Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Beckford's Vathek, and Shelley's Frankenstein
The Gothic novel, which flourished from about 1765 until 1825, revels in the horrible and the supernatural, in suspense and exotic settings. This volume, with its erudite introduction by Mario Praz, presents three of the most celebrated Gothic novels: The Castle of Otranto, published pseudonymously in 1765, is one of the first of the genre and the most truly Gothic of the three. Vathek (1786), an oriental tale by an eccentric millionaire, exotically combines Gothic...

"Graham's Vathek with The Episodes of Vathek is certain to remain the standard edition of, and commentary on, Beckford for decades to come." -- Kevin L. Cope, Louisiana State University

"Woe to the rash mortal who seeks to know that of which he should remain ignorant; and to undertake that which surpasseth his power "
One of the strangest and most unforgettable eighteenth-century novels, Vathek is a wild Gothic fantasy whose sensuous imagination and grotesque comedy have inspired writers from Byron to Lovecraft. The Caliph Vathek is dissolute and debauched, and hungry for knowledge. When the mysterious Giaour offers him boundless treasure and unrivalled power he is willing to sacrifice his god, the lives of innocent children, and his own soul to satisfy his obsession....