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Four Gothic Novels: The Castle of Otranto; Vathek; The Monk; Frankenstein
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 numberous 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 a 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 attraction of the gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed here is alos a powerful psychological story of isolation and monomania.
This collection illustrates the range and attraction of the gothic novel. Extreme and sensational, each of the four printed here is alos a powerful psychological story of isolation and monomania.
624 pages, Paperback
First published July 7, 1994
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536 people want to read
About the author
Horace Walpole
1,490 books286 followersHoratio Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford — also known as Horace Walpole — was an English art historian, man of letters, antiquarian and Whig politician. He is now largely remembered for Strawberry Hill, the home he built in Twickenham, south-west London where he revived the Gothic style some decades before his Victorian successors, and for his Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. Along with the book, his literary reputation rests on his Letters, which are of significant social and political interest. He was the son of Sir Robert Walpole, and cousin of Lord Nelson.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 19, 2014
A brilliant, brilliant quartet of early Gothic novels.
The Castle of Otranto: 4 stars. I found it comic in places, and rather abundant in euphemisms. Great story though, and the foundation of many subsequent Gothic novels.
Vathek: 4 stars. Seemed to be more fantasy-gothic, but very haunting, especially at the end.
The Monk: 5 stars. My personal favourite in this collection. It was scandalous in its day, but all the elements of a good gothic ghost story are included in it. Loved it.
Frankenstein: 5 stars. Highlights the difficulties of the "alien"/"other" in society, and the destructive effects of exclusion. The reverse of Stoker's "Dracula", I was left feeling quite sorry for the monster.
Highly recommend this collection - I know I will be re-reading it more than once.
The Castle of Otranto: 4 stars. I found it comic in places, and rather abundant in euphemisms. Great story though, and the foundation of many subsequent Gothic novels.
Vathek: 4 stars. Seemed to be more fantasy-gothic, but very haunting, especially at the end.
The Monk: 5 stars. My personal favourite in this collection. It was scandalous in its day, but all the elements of a good gothic ghost story are included in it. Loved it.
Frankenstein: 5 stars. Highlights the difficulties of the "alien"/"other" in society, and the destructive effects of exclusion. The reverse of Stoker's "Dracula", I was left feeling quite sorry for the monster.
Highly recommend this collection - I know I will be re-reading it more than once.
October 27, 2024
After reading Northanger Abbey, where the protagonist is a rather credulous and naive reader of Gothic novels, I thought I'd better read a couple to see just what it was that Jane Austen was satirising, and getting four in one volume made it a bit easier to explore the genre.
I did not read The Monk, as I had already read Melmoth the Wanderer, which seemed to me to have exhausted that topic.
I did not read The Monk, as I had already read Melmoth the Wanderer, which seemed to me to have exhausted that topic.
January 9, 2013
Having read two of the novels within this book; The Castle of Otranto and Frankenstein for my studies I thoroughly enjoyed both. Of course the Castle of Otranto was the first gothic novel to be written so it is bound to be far fetched but the plot although complex is compelling none the less. As for Frankenstein, Shelley's writing of it was amazing, it was made even more brilliant by the background research I had to do for an assignment on it. Would most definitely recommend to any avid gothic, horror story lovers.
April 13, 2022
The best two stories in this book are Vathek and The Monk.
The Castle of Otranto is the story of a king who is going to marry his son ,the prince to a princess.On the day of the wedding there is a freak accident involving a statue falling. The young Princess becomes the eye of desire of the King, who already has a worthy Queen. The young Princess goes on the run-away from him while the Queen and his daughter at first have no idea of what is going on. A boy is thrown into the dungeon for not telling the King where she is until the very end when Justice is served.
Frankenstein is not like the movie. The beginning is a travel journal until the "feind" is created but when it wrecks havoc another person is accused of the monsters killings.
The Monk takes place in a monastery and an abbey where both Monk and Domina evilly make deadly plans for two women. The Monk is helped by Rosario a fellow Monk who is not really a monk after all but the flip side of God. Rosario helps the Monk Ambrosio in his lustful fit for the pleasure of Antonia
The Marques, who is in love with Lorenzo's sister Agnes tells the story of their fate. Agnes is put into an abbey, which many wealthy daughters had actually been forced to in that time, and is declared dead. That is only half the story.....
Vathek takes place in Arabia in Samarah and is a Islamic story of Caliph, who builds five palaces in celebration of the sences. He is a gluten whom eats his days away finding comfort in a harem of women. He also has an evil eye for one who looks at it could also die of it. The fifth Palace harbors a collection of rarities from around the world. His mother Carathis is of the dark arts and astrology keeping evil company in a tower. An ugly Indian stranger enters the palace with a rarity that Caliph wants, when he finds the stranger again he is asked to sacrifice 50 young boys for the key to enter into that place of kept rarities. Thus after begins his journey without him realizing the 50 boys had not been received by the stranger. He encounters beauty on the mountain of Kaf and Nouronihar who he desires. They together destroy beauty and ultimately end up in Islamic hell.
The imagination of this story is such that the infamous Myrabolon Comfit does not exist, even without a description as do some other places and things.
