writing gothic literature

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How to Write Gothic Fiction

Last Updated: February 26, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Christopher Taylor, PhD . Christopher Taylor is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of English at Austin Community College in Texas. He received his PhD in English Literature and Medieval Studies from the University of Texas at Austin in 2014. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 361,093 times.

Gothic fiction is a subgenre of horror, exemplified by authors such as H.P. Lovecraft, Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, and Wilkie Collins. Gothic horror consists of moody landscapes, supernatural experiences, and an atmosphere filled with dread. You can write your own piece of gothic fiction if you know about its conventions. Keep reading to learn how to write a gothic fiction story.

Developing Ideas for Your Gothic Fiction

• A story about the past can make supernatural events and strange characters seem more real to your readers.
• Or, you can write in the present but include lots of elements that hearken back to an older time. Bram Stoker includes modern technology and ancient things in Dracula. He describes typewriters and trains, but he also includes vampires and an ancient castle.

• The Overlook Hotel in Stephen King's The Shining is an excellent example of such a location. The Overlook was once a gleaming vibrant vacation spot occupied by many people, but now only Jack and his family occupy it. [1] X Research source
• The mood of the environment will influence how the characters act.

• Hero or anti-hero. There should be at least one character in your gothic fiction that readers will like, even if he or she has some dark tendencies. Mary Shelley's Victor Frankenstein is a great example of a hero who is good, even though he creates a monster.
• Villain. The villain in gothic fiction stories often plays the role of a tempter, who leads the hero down a dark path. A good villain should be both evil and fun to read about. Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula is an excellent example of an interesting, yet evil villain. He does terrible things (like murdering people) and is portrayed by Bram Stoker as the epitome of foreign corruption that threatened Britain's society at the time. Since this fear of invasion was common at the time 'Dracula' was published, it was a very popular Gothic novel.
• Woman in white. Many gothic fiction novels feature a doomed bride or damsel in distress character who never gets her happy ending. Elizabeth from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is a good example of a woman in white. [2] X Research source
• Woman in black. Other gothic fictions include a woman in black character like a widow. Miss Jessel of Turn of the Screw by Henry James is an example of a woman in black. [3] X Research source

• For example, in Bram Stoker's Dracula Mina redeems herself with the help of her friends.

Making Your Gothic Fiction Unique

• For example, young William Frankenstein wanders off and Frankenstein's monster murders him. [5] X Research source

• For example, a prophecy haunts the family in Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto. The prophecy says that the castle will pass from Manfred's line. The prophecy seems to have come true when Manfred's son dies. [8] X Research source

• Matilda is in love with one man, but another man lusts after her, which puts her in danger throughout the book. [10] X Research source

• For example, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker both use found material framing devices. They present their stories through character letters and journal entries.

Writing Your Gothic Fiction

• For example, Roderick descends into madness in Edgar Allen Poe's “Fall of The House of Usher.” His decline intensifies the story and makes it scarier.

• For example, a giant helmet crushes Conrad in Horace Walpole's Castle of Otranto. Conrad was on his way to get married. [16] X Research source

• Edgar Allen Poe includes twists at the end of his stories that lead readers to question the finality of death. Poe includes one of these twists in “Fall of the House of Usher” when Madeline appears in the doorway and falls on top of Roderick. Roderick had believed that Madeline was dead.

Gothic Fiction Template

Expert Q&A

• Read gothic fiction for inspiration and to learn more about the genre. The better you understand the conventions of the genre, the easier it will be for you to contribute your own work of gothic fiction. Thanks Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
• Going online to research all your information, like places for your setting, may also help. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0
• Share your work with supportive friends and family when you are finished. Ask for feedback on what they like and how you can improve your story. Thanks Helpful 2 Not Helpful 0

Tips from our Readers

• Be patient! It may take days before you get a good idea on what to write about.
• Read gothic books/blogs to get inspiration for your own writing.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.sgasd.org/cms/lib/PA01001732/Centricity/Domain/553/Frankenstein%20Gothic%20and%20Romantic%20Notes.pdf
• ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2014/oct/28/halloween-top-tips-gothic-writing-chris-priestley
• ↑ https://knarf.english.upenn.edu/Chars/william.html
• ↑ https://owlcation.com/humanities/How-to-Write-a-Curse-or-Prophecy-in-Your-Fiction-Writing
• ↑ https://www.bbc.co.uk/timelines/zyp72hv
• ↑ https://www.virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm
• ↑ https://www.writersdigest.com/improve-my-writing/10-ways-to-start-your-story-better
• ↑ https://www.thegothiclibrary.com/gothic-tropes-madness/
• ↑ https://study.com/learn/lesson/the-castle-of-otranto-horace-walpole-summary.html

About This Article

To write a great piece of gothic horror, start by setting your story in a strange, decaying place with a creepy atmosphere, like a crumbling castle or a haunted house. Then, spend plenty of time developing your characters. Create a main character that has some dark tendencies but is still sympathetic, and a villain who tempts the hero towards a dark path. If you need some inspiration, look for examples in the works of the great gothic horror writers, including Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe. For more writing tips from our Literary co-author, like how to develop an engaging plot, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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A guide to gothic literature: the top 10 books you have to read.

Haunted houses, dark romances, shadowy corridors, windswept moors… Gothic literature has everything you could ever want in a tale of terror . Its tales shock you out of your everyday experiences — but they’re so uncannily enthralling you may well wish to remain in their realms of fright forever.

Here’s our guide to the gloomiest and most brooding of genres. Read on as we trace the history of Gothic literature and introduce ten essential reads that have haunted us for centuries.

What is Gothic literature?

Emerging in Europe in the 18th century, Gothic literature grew out of the Romantic literary movement. It’s a genre that places strong emphasis on intense emotion, pairing terror with pleasure, death with romance. The Gothic is characterized by its darkly picturesque scenery and its eerie stories of the macabre. It draws its name and aesthetic inspiration from the Gothic architectural style of the Middle Ages ⁠— crumbling castles, isolated aristocratic estates, and spaces of decrepitude are familiar settings within the genre. 

