Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Fourteen

Author: Ann Radcliffe, Jane Austen, Edgar Allen Poe, MJ Closser, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Quote: "You will think me cruel, but love is selfish and will have its sacrifices."

Why you should read this book: This is one of the illustrated volumes meant to engage adolescent readers in classic literature by presenting it in the format of the comic book: it appeals to today's goth kids by returning to the very origins of their subculture, of which many goths are probably largely unaware. Collected here are one poem, two short stories, and three novels, all originally published in the 1800s, but still interesting to modern readers with a predilection for terror. By and large, the drawings are excellent, executed in different styles by several artists, and the stories are delicious enough to inspire readers to tackle the text versions of these works.

Why you shouldn't read this book: The compression of the novels leaves much to be desired; the stories feel hurried and the characters hard to distinguish. However, as an introduction, it provides a tempting flavor and a possible impetus to seek out a larger helping, which is the intention of this series.