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Penguin Classics go gothic

03.07.08 Tom Holman

Penguin plans to breathe new life into gothic fiction by reissuing a range of novels through its Red Classics list this autumn.

The launch batch of Gothic Classics will include novels by Wilkie Collins, Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe and Elizabeth Gaskell, as well as a handful of lesser-known authors. The 10 books in the series will be pulled together by distinctive yellow and black cover designs. In keeping with the Red Classics format, they will include no editorial apparatus such as introductions or notes, and will seek an audience beyond the traditional buyers of classics.

The series is the brainchild of Mariateresa Boffo, senior commissioning editor at Penguin Classics, who said the market for gothic fiction was consistently strong. Many of the authors, along with other horror and ghost stories, are already published in Penguin's other Classics ranges, but Boffo said the new series' emphasis on accessible, short fiction would help it to slot in well. "They are fresh, modern, short, stylish books—just very good reads," she said.

The 10 launch titles were chosen by Boffo, an avid fan of gothic fiction, with advice from fellow Classics editors. They will be published in A-format paperback on 2nd October with r.r.p.s of £7.99 and print runs of 7,500 for each title.

Penguin will use Hallowe'en as a marketing hook for the series, and will develop a mini-site to promote it.

Book Tom Holman Penguin Classics

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