The Rise of Supernatural Fiction, 1762-1800 (Cambridge Studies in Romanticism)

Rating:
Summary: History of the Gothic
Review: This book is an excellent read for anyone with an interest in the history or scholarship the Gothic or "horrible" literature in general. Its focus on the shift in English society to a more luxury and consumer-driven economy, during the time when supernatural literature developed as a genre, becomes a little dense at times, if that isn't one's area of particular interest. However, it is full of insight into the reading public that made the field of supernatural fiction what it remains today, and why people found it (and by extension, still find it) so entertaining to be shocked and frightened by unreal events.