Long ago, a friend of mine gave me a copy of classic gothic horror The Monk (a big scandalous bestseller in the Regency era, and published in 1796). I finally got around to reading it-- and man, it stinks on ice. I'm surprised so many people love it. It's entertaining enough, in a zero-calorie page turning sort of way, but it's just not scary. (Edgar Allan Poe's grocery lists would be scarier than this book.) The characters aren't even one dimensional-- they're zero dimensional. Ambrosio, who is a villain protagonist, does nothing for himself. He's held by the hand through literally everything. There are some nice horrific scenarios that happen to one of the side characters, but it happens all in flashback. It's underwhelming. 
 Basically it's a Satanic Panic novel, and it has a view of Catholicism on par with a Chick tract. The plot, in a nutshell: in Madrid at some point between 1529 and 1795, this Satanic lady seduces a monk who everyone thinks is good, but he quickly turns bad because SEX. He falls in lust with this insipid teenager. After a lot of running around, he rapes and kills her, then she turns out to be his sister! He is arrested by the Inquisition and then goes to hell. The End. 
 Not surprisingly, it's incredibly misogynistic, and the characters make no sense. In one scene, you have the Satanic Lady, Matilda, summoning SATAN with the monk, Ambrosio, looking on, and then later Ambrosio is afraid of ghosts and he's telling himself Don't Be Silly ghosts don't exist! 
 So, yeah. Ambrosio, Satan is one thing, but ghosts are a bridge too far? Okay, whatever. 
 Also, the plot stops dead in its tracks for the male characters to frequently make fun of silly, superstitious (older) Catholic women. Also, the Catholic church did lots of horrible things from 1529 to 1795, but none of them are brought up. And get this: in this book, the Inquisition are the good guys. Wrap your brain around that for a minute. 
 At least now I can say I've read the Monk, though I can't say I relished the experience. I now leave 
 you with this classic Mel Brooks song.