After the death of his only son on his wedding day, Manfred, the Prince of Otranto, determines to marry the bride-to-be, setting himself on a course of destruction.

The Castle of Otranto is a book by Horace Walpole first published in 1764 and generally regarded as the first gothic novel. In the second edition, Walpole applied the word 'Gothic' to the novel in the subtitle - "A Gothic Story". The novel merged medievalism and terror in a style that has endured ever since. The aesthetics of the book shaped modern-day gothic books, films, art, music and the goth subculture

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 romanticism with the vivacity of The Arabian Nights and is a narrative tour de force. The story of Frankenstein (1818) and the monster he created is as spine-chilling today as it ever was; as in all Gothic novels, horror is the keynote.

Through the lens of Kelly Link's vivid imagination, nothing is what it seems, and everything in this collection of short stories deserves a second look. From the multiple award-winning 'The Faery Handbag', in which a teenager's grandmother carries an entire village (or is it a man-eating dog?) in her handbag, to the 'The Wrong Grave,' which tells the story of a sixteen year old boy who digs up the grave of his girlfriend in order to rescue the poetry he buried with her-these stories will put goosebumps on your goosebumps. Kelly Link has a cult following in the United States and now Australian teens can have their world rocked, too. Link's stories are funny, scary and full of unexpected insights and skewed perspectives on the world.

The Castle of Otranto is generally regarded as the first gothic novel. It tells the story of Manfred, lord of the castle, and his family. On the wedding-day of his sickly son Conrad and princess Isabella, Conrad is crushed to death by a gigantic helmet that falls on him from above. This inexplicable event is particularly ominous in light of an ancient prophecy. Manfred, terrified that Conrad's death signals the beginning of the end for his line, resolves to avert destruction by marrying Isabella himself while divorcing his current wife Hippolita, whom he feels has failed to bear him a proper heir. The novel merged medievalism and terror in a style that has endured ever since. The aesthetics of the book shaped modern-day gothic books, films, art, music and the Goth subculture.