Reaching the height of popularity between 1860-1890, the "Sensation Novel" was a collision between social realism and Gothic Romance characterized by suspenseful plots, melodramatic elements, and explorations of taboo subjects like crime, adultery, and bigamy, often set within domestic settings. They often focus on secrets, hidden identities, and mysteries while exploring the darker side of Victorian society and human psychology. They freely adapted literary forms as diverse as melodrama, social realism, and even gothic horror in order to elicit strong emotion responses from the reader. I've included several well known works that, while not technically within the time frame, have enough characteristics to warrant inclusion;I have excluded penny-dreadfuls and Victorian erotica.
