Vathek (Fantasy and Horror Classics) (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781447403876)

A classic tale of a man who sells his soul for power, but in this case, the eventual damnation is not hellfire, but a terrible, eternal despair.

A dark fairy tale that combines the opulent romance of the Arabian Nights with the moral horror of the nascent Gothic movement.

This short story follows the story of Caliph Vathek, the ninth ruler of the Abassides, a famously ambitious and pleasure-seeking monarch. Driven by insatiable pride and a thirst for forbidden knowledge, Vathek builds a magnificent tower where he can study the stars and seek out supernatural secrets.

His desires lead him and his ruthlessly ambitious mother, the sorceress Carathis, into a pact with the sinister demon Ghul-al-Shihr. They are promised the unimaginable riches and treasures of the Palace of Eblis (the Islamic equivalent of Satan) if they commit a series of sacrilegious acts.

The final journey to the demonic subterranean palace is one of the most spectacularly imaginative and horrifying scenes in 18th-century literature. A brief, dazzling, and chilling masterpiece that remains a cornerstone of the horror and fantasy genres.