Gothic fiction is rooted in blending the old with the new. As such, it often takes place during moments of historical transition , from the end of the medieval era to the beginnings of industrialization. Contemporary technology and science are set alongside ancient backdrops, and this strange pairing helps create the pervasive sense of uncanniness and estrangement that the Gothic is known for. Past and present fold in on each other — even as man’s technological advancements seem to make him increasingly powerful, history continues to haunt.

Elements of Gothic Literature

The Gothic is a genre of spiritual uncertainty: it creates encounters with the sublime and constantly explores events beyond explanation. Whether they feature supernatural phenomena or focus on the psychological torment of the protagonists, Gothic works terrify by showing readers the evils that inhabit our world. 

Characters in Gothic fiction often find themselves in unfamiliar places, as they — and the readers — leave the safe world they knew behind. Ghosts are right at home in the genre, where they’re used to explore themes of entrapment and isolation, while omens, curses, and superstitions add a further air of mystery.

The atmosphere of eeriness is as important as the scariness of the events themselves. In a Gothic novel, the sky seems perpetually dark and stormy, the air filled with an unshakable chill.

In addition to exploring spooky spaces, Gothic literature ventures into the dark recesses of the mind: the genre frequently confronts existential themes of madness, morality, and man pitted against God or nature. Physical and mental ruin go hand in hand — as the ancient settings decay so do the characters’ grips on reality. 

If you're feeling overwhelmed by the number of great horror books out there, you can also take our 30-second quiz below to narrow it down quickly and get a personalized horror book recommendation  😉

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10 Essential Reads of Gothic Literature

While the term “Gothic” instantly conjures plenty of ghosts and images of dark despair, the genre isn’t all about terror. Let’s look at what makes it so compelling by tracing its history through ten of the most haunting and heart-wrenching works that shaped the genre.

1. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole (1764)

Some sources say that the Gothic truly began with The Castle of Otranto , an 18th-century melodrama by the English writer and politician Horace Walpole. Walpole had a fascination with medieval history, even building the imitation Gothic castle Strawberry Hill House in 1749. This supernatural story is framed as a rediscovered text, an antique relic from the Italian medieval period.

Set in the castle of the lord Manfred, the book opens on the wedding day of his frail son Conrad to the beautiful Isabella. Yet domestic bliss is not in the cards: Conrad meets an untimely end when he is crushed by a fallen helmet. His fate seems proof of the fact that an ancient prophecy, foretelling the tragic demise of the castle’s inhabitants, is starting to be fulfilled.

Filled with locked towers and secret passages, damsels in distress and knights in armor, The Castle of Otranto is a chilling read that introduces countless Gothic tropes that would eventually come to epitomize the genre. 

“But alas! my Lord, what is blood! What is nobility! We are all reptiles, miserable, sinful creatures. It is piety alone that can distinguish us from the dust whence we sprung, and whither we must return.”

2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)

The story of Frankenstein has haunted our collective imagination since its conception by Mary Shelley on one dark night. It’s a classic tale of man’s folly in the pursuit of dangerous knowledge: scientist Victor Frankenstein tries to play God by bringing life to reanimated corpses, but he is unable to confront the sight of the terrible thing he has created.

Considered by many to be among the best books of all time , ⁠ Frankenstein is also one of the pioneering works in the science fiction genre. Yet it has plenty of classic Gothic tropes, too: mystery, doomed romance, and supernatural energy lurk in every recess of the text.

In the end, what makes Frankenstein so compelling is the unexpected humanity of the grotesque creature. Unlike the groaning monster of cinematic representations, the creature in the novel is highly intelligent and tormented by spiritual anguish, haunted by his utter aloneness after he is cruelly rejected by his creator. 

“The fallen angel becomes a malignant devil. Yet even that enemy of God and man had friends and associates in his desolation; I am alone.”

3. The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe (1839)

Edgar Allan Poe: master of mystery, poet of the macabre, and brooding Gothic icon. In his stories, Poe places his primary focus on psychological torment, turning inward from ominous Gothic atmospheres to explore the horrors of the mind. 

The Fall of the House of Usher begins with the anonymous narrator’s arrival at the remote mansion owned by his friend Roderick Usher — who believes the house to be alive. Roderick is troubled by a crack in the house’s roof, and it does not take long before his sanity starts to crack too. His twin sister, meanwhile, is prone to falling into deathlike trances, and the reader also becomes entranced by the suspenseful narrative that seems destined toward death.

"I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect ⁠— in terror. In this unnerved ⁠— in this pitiable condition⁠ — I feel that the period will sooner or later arrive when I must abandon life and reason together, in some struggle with the grim phantasm, FEAR."

4. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë (1847)

Like other Gothic novels before it, Jane Eyre makes its setting the quintessential isolated house beset by secrets. The unquiet estate of Edward Rochester, where Jane works as a governess, has it all: a strange attic, winding halls, and imprisoned terrors.

What makes Jane Eyre a beguiling development in Gothic literature is its focus on female interiority, featuring intimate first-person narration from its titular character. Jane, a young orphan brought up with few kindnesses, remains intensely hopeful; her yearning for new experiences is what leads her to take a position as a governess at Rochester’s Thornfield Hall. 

Each unfolding shock is recounted with psychological intensity, and the narration explores Jane’s conflicted outlook on gender roles and class divisions in Georgian England. But even as it explores madness and moral crisis, this classic is not all about woe — Jane Eyre is also considered to be one of the most famous romance novels of all time. Jane soon develops secret feelings of love for the enigmatic Rochester, though she continues to suspect that he is concealing secrets about his past. Their melodramatic courtship tinged with tragedy nods at the romantic roots of the Gothic that remain continuously beguiling.

“I have little left in myself ⁠— I must have you. The world may laugh ⁠— may call me absurd, selfish ⁠— but it does not signify. My very soul demands you: it will be satisfied, or it will take deadly vengeance on its frame.”

5. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson (1886)

Nothing encapsulates the themes of man’s psychological torment and self-destruction more vividly than Robert Louis Stevenson’s gripping novella. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an account of a man with good and evil battling within himself as Henry Jekyll, a morally upright and well-mannered doctor, struggles against the vile urges of his alter ego Edward Hyde.

