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Horace Walpole writes The Castle of Otranto
The first, and extremely popular, Gothic novel. Gothic fiction's goal is to inspire terror and explore the supernatural; it contains elements of horror and romance. -
"Wake Not the Dead," by Johann Ludwig Tieck
The first known vampire romance is published. -
Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein
... or, The Modern Prometheus is the first monster story. -
Victor Hugo publishes The Hunchback of Notre Dame
Considered a truly Gothic novel, with its bells and gargoyles. -
Edgar Allan Poe publishes short stories
Contains all things Gothic: death, decay, insanity, ghosts, and live burials. -
Dark Romanticism
Influenced by Gothic fiction and the ideas of the time, a new literary period emerges: dark romanticism. It is a reaction against the optimistic ideas of the literary movement of transcendentalism. Dark romanticism questions humanity's goodness and is fascinated by darkness, the supernatural, and social and moral decay. -
Robert Louis Stevenson publishes The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Classic story showing the darker side of man. -
Abraham "Bram" Stoker publishes Dracula.
