Gothic: An Illustrated History

The story of the Gothic, from early architecture and literature to the modern horror genre, illustrated by the beautiful, the macabre and the strange Crumbling ruins, undead fiends, dark alleys and forests teeming with horrors seen and unseen: the tendrils of the Gothic have crept out of the architecture of churches, mosques and grand houses and into suburban malls, overcrowded cities, the deserted corners of the world and beyond, taking the shape of monsters from Beowulf to Gojira, Cthulhu or the wendigo to our own terrifying, warped reflections. Across time, form and media, this book traces the weaving path of the Gothic from the shadows of history to the very heart of popular culture today.

'Wonderful. A book as vivid, strange and rich as its topic'
China Miéville

'A compelling read'
On Magazine

Contents List

Introduction

I. Architecture & Form
The Pointed Arch • Ruins • Fragment • Labyrinth • The House

II. The Lie of the Land
The Country & The City • Village • Forest • Wilderness • Edgelands

III. The Gothic Compass
North • South • East • West • Planetary & Cosmic Horror

IV. Monsters
Scale • Splices • The Tentacle • Formless • Us

Further Reading

About the Author

Roger Luckhurst is the author of The Invention of Telepathy, 1870–1901 (2002), The Mummy’s Curse: The True History of a Dark Fantasy (2012), and Zombies: A Cultural History (2015), and has edited several classic Gothic novels by Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson and H. P. Lovecraft. He is the Geoffrey Tillotson Professor of Nineteenth Century Studies at Birkbeck College, University of London.