This dark duality arises from seeking answers in science: Jekyll struggled to quell his most disturbing urges for years, ultimately developing a serum to mask them that propels his transformation into the monstrous Mr. Hyde. Hyde feels no remorse for indulging in vice and violent actions, but Jekyll becomes increasingly unable to control his transformations as he is seized by the terrible desires that lurk within him.

“With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to the truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.”

6. Dracula by Bram Stoker (1897)

The book that launched a thousand vampire stories , Bram Stoker’s Dracula is a haunting horror romance that gave us one of the most memorable and mesmerizing of Gothic figures. Count Dracula needs almost no introduction: his name is already synonymous with unquenchable bloodthirstiness.

The count lives in the faraway land of Transylvania in a castle that is a puzzle-box of mysteries, surrounded by an aura of unease. English solicitor Jonathan Harker arrives to help Dracula with legal proceedings... but before long, he finds himself haunted by phantom women, strange sleepwalking spells, and mysterious neck wounds that lead him to the horrifying truth about his host. 

When Dracula journeys to England in search of new blood, he becomes obsessed with the beautiful Lucy Westenra and draws the ire of Abraham Van Helsing, a doctor who quickly realizes the cause of Lucy’s mysterious blood loss. This is a prime example of the Gothic trope of modernity blended with antiquity: it’s not only Van Helsing’s medical prowess, but his knowledge of folk remedies and ancient legends, that enables him to identify and cure the vampire’s curse. This tale of science and superstition is an essential book to read before you die — or become undead.

“Oh, the terrible struggle that I have had against sleep so often of late; the pain of the sleeplessness, or the pain of the fear of sleep, and with such unknown horror as it has for me! How blessed are some people, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly, and brings nothing but sweet dreams.”

7. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James (1898)

Are the ghosts in the house real? Or are all those scratching sounds and screaming voices coming from inside your head? Henry James’s novella The Turn of the Screw proves that the greatest horror of all is this state of unknowing, not being sure of one’s grip on reality.

In this story, a young governess works in an English country house caring for Miles and Flora, the orphaned nephew and niece of her employer. Soon, she begins to notice unfamiliar figures roaming the grounds. As she starts to learn more about those who were employed at the home before her, she becomes increasingly convinced that the place is haunted — and that the children are concealing their own knowledge of the ghosts.

Through the governess’s obsession with the ghosts, the house, and her absent employer, the story touches on themes of psychological manipulation and repressed sexuality, capturing the heightened emotion behind not knowing what lurks around every corner. The novella’s brilliance lies in its lack of answers. Critics continue to be split over its interpretation: ghosts actually present, or the governess is merely unraveling? You’ll just have to read it and decide for yourself.

“No, no — there are depths, depths! The more I go over it, the more I see in it, and the more I see in it, the more I fear. I don’t know what I don’t see — what I don’t fear!”

8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (1938)

This novel begins with the marriage of the unnamed American narrator to a wealthy English widower, and she is soon swept away to his beautiful mansion of Manderley on the Cornish coast. Yet because this is a Gothic romance and not a fairytale, married life for the new Mrs. de Winter is not so immediately picturesque. Her marriage is haunted by the specter of her husband’s first wife, the titular Rebecca, whose memory continues to command control over the house. The narrator battles the sinister housekeeper Mrs. Danvers and Rebecca’s phantom influence, working to uncover the secrets of her husbands’ past and the hidden truths within Manderley.

A thrilling tale of jealousy and rage, Rebecca is also a gripping story of its heroine discovering her inner strength — asserting her power within her marriage, within her household, and within the minds of readers.

“The moment of crisis had come, and I must face it. My old fears, my diffidence, my shyness, my hopeless sense of inferiority, must be conquered now and thrust aside. If I failed now I should fail forever.”

9. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (1959)

The Haunting of Hill House is not just another haunted house story: it is a masterpiece of surreal terror and intense doubt regarding one’s own sanity. It gathers together four strangers connected only by their tenuous ties to the house: Dr. John Montague, an investigator of the occult and paranormal; Luke Sanderson, the brash young heir to Hill House; Theodora, a free-spirited artist with psychic abilities; and Eleanor Vance, a timid young woman haunted by a poltergeist encounter from her youth.

Dr. Montague has selected them as participants in his latest research study: he hopes to find scientific evidence of the paranormal as they take up residence in the house for the summer. The scenes of actual ghostly activity are relatively few and only vaguely described — yet Jackson creates more terror through what she withholds, establishing an atmosphere of dread that leaves the reader in constant fear. It becomes clear that the true horrors lie not within the stately Hill House, but within the deepest abysses of the mind, as Eleanor is seized by a possessive power that threatens to destroy her entirely.

“Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against its hills, holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.”

10. The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter (1979)

The Gothic arose from the premise of unearthing the secrets of antiquity and unleashing their terrors in the modern age. In The Bloody Chamber , Angela Carter tells age-old tales like you’ve never encountered them before. Her twisted reinventions of folk stories like “Little Red Riding Hood” or “Beauty and the Beast,” told in disquietingly descriptive prose, breathe fiery passion and sensually provocation into the shadows. 

The Bloody Chamber features numerous stories of dangerous sexuality and paranormal romance , but it gives a feminist spin on what were traditionally morality tales warning women against unrestrained lust. In Carter’s hands, fairy tale protagonists become strong and sexually liberated women. Carter’s deconstruction of genre and gender makes this a must-read of the contemporary Gothic.

“They will be like shadows, they will be like wraiths, gray members of a congregation of nightmare; hark! his long wavering howl... an aria of fear made audible. The wolfsong is the sound of the rending you will suffer, in itself a murdering.”

Can’t get enough of the Gothic? Check out our guide to Southern Gothic for even more dark must-reads to keep you up at night!

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A Brief Introduction to Gothic Literature

Elements, Themes, and Examples from the Gothic Style

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• Ph.D., English Language and Literature, Northern Illinois University
• M.A., English, California State University–Long Beach
• B.A., English, Northern Illinois University

The term Gothic originates with the architecture created by the Germanic Goth tribes that was later expanded to include most medieval architecture. Ornate, intricate, and heavy-handed, this style of architecture proved to be the ideal backdrop for both the physical and the psychological settings in a new literary genre, one that concerned itself with elaborate tales of mystery, suspense, and superstition. While there are several notable precursors, the height of the Gothic period, which was closely aligned with Romanticism , is usually considered to have been the years 1764 to about 1840, however, its influence extends to 20th-century authors such as V.C. Andrews, Iain Banks, and Anne Rice.

