Nightmare Abbey (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Published in 1818, this nimble satire of gothic novels and Romanticism focuses on Christopher Glowry and his son, Scythrop, who dwell in their ancestral home of Nightmare Abbey.  There, a succession of moody, melancholy philosophers and poets—based on historical personages—engage their hosts in debate, while young Scythrop pursues romance with various unobtainable women.