Nightmare Alley

Nightmare Abbey is a Gothic topical satire in which the author pokes light-hearted fun at the romantic movement in contemporary English literature, in particular its obsession with morbid subjects, misanthropy and transcendental philosophical systems. Most of the characters in the novel are based on historical figures whom Peacock wishes to pillory*. (*A wooden framework with holes for the head and hands, in which an offender was imprisoned and exposed to public abuse.) (wiki)