Combines the fields of Gothic Studies, History of Medicine, and British Romanticism. Makes a case for the value of studying the Gothic and medicine in the Romantic period in particular, rather than prioritizing the Victorian period as similar studies do. Prioritizes archival and rare literary texts not easily available in modern reprints, such as Charlotte Dacres Hours of Solitude, Joshua Pickersgill Jr.s The Three Brothers, Sophia Kings The Fatal Secret, Gothic chapbooks, and Matthew Lewiss more obscure poetry. Many of these texts have either never been written about before or been written about very infrequently because they are difficult to access. Includes primary medical source material alongside literary studies. Adds to a growing cultural interest in history of medicine by expanding on the impact of Matthew Baillies The Morbid Anatomy and its influences. Adds to growing historical reconceptions of disability within the Romantic period.

Adds to interest in the growing subfield, Medical Gothic. Gestures to the social justice impacts of medical debates.