This is the English Gothic of the 19th century. This is where “black prose” began, what it is - in all its possible forms and directions, from classic “horror” to exquisite “vampire decadence”. From the aesthetic “black school” of the 20s - 30s. - until the exciting “black comedy” of the 90s. Because Stephen King would not have existed without Stevenson’s “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,” and Anne Rice, Nancy Collins and Somtow would not have existed without Byron and Polidori’s “Vampires.” And without Mary Shelley's Frankenstein? Without The Tapestry Room by Walter Scott? Neither science fiction nor fantasy! Believe me, from the Gothic of the 19th century. a lot has started. Perhaps - too much for our peace of mind... “The Vampire” George Gordon Byron (1816) On one incredibly rainy night, several people gathered together, caught in bad weather extraordinary personalities, among whom were: Mary Shelley, John Polidori, George G. Byron, and they had a dispute - who would write a truly scary Gothic story faster? Only Mary Shelley coped with the task, creating her monstrous “Frankenstein...” Byron started “The Vampire” well. Having introduced the reader to the villain, he even managed to instill some disgust for the vampire, but things did not go further and the story remained unfinished. “The Vampire” John William Polidori (1817) Polidori more than worked for Byron, telling the story of a young man named Aubrey, whose fate brought her together and became friends with the mysterious, unsociable Lord Ruthven, who turned out to be a real vampire. Late, Aubrey realized that the man who became his sister’s husband was SOMETHING! Evil triumphs, and we chuckle evilly. "Canterville Ghost "Oscar Wilde (1897) An entertaining, with a touch of irony, story about the experienced and hardened Canterville Ghost, who was unable to cope with a riotous, cheerful Yankee family who bought the castle along with the ghost living in it into the bargain. He scared them by hooting, took off his head, drew blood, but they were not scared. I remember that our animators even made a cartoon based on this story. “The Tapestry Room” by Walter Scott (1821) A Gothic story, with all the appropriate attributes: a castle, a mysterious room, a crowd of guests and of course ghosts. The adventures of a brave soldier who dared to spend the night alone with a ghost. Scary granny - in the role of a ghost. “Ghosts and Victims” Edward Bulwer-Lytton Hoping for free housing, a not too luxurious Mr., together with a devoted servant, becomes guests in a house with a bad reputation - an abode of ghosts. The servant ran away on the first night, and the brave Mr., surprisingly, lasted a little longer and even solved the mystery of the haunted house, having seen so much horror! “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” Robert Louis Stevenson (1886) A fantastic story about a man , with various roots and potions, who achieved a complete separation of personality (good and evil, modesty and complete debauchery), but was never able, as a result of a tragic mistake, to return to his previous state. “Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus” by Mary Shelley (1818 )Evil must be created by nature. Under no circumstances should humanity get involved in the life-death process, otherwise the result will be a Molotov cocktail like the one produced by young Frankenstein with his subhuman. “The Mystery of the Soaring Dragon Inn” by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu A luxurious gothic tale about the adventures of a rich rake Richard Beckett, who unwisely fell in love with a charming stranger, thanks to whom he will find himself in a very interesting position. Or rather, buried alive, gentlemen! “The Ghost's Bride” by William Ainsworth (1822) A sweet story about the charming Clotilde, who fell in love with either the neighboring count, or the king of a neighboring state, or even a movie hero with muscles of steel. Durekha's head was turned by a simple dead man from the cemetery, who promised her rivers of sherbet, mountains of Turkish delight and invited her to a wedding ceremony at midnight in the cemetery. And what do you think, she came. Don't go girls, get married... "Witches and Other Night Terrors" Charles Lamb (1821) Quite muddy, like the waters of the Nile, instructive discussions about the nature of human fears. Even as a child, I was afraid of bears, blacks and monkeys... Now I am not afraid only of bears. “Vatek” by William Beckford (1778) The most terrible of all Arabic tales that you will ever read. “Vatek” is not a fairy tale that is read to children before bed. A work filled with magic, mysticism, horror, you need to read alone, locked in an abandoned house by candlelight. “The Curse of Julia Cahill” by D. Moore - not in the publication Julia was a naughty girl. Possessing an unwritten beauty, despite her father’s desperate entreaties, she still did not agree to the proposals of local boys for marriage. But she has already “been” with many of them more than once. She was a depraved girl. But one day the lafa ended and under pressure from the priest, father He had a serious conversation with the carefree slut, but without seeing in her eyes a trace of the thought of agreeing with his admonitions, his own father curses Julia Cahill and expels her forever from her home, the village. In response, Julia was not slow to send even more terrible curses. 20 years have passed since then, and travelers passing by the ruined village often meet, on the way, a beautiful girl and it does not occur to anyone that this is Julia, who is not at all changed, because she “stayed” with the gnomes too.