The Tales of Villa Diodati: The Origins of Iconic Science Fiction and Gothic Horror (Dover Literature: Gothic/Horror) - Softcover

Byron, Mary Shelley Percy Bysshe Shelley John Polidori And Lord

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0486851362 ISBN 13: 9780486851365

Publisher: Dover Publications Inc, 2023

Synopsis

In 1816, a series of unique climate events caused the coldest summer on record across the northern hemisphere. While rain and snow raged, a group of writers gathered together at the Villa Diodati in Geneva to wait out the season. Amongst those guests were some of the most prominent writers of the day, including Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. On one evening, a contest was proposed; to come up with the most terrifying ghost story ever seen. Over the course of the summer, some works were completed, and others were abandoned, but overall, the influence of that night has lasted centuries. 
This collection of works collects both the completed and uncompleted works from the contest, including fragments.

About this title

About the Author

George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron, was an English poet and peer devoted to the romantic movement in England. Percy Bysshe Shelley was another Romantic Poet, known for his radical political views and his marriage to Mary Godwin. Mary Shelley, nee Godwin, was the daughter of early feminist writer Mary Wollstonecraft, and is seen as the founder of science-fiction. John Polidori was a writer and physician whose contribution to the contest would later inspire Bram Stoker's Dracula.

From the Back Cover

A sinister quality descended upon Villa Diodati as low temperatures, torrential rain, and thunderstorms raged outside.

In 1816, also known as "The Year without a Summer," a group of pioneering writers gathered at Villa Diodati in Lake Geneva, Switzerland, and wrote some of the most iconic Gothic horror stories in English literature. The Tales of Villa Diodati is the result of a legendary ghost story contest between friends confined indoors by unseasonably dismal weather. "We will each write a story," proposed Lord Byron. The challenge was the genesis of this blood-chilling anthology blending the macabre, supernatural, and romance.

Selections include Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the first true science fiction novel, and John Polidori's "The Vampyre," considered the originator of the romantic vampire genre. The story was inspired by Lord Byron's "A Fragment," which is also included, as is Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Fragment of a Ghost Story." These spine-tingling tales have enthralled generations of readers for centuries.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dover Publications Inc
• Publication date: 2023
• ISBN 10: 0486851362
• ISBN 13: 9780486851365
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224