Plot and Examples

Gothic plotlines typically involve an unsuspecting person (or persons)—usually an innocent, naive, somewhat helpless heroine—who becomes embroiled in complex and oftentimes evil paranormal scheme. An example of this trope is young Emily St. Aubert in Anne Radcliffe’s classic Gothic 1794 novel, "The Mysteries of Udolpho," which would later inspire a parody in form of Jane Austen ’s 1817 "Northanger Abbey."

The benchmark for pure Gothic fiction is perhaps the first example of the genre, Horace Walpole’s "The Castle of Otranto" (1764). Although not a long tale in the telling, the dark, its oppressive setting combined with elements of terror and medievalism set the bar for an entirely new, thrilling form of literature.

Key Elements

Most Gothic literature contains certain key elements that include:

• Atmosphere : The atmosphere in a Gothic novel is one characterized by mystery, suspense, and fear, which is usually heightened by elements of the unknown or unexplained.
• Setting : The setting of a Gothic novel can often rightly be considered a character in its own right. As Gothic architecture plays an important role, many of the stories are set in a castle or large manor, which is typically abandoned or at least run-down, and far removed from civilization (so no one can hear you should you call for help). Other settings may include caves or wilderness locales, such as a moor or heath.
• Clergy: Often, as in "The Monk" and "The Castle of Otranto," the clergy play important secondary roles in Gothic fare. These (mostly) men of the cloth are often portrayed as being weak and sometimes outrageously evil.
• The paranormal : Gothic fiction almost always contains elements of the supernatural or paranormal, such as ghosts or vampires. In some works, these supernatural features are later explained in perfectly reasonable terms, however, in other instances, they remain completely beyond the realm of rational explanation.
• Melodrama : Also called “high emotion,” melodrama is created through highly sentimental language and instances of overwrought emotion. The panic, terror, and other feelings characters experience is often expressed in a way that's overblown and exaggerated in order to make them seem out of control and at the mercy of the increasingly malevolent influences that surround them.
• Omens : Typical of the genre, omens—or portents and visions—often foreshadow events to come. They can take many forms, such as dreams, spiritual visitations, or tarot card readings.
• Virgin in distress : With the exception of a few novels, such as Sheridan Le Fanu’s "Carmilla" (1872), most Gothic villains are powerful males who prey on young, virginal women (think Dracula). This dynamic creates tension and appeals deeply to the reader's sense of pathos, particularly as these heroines typically tend to be orphaned, abandoned, or somehow severed from the world, without guardianship.

Modern Critiques

Modern readers and critics have begun to think of Gothic literature as referring to any story that uses an elaborate setting, combined with supernatural or super-evil forces against an innocent protagonist. The contemporary understanding is similar but has widened to include a variety of genres, such as paranormal and horror. 

Selected Bibliography

In addition to "The Mysteries of Udolpho" and "The Castle of Otranto," there are a number of classic novels that those interested in Gothic literature will want to pick up. Here's a list of 10 titles that are not to be missed:

• "The History of the Caliph Vathek" (1786) by William Thomas Beckford
• "The Monk" (1796) by Mathew Lewis
• "Frankenstein" (1818) by Mary Shelley
• "Melmoth the Wanderer" (1820) by Charles Maturin
• "Salathiel the Immortal" (1828) by George Croly
• " The Hunchback of Notre-Dame " (1831) by Victor Hugo
• "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe
• "Varney the Vampire; or, the Feast of Blood" (1847) by James Malcolm Rymer
• "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
• " Dracula " (1897) by Bram Stoker
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THE GOTHIC SHELF

Gothic books + curated gifts

• Nov 7, 2023

5 tips on writing gothic fiction

Ever thought of writing a gothic novel? This month, aspiring writers around the world are taking part in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where they aim to write a first draft of their book in a month (ambitious!). If you’re a lover of gothic books and have always wanted to write one, here are some tips from our in-house author on how to get started.

1. Read, read, and then read some more gothic books.

This is probably the most obvious but also the most important tip. You don’t have to do an MA in Creative Writing to become a brilliant writer. You can learn from the very best authors by reading (and dissecting) their work. See how they build suspense and mystery in their novels. Do they use an unreliable narrator? How do they lean into their setting to create an atmosphere of unease? Reading a wide range of gothic fiction–from romances to hauntings and those featuring monsters , can help you narrow an area of interest in the genre and teach you some new writing techniques.

2. Make sure the gothic genre is right for your story.

Ask yourself this simple question: what is the purpose of my story? Is it mainly to entertain? Is there a social issue that you want to explore through outsider characters like monsters and anti-heroes? The gothic genre lends itself particularly well to stories that dig deeper and challenge the status quo. Knowing why you’re telling your story will give you more clarity when it comes to actually writing it.

3. Treat your gothic setting like a main character.

What we all love about gothic novels are the dark, desolate settings that help create mood and atmosphere. To really bring your setting to life, treat it like a main character. Think about its past and build a full history for it. What happened there five, ten, a hundred years ago (even before it was there)?

For bringing your setting to life, consider the five senses. What does it smell, feel, taste, sound, and look like? How do your characters feel about it? Are they on edge? How does the setting treat your characters? Does it try to spook them? If so, why? Spend lots of time drawing it out so that your setting feels like a living breathing thing.

4. Keep up the level of unease throughout your book.

In a lot of gothic books, a sense of uncertainty and danger helps build mystery and suspense. A lot of writers achieve this at the start of their book but by the middle, the sense of mystery falls flat. How can you keep the momentum going?

