Ann Radcliffe
Ann Ward Radcliffe (July 9, 1764-February 7, 1823) was an English author who pushed the Gothic novel into a respectable position in the literary community. She published six novels: The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne (1789), Gaston de Blondeville (1826), The Italian (1797), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), The Romance of the Forest (1791), and A Sicilian Romance (1790). Her works often featured supernatural elements. She greatly influenced the Marquis de Sade, Edgar Allan Poe, and Sir Walter Scott.