A review by losthitsu
Gothic: An Illustrated History by Roger Luckhurst

4.0

This is an interesting anthology approaching the gothic genre from unusual perspectives and consciously decentering it from its Western European origins. The physical form of the book is gorgeous, a classic coffee table piece with high-quality paper and no-copyright-expense-spared approach to illustrations. The history portion focuses on a wealth of foundational texts from the 19th and early 20th century (which I understand is the author's area of expertise) but is heavily biased towards movies in the post-war era; as I'm not much of a movie person, these were not as interesting but I fully understand this is a me-not-the-book issue. The only thing I found missing was a stronger representation of the fantasy genre - of course no book can encompass everything but to leave out gothic icons like the Gormenghast trilogy felt like a strange oversight.