The Castle of Otranto is the story of a king who is going to marry his son ,the prince to a princess.On the day of the wedding there is a freak accident involving a statue falling. The young Princess becomes the eye of desire of the King, who already has a worthy Queen. The young Princess goes on the run-away from him while the Queen and his daughter at first have no idea of what is going on. A boy is thrown into the dungeon for not telling the King where she is until the very end when Justice is served.
Frankenstein is not like the movie. The beginning is a travel journal until the "feind" is created but when it wrecks havoc another person is accused of the monsters killings.
The Monk takes place in a monastery and an abbey where both Monk and Domina evilly make deadly plans for two women. The Monk is helped by Rosario a fellow Monk who is not really a monk after all but the flip side of God. Rosario helps the Monk Ambrosio in his lustful fit for the pleasure of Antonia
The Marques, who is in love with Lorenzo's sister Agnes tells the story of their fate. Agnes is put into an abbey, which many wealthy daughters had actually been forced to in that time, and is declared dead. That is only half the story.....
Vathek takes place in Arabia in Samarah and is a Islamic story of Caliph, who builds five palaces in celebration of the sences. He is a gluten whom eats his days away finding comfort in a harem of women. He also has an evil eye for one who looks at it could also die of it. The fifth Palace harbors a collection of rarities from around the world. His mother Carathis is of the dark arts and astrology keeping evil company in a tower. An ugly Indian stranger enters the palace with a rarity that Caliph wants, when he finds the stranger again he is asked to sacrifice 50 young boys for the key to enter into that place of kept rarities. Thus after begins his journey without him realizing the 50 boys had not been received by the stranger. He encounters beauty on the mountain of Kaf and Nouronihar who he desires. They together destroy beauty and ultimately end up in Islamic hell.
The imagination of this story is such that the infamous Myrabolon Comfit does not exist, even without a description as do some other places and things.
December 13, 2025
Hard to rate because I have mixed feelings regarding all four books.
The Castle of Otranto 3/10
You only have to read this if you want to know what the arguably first gothic novel was. Read like a soap opera, writing wasn't great, overdramatic and messy.
Vathek 2/10
This was worse. Felt like a weird Arabian Nights-esque/Aladdin-esque gothic novel that was messy and didn't make much sense but I guess evil is nonsensical because Vathek was outright evil.
The Monk 6/10
Super controversial take because a part of me is like monks aren't like that, this monk was just a terribly sinful monk, but the writing was actually really good. Shows the darker side of human nature. The Bleeding Nun was the HIGHLIGHT.
Frankenstein 6/10
Sue me but I think this is overrated. Yes it has ingenious themes, mixture of romanticism and sci-fi etc. but Victor Frankenstein was annoying and although the creature was pitiful and the real victim, I also kinda got annoyed with him at some point.
The Castle of Otranto 3/10
You only have to read this if you want to know what the arguably first gothic novel was. Read like a soap opera, writing wasn't great, overdramatic and messy.
Vathek 2/10
This was worse. Felt like a weird Arabian Nights-esque/Aladdin-esque gothic novel that was messy and didn't make much sense but I guess evil is nonsensical because Vathek was outright evil.
The Monk 6/10
Super controversial take because a part of me is like monks aren't like that, this monk was just a terribly sinful monk, but the writing was actually really good. Shows the darker side of human nature. The Bleeding Nun was the HIGHLIGHT.
Frankenstein 6/10
Sue me but I think this is overrated. Yes it has ingenious themes, mixture of romanticism and sci-fi etc. but Victor Frankenstein was annoying and although the creature was pitiful and the real victim, I also kinda got annoyed with him at some point.
December 17, 2012
The Castle of Otranto was the first gothic novel and arguably launched the entire horror genre. It's not an easy read for someone like me, used to 20th century literature - the language is almost Shakespearian at times. The influence of the Bard is clear in the interplay of characters and in the depiction of a world view where those who act against the will of heaven shall pay the price...In this case in the form of a visitation from a giant suit of armour. Surreal, strange but ultimately compelling, this is a must read for anyone interested in the roots of the dark side of fiction.
April 26, 2009
There seem to be lots of four and five star ratings for this. I'm not sure why: reading this all the way through was one of the worst literary experiences I've ever had. The reader is warmed up with Walpole's ridiculous 'Castole of Otranto' and Beckford's mind-numbing 'Vathek', left begging for mercy with the sledge-hammer blow of boredom known as 'The Monk' and then finished off with 'Frankenstein'. Great.
April 13, 2015
I've finished with the first story, The Castle of Otranto, and it is a great read. The dialogue is mixed into the text, meaning that it is not separated like traditional books these days. This and the very small print of this book were the only challenges to reading this amazing story. The story itself is the very definition of a page-turner as it takes you through the castle and the characters. An enjoyable read.
September 11, 2008
Monk gone wild! Scandalous!
May 24, 2009
very interesting reading of 18th century mystery novels that are precursors to modern novels msteries-a bit over the top in style but I like them
October 13, 2012
For the next episode of "Horror 101" at Tales to Terrify...
January 6, 2014
Gothic novels you either live them are gate them, wizards giant suits of armour come to life, hidden pasts and evil villains
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews