Like the previous Critical Companion titles, such as Harlem Renaissance (2002), The Beat Generation (2003), and Feminism in Literature(2004), Gothic Literature follows a standard format. Volume 1 covers topics, while volumes 2 and 3 review writers.

Volume 1 comprises five topics, beginning with a general survey, then moves to "Society, Culture, and the Gothic," "Gothic Themes, Settings, and Figures" (the longest, at 156 pages), "Performing Arts and the Gothic," and "Visual Arts and the Gothic" (the shortest, at 51 pages). Each topic begins with a two- to three-page introduction, followed by a list of representative works, a selection of primary documents (such as an excerpt from a novel), and selected reprinted essays or essay excerpts organized under three to four subtopics. In each volume, a table of contents enables users to scan relevant topics, subtopics, and names of writers. A list of further readings ends each topic section.

Volumes 2 and 3 cover 37 writers, among them Margaret Atwood, Wilkie Collins, E. T. A. Hoffmann, and Bram Stoker. Author entries begin with biographical highlights and a brief review of principal works and critical reception. A list of key works is provided, followed by primary materials and reprinted essays under the headings "General Commentary" and "Title Commentary." A list of further readings wraps up author entries. Helpful and succinct annotations are provided for all further readings, essays, and primary materials. About 150 black-and-white illustrations portray writers, buildings, and other subjects. Each volume includes an author, title, and subject index. Additional features include a chronology and sidebar articles.

The Gale Critical Companion Collection is intended to complement titles in Gale's Literary Criticism series. Gale states that overlap with the Literary Criticism series is 15 percent or less. A sample search of Gothic Literature essays on Edgar Allan Poe in Gale's online Literature Resource Center found no duplication.

The inclusion of primary materials and essays distinguishes Gothic Literature from The Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature (Facts On File, 2004). Though it covers fewer authors, it has more essays than A Companion to the Gothic (Blackwell, 2001) and The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction (Cambridge, 2002). Price and scope suit large academic and public libraries. Stephen Fadel

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