Zastrozzi: A Romance is a gothic novel by Percy Bysshe Shelley . The first of Shelley's gothic novels, it outlines his atheistic worldview through the villain Zastrozzi and touches upon his earliest thoughts on irresponsible self-indulgence and violent revenge. An 1810 reviewer wrote that the main character "Zastrozzi is one of the most savage and improbable demons that ever issued from a diseased brain."