Gothic Imagination: Dracula, Frankenstein & more

A BBC chilling collection of classic gothic horror and ghost stories adapted or written by women

In this breathtaking collection of gothic horror and eerie tales, draw the curtains and pull the blankets close for two classic Victorian horror tales in new adaptations, Dracula starring Nicky Henson, Charles Edwards, Don Gilet and Ellie Kendrick and Frankenstein, with Jamie Parker (Harry Potter) as Frankenstein and Shaun Dooley (Gentleman Jack, Broadchurch) as the Monster. Next is a thrilling drama about the scandalous Mary Shelley and Lord Byron in Bloody Poetry. In the sensational psycho-sexual thriller The Mysteries of Udolpho with Robert Glenister (Suspicion, Spooks), a young woman is trapped in a castle of nightmares and villains. But who can she trust?

Four spine-chilling dramatised tales follow: The Cold Embrace, where a handsome artist makes a terrible mistake, Man-size in Marble, in which newly-weds must face a horrifying truth, Afterward sees a couple paying the price for an unexpected windfall, and The Demon Lover, featuring Jenny Howe (Silent Witness, Eastenders) about a woman struggling home through the Blitz.

Finally, two of Mary Shelley's finest short stories, 'The Mortal Immortal '- when a young apprentice drinks a potion to cure his heartbreak but discovers a feeling far worse - and 'Rodger Dodworth: The Reanimated Englishman' - where a man is woken after 170 years encased in ice.

Cast and credits

Dracula
Written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz
Story written by Bram Stoker
Directed by Jessica Dromgoole
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 14 October 2012

Frankenstein
Dramatised by Lucy Catherine
Written by Mary Shelley
Directed by Marc Beeby
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 28 October - 4 November 2012

Bloody Poetry
Written by Howard Brenton
Adapted by Alison Hindell
Directed by Alison Hindell
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 20 October 2012

The Mysteries of Udolpho
Written by Ann Radcliffe
Dramatised by Catherine Czerkawska
Directed by David Blount
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 13 October - 24 October 1996

The Cold Embrace
Written by Mary Braddon
Produced by Marion Nancarrow
Directed by Christopher Hawes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 26 July 1997

Man-size in Marble
Written by Edith Nesbit
Produced by Marion Nancarrow
Dramatised by Christopher Hawes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 17 November 1997

Afterward
Written by Edith Wharton
Produced by Marion Nancarrow
Directed by Christopher Hawes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 24 November 1997

The Demon Lover
Written by Elizabeth Bowen
Produced by Marion Nancarrow
Directed by Christopher Hawes
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 17 July 1997

'The Mortal Immortal'
Written by Mary Shelley
Produced by Gemma Jenkins
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 3 December 2005

'Rodger Dodworth: The Reanimated Englishman'
Written by Mary Shelley
Produced by John Cardy
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 24 May 1982

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