For one thing– don’t throw cold water on your mystery by revealing everything to the reader and characters in your book. Keep us (and your characters) second guessing. How can you achieve this? It all depends on the story you’re writing. But here are a few ways to build uncertainty and suspense in your book:

You can use an unreliable narrator

Lean into your setting– creaking floorboard, objects moving, fog/mist that makes things hazy and unclear

Hide the monster– ie. we might not know when it will come out (like in Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde), make it unpredictable

Think of pacing– slow the pace in scenes where there is danger. Think of your 5 senses

5. Lean into gothic tropes.

A damsel in distress, an anti-hero, a crumbling mansion, a winter haunting, a desolate moor– we love a gothic trope. While you don’t want your writing to be full of clichés, you can put a twist on a traditional trope. The first step is to understand how tropes have traditionally been used in gothic fiction. That’s where reading a wide range of gothic books comes in handy. To make a trope feel fresh will all depend on the context of your story. Modern gothic novels like Julia Armfield’s ‘Our Wives Under the Sea’, ‘Ghosted’ by Jenn Ashworth, or ‘Nightbitch’ by Rachel Yoder, or ' Frankissstein' by Jeanette Winterson are great examples of authors who give us a fresh perspective on a traditional trope through the timely issues they explore in their works.

Gothic books are not only thrilling to read, but they’re also a wild adventure to write. It's not an easy job by any means to write a novel, but it is deeply satisfying to imagine and give birth to a gothic book of your own. Who knows-- maybe someday day you can share the thrilling mood and atmosphere of your gothic novel with readers far and wide!

If you want to work out your gothic writing muscle, subscribe to our monthly book + a brew .

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Writing Gothic Fiction: Tips To Craft An Effective Story

by Madeleine Rose Jones | Apr 17, 2020 | General Fiction , Writing Tips | 0 comments

Gothic fiction has the power to disturb and enrich the reader.

In this blog post, I’ll share my best writing tips on crafting gothic fiction. Not only will I address the misconceptions people have about the genre, but I’ll add a unique perspective that will inspire you.

This blog post contains very light spoilers and affiliate links.

Need a word processor? I recommend Scrivener .

Tip 1: Juxtapose The Darkness With Light

The Gothic is associated with gloom. And that’s why it is tempting to make your story utterly depressing and dreadful. Yet, it is beneficial to add ‘light’ to the darkness. If your novel is one bad event after the other, and there is no ‘pause’ or brief escape, then the tension in your story won’t stand out. This is a problem I have with modern gothic fiction, such as Lars Von Trier’s film Antichrist . The endless misery.

Yet a sophisticated writer knows the power of juxtaposition. They can make the sad moments sadder by adding light in select times. No, you don’t need to ‘lessen’ the horror in your story. ‘Light’ can mean a sympathetic character, or even a cheerful conversation among friends.

Consider A Series Of Unfortunate Events . The moments that stand out to me aren’t the misery or the pain. However, the pleasant conversations among siblings and friends do. Those moments make the tragedy more tragic, because we know it’s happening to characters we care about.

Tip 2: Use Metaphors to Add Depth

The Gothic loves metaphors, and often uses imagery (such as ghosts, vampires) to convey a deeper meaning. That could be political, sexual, or emotional. Either way, metaphors, when done right, add a new level of terror in your story.

Take Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . The monster is not just a blank slate. He’s representative of birth and creation, and God. However, what makes Frankenstein effective is that Shelley is vague. She does not directly say any characters represent someone or something. She leaves it up to the readers’ imagination.

Metaphors can be done poorly. Yet if you remain subtle and clever, your gothic story will be richer. Think long about what ‘metaphors’ you want to use. It’s a field that requires care.

Tip 3: Add Romantic Elements

‘Romantic’ doesn’t always mean a love story. No, ‘Romantic’ refers to Romanticism, the art and literary period of the early 19 th century. Defined by beauty, nature and medievalism, romanticism celebrates what the modern world often forgets. Consider the ‘inner world’ your characters experience, and flesh it out with romantic details.

Romanticism is heavily subjective, as is the Gothic. Filmmakers such as Guillermo Del Toro acknowledge that and use it as an excuse for more originality. Remember: romanticism is not tame. It’s a movement that encourages you to be outlandish and unique.

Look into Romantic literature. It will add inspiration to your story and offer you fresh perspectives on how to convey exciting ideas.

Tip 4: Have Rich Characterisation

In my previous review for The Phantom Of The Opera , the novel by Gaston Leroux, I praised the characterisation of Eric. To me, it added to the gothic experience. It also helped the novel seem more real and was therefore more poignant.

When authors craft Gothic stories, they must focus on character. Not every character needs the same attention. However, the Gothic is a thrilling opportunity for fantastic character study. In The Picture Of Dorian Gray , Oscar Wilde’s commentary on vanity and youth work because Wilde focuses on character.

In our modern world, we believe that focusing on character comes at the expense of plot. Not true! You can have both. That’s why I love Dracula and a lot of gothic fiction, because it proves that fiction isn’t dictated by a silly binary.

How you write your characters is up to you. But focus on them. Figure out their motivations, their strengths and their weaknesses. Allow them to be vulnerable. By doing so, you’ll increase the ‘gothic factor’ of your work.

Tip 5: Work On The Setting

Gothic writers are experts at crafting the perfect setting. There’s something enchanting and dangerous about a medieval castle during a thunderstorm. With The Castle Of Otranto , Horace Walpole creates a labyrinth of intrigue. He utilises his setting to the full extent, and the novel is better for it.

Often, in contemporary fiction, authors treat setting like a ‘backdrop’ and not an active player in the plot. This is a mistake. Settings influence, character, action and thought. They can dictate the novels events, and can shape the ending. Take advantage of that! Develop the ultimate setting for your story. It can add to the memorability factor of your novel, and your readers will appreciate it.

Tip 6: Add Mystery

The Gothic is unsettling, it’s a madness hymn to horror. That’s why when you write gothic fiction, it’s best to have elements of mystery. It’s a good idea to have a few characters where you do not reveal all the information about them. Or, with H. P. Lovecraft, you can inject mystery to absolutely everything.

The opening lines of his famous short story, The Call Of Cthulhu , are:

“The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.”

This is the perfect statement on the Gothic. By leaving things mysterious and unsettled, the reader’s mind is free to develop the rest. And as you’ve geared the reader to a horrifying place, they will add their own fears and anxieties to your story. Isn’t that creepy!

Writers do not have to give easy answers. They can leave things up to the imagination. And I’d argue they should.

