Gothic Tales in 18th Century British Literature

In 1764, Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto introduced gothic elements of supernatural horror, dark dread, and the intrusion of past events. We’ll examine those spooky conventions and how authors such as Charles Dickens, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Daphne du Maurier used them. We’ll read shorter tales, including “The Haunted Chamber” by Anne Radcliffe, “The Nymph of the Fountain” by William Beckford, and “The Vampyre” by Dr. John Polidori.