Vathek (Fantasy and Horror Classics)

<p><strong>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.</strong></p><p>A dark fairy tale that combines the opulent romance of the <em>Arabian Nights</em> with the moral horror of the nascent Gothic movement.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>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.</p>