Tip 7: Inject Emotion

Gothic fiction has characters with heavy hearts, strong burdens, and prone to dramatic declarations. This is a trait in Romanticism literature, and it’s still present in the Gothic today. The film ‘ Edward Scissorhands ’ is a terrific example, as it is genuine in its attempts to pull heartstrings.

Likewise, the novel ‘ Wuthering Heights ’ by Emily Bronte is fond of emotionalism. This adds a dramatic gravitas to the novel that makes it that much richer.

Similar to point one, the way to implement effective emotionalism is through contrast. Not every scene has to be life or death. Just a select few. Pick wisely, and you will have strong moments that your reader will remember.

Tip 8: Don’t Worry About What Others Think

Gothic fiction deals with the dark side of the human soul. That means, at times,  depicting rape, murder and torture. Other times, the gothic writer will deal with death and depression. These examples are controversial, and potential readers may assume the very worst about your intentions.

For authors, that is distracting and worrying. We craft our fictional worlds, and fleshing out our characters. It’s unfair to assume that we endorse the banality we depict.

The solution is simple. Defend your writing. The gothic is all about the mysterious, the unsettling and the horrifying. Please do not sanitise or make your writing ‘safe.’ I’m a huge advocate for dangerous, upsetting fiction that disturbs the universe. Is defending your writing hard? Yes, it is.

But it’s necessary.

Tip 9: Play With Foreshadowing

Foreshadowing is a powerful device in fiction. It ‘earns’ the big moments in the story. Also, when readers revisit the book, they will have a fulfilling experience rereading it. My example of this point is a movie. The Prisoner Of Askaban , the third Harry Potter movie, is a brilliant example of foreshadowing in gothic cinema.

We have the motif of clocks ticking throughout the story. This gives dramatic weight to Hermione’s time-turning device. Also, the divination lessons with Professor Trelawney are effective. The scene where Harry’s cup has ‘The Grim’ printed on it, and the appearance of one in a Quidditch game, makes Sirius Black’s appearance near the end of the film satisfying.

Although a few examples of Alfonso Cuarón’s skill, I think I’ve made a solid case for foreshadowing. It can also be a wonderful way for the author to engage with darker themes, such as death.

There are many ways you can use foreshadowing, such as prophecies. Not all of them will suit your gothic tale equally, and I recommend ‘testing’ out different forms.

For further information on foreshadowing, I recommend this video by Hello Future Me. It goes into significant depth about the different foreshadowing, and what stories they suit.

Tip 10: Consider Tragedy

All Gothic fiction has elements of tragedy. That means tragic endings, characters or relationships. Victor Hugo’s The Hunchback of Notre-Dame is a terrific example. The three main characters: Quasimodo, Esmerelda and Claude Frollo, are all tragic in their own ways. This heightens the emotional reactions readers will have of their arcs. With Quasimodo, the readers will be empathetic. However, for Frollo, they may be frightened or enraged.

Tragedy does more than ‘make you feel sad.’ It’s an opportunity for empathy, greater engagement from readers, and a chance to explore darker themes. That is a strength of gothic fiction.

People are drawn to tragedy, and it makes for memorable endings and characters. I’d argue that tragedy is essential to the Gothic. That’s because gothic fiction focuses on the macabre and the unusual. And a strange existence often leads to a tragic tale.

To conclude this point, consider tragedy. If you do not want to end your story disturbingly, then I’d use a mysterious or vague ending instead. (Like the final book of A Series Of Unfortunate Events ). Remember: The Gothic is unsettling. Don’t be afraid to disturb.

I hope this blog post will assist you in crafting your gothic story. What’s terrific about gothic literature is that it can both disturb and delight. Although initially challenging, it is possible to write gothic literature. All it takes is work, and the ability to see the darker side of our humanity.

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• Books & Reviews

Gothicism in literature

We can characterize the day as sunny based on features like bright, no clouds and no rain. We can also characterize the main character in the story as brave because she stands up to the bully. To characterize someone or something is like putting all those qualities and features together to get a good idea of what they’re really are.

Similarly, Gothicism in literature is a style of writing characterized by gloomy settings, supernatural elements, and exoticism. The Gothic writers compose terrifying stories featuring dark and creepy themes, supernatural interferences, ancient family curses and a prevailing atmosphere of terror and mystery.

In other words, Gothic Literature or Gothic fiction really abounds in frightening elements and dark themes. But do you know that this horror genre is so much more than a scary form of entertainment?

In this article, I’ll define Gothicism in literature (Gothic fiction or Gothic literature), origin and development of Gothic fiction , and then explore the classic elements of Gothic literature . Afterwards, I’ll analyze major characteristics of Gothic fiction , from the terror and dread it induces in its characters and audience to the literary devices its writers employ to create a sense of gruesome and macabre. 

In order to fully appreciate Gothicism in literature, it’s mandatory to understand its place in history and society. Besides, it is equally necessary to explore the factors which led writers to adopt this particularly gruesome style of narration. It’s also essential that readers learn to recognize Gothic literature themes, motifs and conventions . Finally, I’ll discuss some famous Gothic writers and their major works . The discussion will end with exploring why Gothic fiction has retained its appeal even with today’s audiences .

So let’s dive right in!

Table of Contents

1. Introduction & Definition of Gothic Literature

Gothicism in literature (Gothic fiction or Gothic literature) is a style of writing characterized by gloomy settings, grotesque action, supernatural elements, romance and exoticism. It basically emerged as the subgenre of Romanticism in 18th century’s England. Later, in the 19th century, it also became popular in the United States as the darkest form of ‘Dark Romanticism’, a genre that emerged from the ‘Transcendental Movement’ in America. 

The Gothic writers mostly fabricate their narratives using elements like horror, mystery, suspense, romance, decay and degeneration. They use these Gothic elements to tackle serious issues that require much attention. For instance, social injustice, corruption, the class system, gender norms, racism, and more.

The famous Gothic stories or novels usually contain grotesque characters, sheer terror, graphic morbidity, supernatural and picturesque adventures to entertain the reader. Besides, they also draw on emotional extremes and dark themes. The classic Gothic novels usually take place in settings like old, gloomy castles, mansions, and monasteries; all isolated and ruined. 

