Three Gothic Novels: The Castle of Otranto; Vathek; Frankenstein

These are the oval novels of the Gothic Period. Frankenstein outshines them all, of course, due to Mary Godwin's originality of imagination which all came from her talking with her assembled guests Percy Shelley, physician John Polidari, her step sister Jane, and the groups host at Lake Geneva, Switzerland, Lord Byron. Byron had sugested that June of 1816 that all of them have a horror story contest to see who could come up with the best story. Mary Godwin was Shelley's new girlfriend and eventually became Mary Shelley. Her subject matter and the quality of her detailed writing cause hers to rise above the other two tales, but they are early attempts that chart the signature iterations of the Gothic literary genre and should not be ignored. All are laden with the Objective Correlative (T.S. Eliot's term) in which trouble in the human psyche mirrors that of trouble in nature.

I needed both Otranto and Frankenstein for a class, so this trio was ideal.The text/type print is easy to read (not too small). Additionally, there was ample room in the margins allowing for annotations. I liked Otranto so well that I ordered a different stand alone edition.

The books are very good, of course. There is a problem with the formatting on Kindle. You will have to search for chapters 9-21 of Frankenstein. It is right after the end of Vathek instead of after chapter 8 like it should be.

So far I've read the first two the Castle of O and Vathek and both were not all that great especially when I compare them to The Monk which was superb. If you expect them to be as good as the Monk forgetaboutit!The original Dracula is probably the best of all.

Great book, enjoy reading it every time. Why do these reviews have to be so long? I think "great book" says it all

This is an exciting read!

The stories themselves, are great. However, when I received the book, it fell apart the first time I opened it! It wasn't in good condition as promised. :(

Buyer beware - the final chapters of Frankenstein are missing. The novel cuts off at the end of Chapter 20, and goes straight to the editor’s endnotes. This is a huge omission. Extremely disappointing - I have asked for a refund. Penguin, please correct this omission.

I really need this book for my degree. This book contained three of the stories I needed to study. The order arrived very quickly. Loved the book.

Love reading it