Considering Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) is a Victorian fin de siècle novel which fully embraces the Gothic aesthetics of the supernatural and the hidden room. The novel engages with well-established archetypes and tropes, such as the Faustian pact. In the preface to The Picture of Dorian Gray, Wilde states that ‘there is … Continue reading Considering Oscar Wilde’s Dorian Gray →

Frankenstein Alive, Alive: The Immortal Being

This is a guest post written by Alan D. D. Mary Shelley’s story of a mad scientist and his creation has left an undeniable print in popular culture. Not in vain, the story has been described as ‘one of the most adaptable and adapted novels of all time, spurring countless renditions in film, television, comic books, … Continue reading Frankenstein Alive, Alive: The Immortal Being →

Gothic Adaptations: Fingersmith

On Wednesday 18th April we’ll be meeting to discuss the adaptation of Sarah Waters’ neo-Victorian melodrama, Fingersmith (2002). Ahead of the session Hannah Moss thinks about the ways in which the novel is itself an adaptation…Take two orphaned heroines of uncertain origins, place one amongst gang of thieves and the other in a Gothic country … Continue reading Gothic Adaptations: Fingersmith →

Gothic Adaptations: Wuthering Heights

As 2018 marks the bicentenary of Emily Brontë’s birth it seems like the perfect time to re-read Wuthering Heights (1847). Ahead of the next GRG, Hannah Moss (a self-professed Wuthering Heights super-fan) takes us through some of the best (and worst) adaptations of Brontë’s novel… No question about it Wuthering Heights has to be one of … Continue reading Gothic Adaptations: Wuthering Heights →

Dopplegangers 02 – Carmilla

Hey goth fans, it’s adaptation time! In the spotlight this month is a Victorian vamp-tastic classic, Carmilla! Carmilla, the original novella, is one of the earlier literary incarnations of everyone’s favourite bloodsucking fiend (beating Dracula to the punch by a whole 25 years) and, as such, has been adapted many times for many different medium; … Continue reading Dopplegangers 02 – Carmilla →

Doppelgangers – Volume 01: The Shining

Hello Gothic People!It is a new term of the gleefully grotesque and the magnificently macabre, Gothic Reading Group and the theme this year is ‘Adaptation’. To celebrate, I intend to start a new series where I talk a little bit about the background to the original, the adaptation and discuss some of the differences between … Continue reading Doppelgangers – Volume 01: The Shining →