Discover Gothic literature

Read the course outline (PDF)

Gothic has been thrilling, delighting and disgusting its readers and audiences for over 250 years. It’s both highly conventional and infinitely adaptable. Gothic changes with the times. Over the years, its casts of vampires, monsters, ghosts, zombies and persecuted protagonists have passed through Italian castles, Victorian mental asylums, New Orleans marshes – and terraced houses in Bristol.

During our six-week course we’ll explore a variety of Gothic novels from Ann Radcliffe to Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker to Patrick McGrath, with show-and-tells of rare editions from our collections. Gothic has never been solely a literary phenomenon, so although our primary focus is on literature, we’ll also reference film, television, architecture and painting.

This course will run across the following dates:

• Monday 3 October 2022, 18.00 – 20.00
• Monday 10 October 2022, 18.00 – 20.00
• Monday 17 October 2022, 18.00 – 20.00
• Monday 24 October 2022, 18.00 – 20.00
• Monday 31 October 2022, 18.00 – 20.00
• Monday 7 November 2022, 18.00 – 20.00

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