‘But are they all horrid, are you sure they are all horrid?’

For Northanger Abbey‘s Catherine Morland, the highest recommendation was the promise of horror, but what were these ‘horrid novels’ that gave her so many sleepless nights? The Gothic novel was a literary sensation in the 1790s, producing best-sellers, literary stars vituperative renunciations of its shocking content, fears for the delicate young readers corrupted by its thrills and spills, and increasingly wild sagas. This talk will tell the story of the Gothic’s rise, exploring everything from the relatively gentle excitements of terror Gothic novels of persecuted heroines and happy endings to the horror Gothic’s prurient interest in demonic deals and sexual transgression. We’ll peel back the lid on Catherine’s ‘Horrid Novels’, investigating the stories they can tell us about contemporary fears, beliefs, publishing practices, women writers and more!

A FREE talk laid on by the new Georgian and Regency Society Georgettes of Oxford. Georgettes also offers Regency dance classes and a range of social events and  historical talks. 18+ only