The book defines and discusses Fen Gothic, an example of regional Gothic inflected by geography, relationships of centre and margins, history, ecology and gender and the perspectives offered by related Gothic critical approaches. Fen Gothic is also understood through local myths, locations, and the historical, supernatural and human issues which are a major concern of work from this region.
After introducing significant historical earlier work (1852–1931), for the most part, the focus is on contemporary works: Charles Dickens, Bleak House (1852–3); M.R. James, Ghost Stories (1931); Graham Swift, Waterland (1983); Susan Hill, The Woman in Black (1984); Fay Weldon, Growing Rich (1992); Rebecca Stott, Ghostwalk (2009); Sarah Perry, The Essex Serpent (2016); Daisy Johnson, Fen (2016); Julie Myerson, The Stopped Heart (2016)
