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/lit/ - Literature

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4836159 No.4836159 [Reply] [Original]

I want to get into Gothic fiction. So, god tier Gothic novels and short stories? Any time period works.

Much obliged, /lit/

>> No.4836819

Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin

>> No.4836869

>>4836159
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Oxford-Gothic-Tales-Books-Prose/dp/0199561532

Isabel Allende and Angela Carter are really good in this volume.

>> No.4836872

>>4836159
The Castle of Otranto (terribly boring from today's point of view)
The Mysteries of Udolpho (should have read that for a course, didn't)
The Monk
Frankenstein (god-tier)
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (god-tier)

Dracula (god-tier, make sure to pick up the "extended version" with the missing Chapter like http://www.amazon.com/dp/1435142810/ in that book there are 2 more Stoker novels, as well as short stories)

Or just check that handy site on wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_novel
since it has everything you really want.

I'd also advise you to watch the old silent movies like Nosferatu, it really gets you into the mood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcyzubFvBsA

>> No.4836922
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4836922

>>4836872
>The Mysteries of Udolpho (should have read that for a course, didn't)

One of my favorite books. "The Italian" by Radcliffe is really great too, especially if you like "The Monk". Really anything Radcliffe wrote is good to great, especially if you're like for some escapist fiction with long descriptions of terrain and characters.
If you enjoy "Melmoth The Wanderer" you should read "Vathek" by William Beckford. It is very short in comparison but much more surreal and atmospheric.
"The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner." by Hogg is decent.
La Fanu's collection of short stories "In a Glass Darkly" is bretty gud, as is his book "Uncle Silas"
"The Castle of Otranto" was one of the first, if not the first, modern Gothic fiction stories. As the other anon said it is pretty boring from today's point of view and is really just a collection of Gothic cliches.

>> No.4836949

>>4836819
This one was pretty good.

>> No.4836964
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4836964

>>4836949
I thought that it could have done without some of the mini-stories within mini-stories within mini-stories towards the end of the book and a good chunk of the Spaniard's story, but for the most part it was really good. Have you read "Melmoth Reconciled" by Balzac? Not "Gothic", but still quite good.

>> No.4837140

>>4836964
I'll check it out, thanks

>> No.4838798

OP here, thanks guys. I'll check out all of these. Any particular order I should read these in? Or is Gothic a fairly accessible genre?