Value, quality, and three gothic-horror stories all in one book! Get three classics at an affordable price. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde And Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson "Beware; for I am fearless, and therefore powerful." ― Mary Shelley, Frankenstein "The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame." ― Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray "Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm." ― Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
One of Alasdair Gray's most brilliant creations, Poor Things is a postmodern revision of Frankenstein that replaces the traditional monster with Bella Baxter--a beautiful young erotomaniac brought back to life with the brain of an infant. Godwin Baxter's scientific ambition to create the perfect companion is realized when he finds the drowned body of Bella, but his dream is thwarted by Dr. Archibald McCandless's jealous love for Baxter's creation.The hilarious tale of love and scandal that ensues would be "the whole story" in the hands of a lesser author (which in fact it is, for this account is actually written by Dr. McCandless). For Gray, though, this is only half the story, after which Bella (a.k.a. Victoria McCandless) has her own say in the matter.Satirizing the classic Victorian novel, Poor Things is a hilarious political allegory and a thought-provoking duel between the desires of men and the independence of women, from one of Scotland's most accomplished authors.
Macabre and melodramatic, set in haunted castles or fantastic landscapes, Gothic tales became fashionable in the late eighteenth century with the publication of Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764). Crammed with catastrophe, terror, and ghostly interventions, the novel was an immediate success, and influenced numerous followers. These include William Beckford's Vathek (1786), which alternates grotesque comedy with scenes of exotic magnificence in the story of the ruthless Caliph Vathek's journey to damnation. The Monk (1796), by Matthew Lewis, is a violent tale of ambition, murder, and incest, set in the sinister monastery of the Capuchins in Madrid. Frankenstein (1818, 1831) is Mary Shelley's disturbing and perennially popular tale of young student who learns the secret of giving life to a creature made from human relics, with horrific consequences. This collection illustrates the range and the attraction of the Gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed here is also a powerful psychological story of isolation and monomania.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • From the award-winning, best-selling author of the classic A Little Life—a bold, brilliant novel spanning three centuries and three different versions of the American experiment, about lovers, family, loss and the elusive promise of utopia. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: VOGUE • ESQUIRE • NPR • GOODREADS To Paradise is a fin de siècle novel of marvelous literary effect, but above all it is a work of emotional genius. The great power of this remarkable novel is driven by Yanagihara’s understanding of the aching desire to protect those we love—partners, lovers, children, friends, family, and even our fellow citizens—and the pain that ensues when we cannot. In an alternate version of 1893 America, New York is part of the Free States, where people may live and love whomever they please (or so it seems). The fragile young scion of a distinguished family resists betrothal to a worthy suitor, drawn to a charming music teacher of no means. In a 1993 Manhattan besieged by the AIDS epidemic, a young Hawaiian man lives with his much older, wealthier partner, hiding his troubled childhood and the fate of his father. And in 2093, in a world riven by plagues and governed by totalitarian rule, a powerful scientist’s damaged granddaughter tries to navigate life without him—and solve the mystery of her husband’s disappearances. These three sections comprise an ingenious symphony, as recurring notes and themes deepen and enrich one another: A townhouse in Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village; illness, and treatments that come at a terrible cost; wealth and squalor; the weak and the strong; race; the definition of family, and of nationhood; the dangerous righteousness of the powerful, and of revolutionaries; the longing to find a place in an earthly paradise, and the gradual realization that it can’t exist. What unites not just the characters, but these Americas, are their reckonings with the qualities that make us human: Fear. Love. Shame. Need. Loneliness.
Gothic Horror is one of the oldest of the horror genres. Darker, edgier and on the Romanticism end of Romanticism. In addition to being important to the horror genre, the first scifi, fantasy, romance, mystery, and adventure authors drew inspiration from Gothic horror, so it's sometimes considered the parent of all modern genre fiction. Mary Shelley Frankenstein Bram Stoker Dracula The Judge's House Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray Robert Louis Stevenson The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Edgar Allan Poe: The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Cask of Amontillado, The Masque of the Red Death, The Black Cat, The Fall of the House of Usher Washington Irving The legend of sleepy hollow Sheridan Le Fanu Carmilla Henry James The Turn of the Screw Arthur Machen The Great God Pan Nikolai Gogol The Viy
This book explores the idiosyncratic effects generated as fairytale and gothic horror join, clash or merge in cinema. Identifying long-held traditions that have inspired this topical phenomenon, the book features close analysis of classical through to contemporary films. It begins by tracing fairytale and gothic origins and evolutions, examining the diverse ways these have been embraced and developed by cinema horror. It moves on to investigate films close up, locating fairytale horror, motifs and themes and a distinctively cinematic gothic horror. At the book’s core are recurring concerns including: the boundaries of the human; rational and irrational forces; fears and dreams; ‘the uncanny’ and transitions between the wilds and civilization. While chronology shapes the book, it is thematically driven, with an interest in the cultural and political functions of fairytale and gothic horror, and the levels of transgression or social conformity at the heart of the films.
Collins Classics brings you a haunting selection of the finest horror stories from classic literature - featuring works by Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Robert Louis Stevenson and Mary Shelley - with additional content.
The Ultimate Gothic Horror Collection is a fully indexed collection of classic gothic stories. Included here are stories by Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sheridan Le Fanu, Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe. Mary Shelley FRANKENSTEIN Bram Stoker DRACULA Robert Louis Stevenson THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE Henry James THE TURN OF THE SCREW Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu CARMILLA Oscar Wilde THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY Edgar Allan Poe THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER THE TELL—TALE HEART THE PIT AND THE PENDULUM A TALE OF THE RAGGED MOUNTAINS THE CASK OF AMONTILLADO THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH THE OBLONG BOX HOP-FROG THE BLACK CAT THE OVAL PORTRAIT THE PURLOINED LETTER THE RAVEN
Some critics in England and France have long maintained that British director Terence Fisher, whose films dominated world markets in the 1950s and 60s, was one of the greatest directors of fantasy films in history. Since his death in 1980, Fisher's reputation has grown from relative obscurity and his influence on the development of the modern horror film has been widely recognized. However, Fisher's importance should not be limited to the context of the fantasy and horror film genres. His films should also be recognized as expressions of his generalizations about human spirituality. This critical study of Fisher's films begins with an introduction that provides biographical information on his film career, summaries of all of the films he directed and examples of his impact on contemporary cinema. All of Fisher's films are analyzed in terms of their Christian and religious themes as well as their mythical sources. Chapters are devoted to Fisher's work on the subjects of Frankenstein, Dracula, curses (The Devil Rides Out), the ancient goddess (The Gorgon), the divided self (The Man Who Could Cheat Death) and the redeemer hero (The Stranglers of Bombay). The concluding chapter analyzes the role and influence of Biblical narratives in Fisher's films. Also included is a filmography; the work is fully indexed.
