Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, The British Library

The origins of Gothic fiction can be attributed to Horace Walpole's camp horror-romance-thriller, The Castle of Otranto, in which Walpole established many of the genres’ enduring themes including the medieval setting and supernatural events. As the subtitle of this British Library blockbuster suggests, 'The Gothic Imagination' has not been solely confined to literature, but has proved to be a pervasive cultural influence across film, fine art, comics, and fashion.
Since its first instance 250 years ago, Gothic literature and its faux-medieval aesthetic have spawned many sub-genres, such as the French roman noir (black novel) and the German shauerroman (shudder novel). 
However, Gothic fiction, like science fiction and the detective novel after it, was not initially regarded as a serious literary genre and was largely ignored or disparaged by critics. This was partly because the genre went against the principles of Enlightenment: rationality and science. Later writers such as E.T.A. Hoffman, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe helped to grow its credibility by producing some of modern fiction’s most popular titles. Highlights of the exhibition include a first edition of Bram Stoker's Dracula from 1897 and illustrations by Harry Clarke for Poe's Tales of Mystery and Imagination.