However, at the end of the 19th century emerged a new mode of Gothic fiction—the ‘Modern Gothic’. The modern Gothic novels focus on the urban settings, complicated plots with various subplots, and highlight contemporary issues and concerns. 

When do most Gothic novels take place?

A Gothic novel can take place in any time, past, present, or even future (such as sci-fi Gothic) , provided it incorporates some of the key elements of Gothic Literature . At the beginning of the Gothic genre, most Gothic novels took place in 18th and 19th century Europe, particularly during the Romantic period. Old mansions and isolated castles provided an ideal atmosphere for creating a mood of fear, dread, and suspense. This period was marked by a fascination with the supernatural, horror, and the darker aspects of human nature, which made it a popular setting for Gothic fiction.

While most Gothic novels are often set in the past , many modern gothic novels are set in the present or in the recent past such as World War I, Civil Rights Movement or Colonialism, and they often explore contemporary anxieties and fears.

2. Origin of Gothic Literature

The term ‘Gothic’ traces its origin in the medieval architecture created by the Goths, a North Germanic tribe of the Middle ages. The Gothic architecture was dark, intricate, and dismal in its appearance. Aesthetically embellished and conceptually intricate, this medieval and exotic architecture became the inspiration and ideal setting for a new literary genre in Europe, namely, Gothicism or Gothic Literature.

Gothicism made its appearance in literature in the beginning of the Romantic Era (mid-18th Century). It was encouraged by the group of writers who were enchanted by the spell of medievalism. They wrote novels exhibiting the elements of terror, horror, suspense, superstition, mystery and romance; elements that eventually became the characteristics of Gothic novels .

How did Gothic literature emerge?

Gothic fiction actually emerged as a subgenre of Romanticism which was a reaction to the formal form of the Enlightenment, a European intellectual movement. The Romantics focused on the beauty of nature, subjectivity, individualism, and the sublime. Though Gothicism shared many features of Romanticism, it mainly focused on the darker side of humanity and its preoccupation with sin and evil. 

As opposed to the Enlightenment that emphasized reason and science over superstition and blind faith, the Gothic writers intended to thrill feelings and emotions among the readers. They mainly focused on human fallibility, the psychological effects of guilt and sin, self-destruction, punishment, and judgement. 

According to many critics, the Gothic novel in the beginning was a description of the fallen world. Early Gothic novels heavily focused on religion, morality, and philosophy, with the evil villains usually acting as metaphors for various human temptations the protagonist must overcome. Their endings were more often than not unhappy, and romance was never their focus. But in the centuries since, Gothic fiction not only developed, but also branched off into many popular subgenres, dealing with several themes.

The most famous Gothic writers of the era were Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew Lewis, Mary Shelley, Charles Robert Maturin, Willian Beckford, Edgar Allan Poe , Bram Stoker , Robert Louis Stevenson and others.

3. Development of Gothicism in Literature: The Gothic Fiction & Writers

3.1. the first gothic novel.

The term ‘Gothic’ was first used in literature by Horace Walpole, an English author, art historian, and a Whig politician. He was the third son of Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister, and a pivotal figure in 18th century art, literature, society, and architecture. He used the term ‘Gothic’ in the subtitle of his novel “ The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story ” (1765). Walpole’s book resulted in a literary movement which has sired monsters, unleashed lightening and put damsels in distress for 250 years!

Horace Walpole actually borrowed the term ‘Gothic’ from medieval Gothic architecture and applied it in the context of horror. His novel ‘ The Castle of Otranto’ is the first Gothic novel , and is solely responsible for originating an entire new literary genre that ultimately gave rise to the literature of terror—Gothic literature. Without this forerunner of the Gothic novel, there may never have been a horror genre. With its compelling blend of sinister portents, tempestuous passions and ghostly visitations, it spawned an entire literary tradition and influenced such writers as Ann Radcliffe, Edgar Allan Poe , Bram Stoker and others.

Therefore, Horace Walpole is truly considered the chief initiator of Gothicism in literature . He is known as the first Gothic writer as well as  the founder of Gothic fiction . 

3.2. ‘The Castle of Otranto’: A Pioneer of Gothic fiction

Walpole originally published The Castle of Otranto in 1964, calling it a translation from an old Italian manuscript. He did so because he thought that the style of the book would not be well received. But to his utter surprise, the public loved it and Walpole eventually confessed to its authorship in the second edition of the book published in 1765. According to him, the story of the book was inspired by a nightmare he experienced at his Gothic villa, Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham, London.

The Gothic Elements in ‘The Castle of Otranto’

Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto features many elements that definitely were innovative for the era and from which many authors drew inspiration. The book contains dark settings, supernatural elements, tyrants, mysteries and secrets—all known today as the traditional elements of Gothic literature . It has a medieval setting, with knights, vile and bullying usurpers, and pious and submissive girls.

The Castle of Otranto , therefore, can be seen as a draft of Gothic fiction. Walpole established a model for Gothic literature, later sophisticated by Ann Radcliffe, author of The Mysteries of Udolpho , one of the greatest bestsellers of the time. Walpole’s book further went on to influence works such as Dracula , The Monk , and many more.

Thus, Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto introduced many archetypes that have defined the genre. It was a true revival of medieval chivalry, but characterized by the union of romantic elements with that of the darkest and most disturbing ones. The backdrop of a medieval castle in a foreign country is the most obvious, paired with elements of the supernatural and the macabre. However, The Castle of Otranto is unique as it also includes humor and completely surrealistic additions that other well-known Gothic works which followed did not.

  3.3. Why did Gothic fiction become so popular? And how did it flourish?

After Walpole’s “ The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story “, Gothic literature soon flourished successfully in Europe, America and some other countries including France. Its mysterious and adventurous stories set in dark and gloomy places, in fact, gained outstanding popularity in the 19th century.

Gothic fiction greatly appealed to the audience not only because it provided sensationalist entertainment but also because it portrayed stories of vulnerability and conflict with which the society could identify. 

A New Identity for Gothicism in Literature

Gothicism in literature has undergone a significant change from its inception to date. After Horace Walpole there came many famous Gothic writers who successfully wrote novels of terror and mystery. They utilized Walpole’s Gothic tropes in their stories, but polished them with their own peculiar style. These famous Gothic writers include Ann Radcliffe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker,   Edgar Allan Poe and others. Their works helped in further development of the genre, introducing other elements, not necessarily supernatural, into the plot and building the character. 

