Horace Walpole - The Castle of Otranto: Easyread Super Large 20pt Edition

Pros: The first ever Gothic novel. Influenced Walter Scott, Goethe, Jane Austen, Kafka. Moves very fast.
Cons: You have to swallow absurdities. Melodramatic to the nth degree. Sometimes prissy, even pedantic phrasing.

DISCLAIMER: I have not read any of the several editions currently carried by epinions.com, including the large print edition of acclaimed editor Wilmarth S. Lewis. What I own and have read is the Dover Thrift pocketbook edition of 2004, a republication ...

Pros: Reasonably mysterious plot, well-crafted paranormal elements, imperative for understanding Gothic fiction's origins.
Cons: Undeveloped characters, short book, overall fairly simplistic and perhaps tame compared to later works.

Myths and legends regarding the occult have existed as long as civilizations have possessed enough social structure to propagate them. However, it was not until around the eighteenth century that ancient folklore evolved from fireside tales conveyed ...