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Horror in Gothic Chapbooks

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The Palgrave Handbook to Horror Literature
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Abstract

This chapter examines the rise of the Gothic chapbooks and their use of horror between 1798 and 1830. Utilizing and exploiting the most horrific and sensational aspects of the Gothic novel, the chapbook intensified the brutality and horror that popularized the Gothic in this period. Where Gothic novels, in part, sought to mediate between the proper and the horrific, the chapbook exploited the predilection of horror and sought to capitalize on the grotesque and the lurid. This chapter traces the rise of the Gothic chapbook and examines how the authors and publishers utilized horror and violence to appeal to an expanding readership.

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Bibliography

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Potter, F.J. (2018). Horror in Gothic Chapbooks. In: Corstorphine, K., Kremmel, L. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook to Horror Literature. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97406-4_12

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