Ann Radcliffe

Ann Radcliffe (July 9, 1764 - February 7, 1823) was an English author of the early Romantic period whose fiction pioneered the genre of the gothic novel. Although Radcliffe is often considered one of the founders of horror fiction, her works are unusual. Although her characters often encounter menacing and mysterious phenomena in the depths of dungeons at midnight, there is never any actual presence of the supernatural to be found in her work. Radcliffe's works exhibit a sort of realism, a psychological rather than fantastical horror, that has made them one of the enduring classics of the early Romantic era, both for lovers of horror fiction and for general readers alike. 

As a genre writer, Radcliffe's reputation has never been as strong as some of her contemporaries, such as The Bronte sisters or Jane Austen. Austen herself wrote a novel-length parody of Radcliffe, and she has often been relegated to the sidelines of interest by critics studying the early Romantic period. Nonetheless, in recent years a resurgence in interest in Radcliffe's works as literary artifacts has begun to develop. 

In her time, Radcliffe was admired by some of the brightest minds of her generation for her ability to tap into the powerfully sensational themes of Romanticism through her scenes of horror, including Coleridge and Byron. Today, Radcliffe is beginning to be recognized as an important influence on Walter Scott and a number of other major fiction writers of her period, and her contribution to the evolution of nineteenth-century fiction is well-recognized.