Name: The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction
ISBN: 9780521794664

Cambridge University Press

Jerrold E. Hogle

Jerrold E Hogle

Professor Jerrold E Hogle

Provides a survey of literary gothicism from its origins in Renaissance revenge tragedy, through eighteenth century novels and plays, to nineteenth and twentieth century film and fiction.

The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction

Lily

So far, here is what I think:
This book > Andrew Smith's Gothic Literature > Fred Botting's Gothic
[Yes, I seem to be heading towards a ridiculous spree of reading every single Gothic lit companion book ever written and ranking them arbitrarily. No, I didn't intend to do this.]

The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction is a dense book, with each chapter written by a different scholar. Some chapters, like the introductory chapter that serves to familiarize the reader with the complex history and evolution of Gothic literature, is rather procedural. On the other hand, there are chapters like the ones written by David Punter, Kelly Hurley and Fred Botting¹, which tend to delve into theoretical aspects of Gothic literature, from historical analysis to psychoanalysis and post-modern readings. The structure of the book easily permits the reader to choose whether they want to read the entire book or not, and it is possible to pick specific chapters to study without needing to read the rest. It is well-written, well-researched and I recommend it.

¹ The final chapter, written by Fred Botting, is my favorite in the book. It deals with post-modern incarnations of Gothic, and in my opinion, everything, from the prose and tone to the theory is leaps and bounds more fascinating than Botting's own companion book to Gothic literature.