William Hughes is Professor of Gothic Studies at Bath Spa University. He is the author or editor of 14 books, including Beyond Dracula: Bram Stoker’s Fiction and its Cultural Context and Fictions of Unease: The Gothic from Otranto to The Ex-Files. He also served as joint president of the International Gothic Association and is the founder editor of the Association’s journal, Gothic Studies.

As noted in the introduction, the term gothic is culturally complex, and its meanings have varied greatly across the 400 years of its persistence in the English language. This compact volume spans the history of gothic literature from its appropriation in the mid-eighteenth century to the recent publication of the Twilight series. Hughes, professor of gothic studies at Bath Spa University, interprets the term literature liberally; among the 200 entries, Scooby-Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are represented, along with The Castle of Otranto and The Turn of the Screw. The A–Z entries cover a variety of works (books, magazines, movies, and television shows are all represented) as well as central figures (Robert Bloch, Angela Olive Carter, Edgar Allan Poe) and a number of different themes and literary conventions (Doppelgánger, Ghost stories, Gothic hero, Southern gothic, Queer gothic). There is a good deal of international information here as well (Australian gothic, Irish gothic, India). Entries range from a paragraph to two pages and include a wealth of see also references in bold. Accessible enough for casual fans of the genre, the book is also suitable for more serious research, with a detailed chronology, an extremely thorough introductory essay, and a bibliography that includes critical and historical works. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.

William Hughes is Professor of Gothic Studies at Bath Spa University. He is the author or editor of 14 books, including Beyond Dracula: Bram Stoker’s Fiction and its Cultural Context and Fictions of Unease: The Gothic from Otranto to The Ex-Files. He also served as joint president of the International Gothic Association and is the founder editor of the Association’s journal, Gothic Studies.

As noted in the introduction, the term gothic is culturally complex, and its meanings have varied greatly across the 400 years of its persistence in the English language. This compact volume spans the history of gothic literature from its appropriation in the mid-eighteenth century to the recent publication of the Twilight series. Hughes, professor of gothic studies at Bath Spa University, interprets the term literature liberally; among the 200 entries, Scooby-Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are represented, along with The Castle of Otranto and The Turn of the Screw. The A–Z entries cover a variety of works (books, magazines, movies, and television shows are all represented) as well as central figures (Robert Bloch, Angela Olive Carter, Edgar Allan Poe) and a number of different themes and literary conventions (Doppelgánger, Ghost stories, Gothic hero, Southern gothic, Queer gothic). There is a good deal of international information here as well (Australian gothic, Irish gothic, India). Entries range from a paragraph to two pages and include a wealth of see also references in bold. Accessible enough for casual fans of the genre, the book is also suitable for more serious research, with a detailed chronology, an extremely thorough introductory essay, and a bibliography that includes critical and historical works. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.

William Hughes is Professor of Gothic Studies at Bath Spa University. He is the author or editor of 14 books, including Beyond Dracula: Bram Stoker’s Fiction and its Cultural Context and Fictions of Unease: The Gothic from Otranto to The Ex-Files. He also served as joint president of the International Gothic Association and is the founder editor of the Association’s journal, Gothic Studies.

As noted in the introduction, the term gothic is culturally complex, and its meanings have varied greatly across the 400 years of its persistence in the English language. This compact volume spans the history of gothic literature from its appropriation in the mid-eighteenth century to the recent publication of the Twilight series. Hughes, professor of gothic studies at Bath Spa University, interprets the term literature liberally; among the 200 entries, Scooby-Doo and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are represented, along with The Castle of Otranto and The Turn of the Screw. The A–Z entries cover a variety of works (books, magazines, movies, and television shows are all represented) as well as central figures (Robert Bloch, Angela Olive Carter, Edgar Allan Poe) and a number of different themes and literary conventions (Doppelgánger, Ghost stories, Gothic hero, Southern gothic, Queer gothic). There is a good deal of international information here as well (Australian gothic, Irish gothic, India). Entries range from a paragraph to two pages and include a wealth of see also references in bold. Accessible enough for casual fans of the genre, the book is also suitable for more serious research, with a detailed chronology, an extremely thorough introductory essay, and a bibliography that includes critical and historical works. Recommended for academic and large public libraries.