In the middle of the eighteenth century the Gothic became the universal language of architecture, painting and literature, expressing a love not only of ruins, decay and medieval pageantry, but also the drug-induced monsters of the mind.

By explaining the international dimension of Gothicism and dealing in detail with German, French and American authors, Gothic Histories demonstrates the development of the genre in every area of art and includes original research on Gothic theatre, spiritualism, 'ghost seeing' and spirit photography and the central impact of penny-dreadful writers on the genre, while also including a host of forgotten or ignored authors and their biographies.

Gothic Histories is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of the Gothic and its literary double, the horror genre, leading the reader from their origins in the haunted landscapes of the Romantics through Frankenstein and Dracula to the very different worlds of Hannibal Lecter and Goth culture. Comprehensive and up-to-date, it is a fascinating guide to the Gothic and horror in film, fiction and popular culture.

Acknowledgements
1.Now Welcome the Night: The Origins of Gothic Culture
2. Every True Goth: From Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill to Thomas De Quincey' Opium Dreams
3. With Raven Wings: Ann Radcliffe, German Horrors ands the Divine Marquis
 4. Land of Shadows: Melmoth the Wanderer and Sweeney Todd
5. Dark Reflections in a Dull Mirror: Fuseli's 'The Nightmare' and the Origins of Gothic Theatre
6. Desire and Loathing Strangely Mixed: Gothic Melodrama and The Phantom of the Opera
7. Do You See It? The Gothic and the Ghostly
8. It's Alive: The Rise of the Gothic Movie
9. After Midnight: Goth Culture, Vampire Games and the Irresistible Rise of Twilight
Further Selected Readings in the Gothic
Index