Matthew Gregory Lewis (July 9, 1775 – May 14 or 16,1818) was an English novelist and dramatist who became famous after the sensational success of his novel, The Monk (1796). Thereafter he was known as “Monk” Lewis. Written when Lewis was 19, The Monk was influenced by novelist, Ann Radcliffe. Its emphasis on horror rather than romance, its violence, and its eroticism made it avidly read, though universally condemned. Lewis' focus on the demonic, rape, murder, and torture, deviates quite dramatically from the more subtle depictions of supernatural entities and ruined castles.
