Poe found the germ of the story he would develop into ARTHUR GORDON PYM in 1836 in a newspaper account of the shipwreck and subsequent rescue of the two men on board. Published in 1838, this rousing sea adventure follows New England boy, Pym, who stows away on a whaling ship with its captain's son, Augustus. The two boys repeatedly find themselves on the brink of death or discovery and witness many terrifying events, including mutiny, cannibalism, and frantic pursuits. Poe imbued this deliberately popular tale with such allegorical richness, biblical imagery, and psychological insights that the tale has come to influence writers as various as Melville, James, Verne and Nabokov. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

First published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otranto purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the Second Edition, "to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern." Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and Walpole's own favorite among his numerous works. The novel is reprinted here from a text of 1798, the last that Walpole himself prepared for the press.

This extraordinary historical French gothic novel, set in Medieval Paris under the twin towers of its greatest structure and supreme symbol, the cathedral of Notre-Dame, is the haunting drama of Quasimodo, the disabled bell-ringer of Notre-Dame, as he struggles to stand up to his ableist guardian Claude Frollo, who also wants to commit genocide against Paris' Romani population. The novel has been described as a key text in French literature[1] and has been adapted for film over a dozen times, in addition to numerous television and stage adaptations, such as a 1923 silent film with Lon Chaney, a 1939 sound film with Charles Laughton, and a 1996 Disney animated film with Tom Hulce (both as Quasimodo). The novel sought to preserve values of French culture in a time period of great change, which resulted in the destruction of many French Gothic structures. The novel made Notre-Dame de Paris a national icon and served as a catalyst for renewed interest in the restoration of Gothic form.

This masterpiece of science (and mathematical) fiction is a delightfully unique and highly entertaining satire that has charmed readers for more than 100 years. The work of English clergyman, educator and Shakespearean scholar Edwin A. Abbott (1838-1926), it describes the journeys of A. Square [sic – ed.], a mathematician and resident of the two-dimensional Flatland, where women-thin, straight lines-are the lowliest of shapes, and where men may have any number of sides, depending on their social status.Through strange occurrences that bring him into contact with a host of geometric forms, Square has adventures in Spaceland (three dimensions), Lineland (one dimension) and Pointland (no dimensions) and ultimately entertains thoughts of visiting a land of four dimensions—a revolutionary idea for which he is returned to his two-dimensional world. Charmingly illustrated by the author, Flatland is not only fascinating reading, it is still a first-rate fictional introduction to the concept of the multiple dimensions of space. "Instructive, entertaining, and stimulating to the imagination." — Mathematics Teacher.

Non c’è catena peggiore della famiglia.Non c’è idolo peggiore della famiglia.La prima regola di Ewigstadt?Non fidarti di nessuno.Josef lo sa alchimista di talento, truffatore per necessità, investigatore del paranormale per disperazione. Vive nel Nestwurm, il ventre marcio della città di Ewigstadt, dove le Corporazioni soffocano la gente più delle esalazioni delle industrie e la vita vale meno di un grammo d’oro alchemico.Josef ha un debito di sangue da riscuotere.La Contessa ha ucciso suo padre.Ora lui vuole uccidere lei.Quando sua madre Viktoria lo manda in un postribolo per recuperare un oggetto cruciale alla loro vendetta, Josef trova invece Adam — un mangiamente albino dalla lingua affilata e la memoria in frantumi.Odioso, arrogante, inaffidabile, Adam è un fastidio di cui Josef non vede l’ora di sbarazzarsi, ma è in possesso di informazioni sulla Contessa che potrebbero cambiare tutto.Poi arrivano gli omicidi.Una famiglia decimata, omicidi inspiegabili, patti demoniaci, un fantasma fuori controllo, un assassino che gioca con la morte.Josef e Adam vengono trascinati nelle indagini e all’improvviso, la vendetta non è più la priorità: Josef deve capire cosa sta succedendo, prima che l’oscurità di Ewigstadt divori sia lui che Adam.Ma più scava, più la sua realtà si sgretola.E più si avvicina alla verità, più si rende conto che la cosa più pericolosa di tutte potrebbe essere proprio scoprirla.