Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination – reviews

What you need to know

Terror and Wonder: The Gothic Imagination, a new exhibition tracing the gothic tradition, has opened at the British Library, London. Marking the 250th anniversary of Horace Walpole's 1764 gothic novel The Castle of Otranto, the show explores the influence of the literary genre on our cultural imagination since then.

It features 200 exhibits including Mary Shelley's annotated Frankenstein manuscript, work by William Blake, film clips, a Victorian vampire-slaying kit, fashion by Alexander McQueen and Martin Parr's photographs of contemporary Goths in Whitby. Runs until 20 January.

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What the critics like

This "perversely enlightening" display of gothic ephemera teems with arresting exhibits in an epic journey through a literary genre and its endless cultural transformations, says Jonathan Jones in The Guardian. Through the sensational yet thought-provoking relics, we discover a deep continuity in the British gothic mind, from then to today.

There are some fascinating displays but "the one truly scary object is the looming mannequin dressed from Alexander McQueen's 1996 Dante collection", says Sameer Rahim in the Daily Telegraph. The black silk and lace corset has strips cut out, almost as though the skin has been flayed.

The show celebrates "all things terrible and horrid, spooky, freaky – and fakey" with some "intriguing" exhibits, from posh Regency porn to Mary Shelley's annotated Frankenstein manuscript, says Jasper Rees on the Arts Desk. It also ends on a lovely note of ghoulish nostalgia, with Martin Parr's portraits of modern Whitby goths.

What they don't like

As you might expect from the British Library, there is a heavy emphasis on literature in this exhibition, which some might find it "a bit dry", says Sameer Rahim in the Daily Telegraph. And once we get into the modern era the clips from horror films, shown out of context, seem silly.