an absolute master of the short story, before himself succumbing to the mental illness that ravaged his later life. This story is the terrifying tale of an invisible vampire, told by a narrator himself on the brink of insanity, and written by a master of the macabre clearly at the peak of his powers.

Young Giovanni arrives in Padua to discover a lush and mysterious garden on the estate of the mysterious Doctor Rappaccini. Amidst the verdant and exotic foliage, Giovanni finds love in the form of Beatrice - the Doctor's daughter. What deadly secret does the young girl and her father keep hidden?