Ann Radcliffe, for instance, was the most popular of the writers of Gothic fiction during the Romantic age. Her Gothic novels masterfully combined the mechanism of ‘terror’ (as practiced by Walpole and his followers) with sentimental but effective description of scenery. The Mysteries of Udolpho and the Italian are her best-known works.

A later Gothic novel, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , brought a new turn in the Gothic genre. It portrayed an extra ordinary world where man attempts to be as powerful as God. Frankenstein is widely known as the first modern science fiction novel. It marked a new shift in Gothic literature by changing the typical Gothic villain from a supernatural being or an evil man into the physical embodiment of human folly, brought to life through scientific power.

3.4. What is American Gothic Fiction?

While Gothic literature was flourishing in England, American literature was in the midst of Transcendentalism, a literary movement that focused on science, nature and individualism. Then emerged Romanticism as a response against this “reason over feeling” or “head over heart” mentality. The Romantics believed in emotions, feelings, and the unseen world, rather than the cold facts of science. 

As an offshoot of Romanticism emerged Dark Romanticism, also known as American Gothic. As compared to Romanticism, it was darker, had more emphasis on the supernatural, and a deep fascination with the grotesque, irrational, and demonic. Initially, the American audience discarded this new genre because they considered it unreliable. It was mainly due to the fact that Gothic had its roots in history, something that America lacked. To make it stand out of other Gothics, American writers established their own Gothic characteristics, featuring their own conceptions of horror.

3.5. What made American Gothic Fiction distinctive from its European counterpart? 

The entire credit of this distinctiveness goes to Edgar Allan Poe . In the 19th century, Edgar Allan Poe from America skillfully got hold of the Gothic genre. In his hands, Gothic fiction flourished to its extreme. The tragic events of Poe’s own lifetime helped him discover and write about the world’s worst evils. His writings explored the trauma taking place in the human mind, the evils of man, and emotional and mental disorders. It is his curiosity with the supernatural, the psychological trauma, and experience with mental illness that heightened a degree of horror in his works, an attribute that is still unparalleled.

All the works of Edgar Allan Poe are, indeed, well-known for their Gothicism. His famous story ‘ The Fall of the House of Usher’ (1839), for instance , unfolds all the terrors of the human soul. Furthermore, he also wrote many detective, horror, romantic and comic stories. All these stories successfully explore Gothic themes and motifs of aristocratic decay, death and instability. 

Thus, it was Edgar Allan Poe who, with his masterful grip on the stories of ‘terror’, raised the Gothic genre to the peak of fame. He is best known today as the master of gothic horror tales and also the father of American Gothic literature .

Read More About Edgar Allan Poe

3.6. What are the Similarities and Differences between British Gothic and American Gothic literature?

In British Gothic fiction, the writers use certain techniques in order to confuse the reader, for instance, multiple narrators and plots. The main purpose behind this technique is to arouse readers’ curiosity and make what happens next all the more surprising. However, in American Gothic, the authors mainly utilize rhetorical devices such as imagery, personification, and symbolism for this purpose.

American Gothic writers focused on the psychological side of man, whereas Gothic writers from Britain focused on morality and faith. However, certain settings and strange events are a characteristic that is common in both English and American Gothic.

In British Gothic literature, terror is enhanced by the appearance of monsters, vampires, etc. While in American Gothic, the writers blend mystery and skepticism with strange events to enhance the feeling of terror.

Above all, the main difference between American and British Gothic fiction lies in their specific treatment of several Gothic themes and topics.  

4. Some Common Trends in Gothic Fiction

Some common trends have been seen in Gothic fiction (British and American) since the beginning of the genre. These trends of Gothicism in literature are: 

• Gloomy landscapes with ruined settings (old castles, ancient monasteries, graveyards etc.).
• Rebellious Movement (a reaction against former literary forms).
• Focus on the dark side of human nature (psychological or moral).
• Emphasis on the corruption of the human mind.
• Contrasting weather (inner vs. outer weather).
• An Atmosphere of Mystery and Suspense.
• The battle between mankind and unnatural forces of evil.
• Women in trouble.

5. Key Elements of Gothicism in Literature: Gothic Novel Elements

So far we’ve come to know that Gothicism in literature or Gothic fiction is a genre that combines both horror and romance. Besides, it also entails so much outside of social commentary and dark aesthetic.

Here are 10 key elements of Gothic fiction that will help you fully understand a Gothic novel:

• Gothic Setting: Gloomy, decaying castles or manors
• Male Protagonists: Beastly & Burdened 
• Female Protagonists: Damsel in distress
• Ghosts, Monsters & Vampires
• Romance: Tragic and Bittersweet
• Gothic Atmosphere: Full of Suspense and Mystery
• The Grotesque
• Terror and Horror

Let’s analyze these basic elements of Gothic fiction in detail.

5.1. Gothic Setting: Gloomy, Decaying Castles or Manors

Settings are an extremely important element in Gothic fiction. The most typical Gothic settings include cemeteries, old castles, crumbling mansions, haunted houses, underground crypts and tunnels, dungeons, swamps, and dark forests.

In fact, a perfect Gothic novel features a gloomy, decaying, or abandoned setting with an atmosphere of mystery and suspense. 

  Horace Walpole had a fascination in medieval history and Gothic architecture. He even built the imitation Gothic castle ‘Strawberry Hill House’ in 1749. Also, the setting of his first Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto is an ancient castle located in Medieval Italy. This first Gothic novel is actually responsible for starting a trend of placing a story in a Gothic building and exciting feelings of awe, dread, and isolation. 

Thus, Gothic architecture plays an important role in Gothic literature. The setting of many of the Gothic stories is either a castle or large manor. This castle or large manor is usually abandoned or at least run-down. Whereas, in some Gothic novels it is far removed from civilization (so that no one can hear you when you call for help). Other settings in Gothic fiction may include caves or wilderness locales. For instance, a moor or heath. 

The Gothic setting is evident in Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto , Bram Stoker ’s Dracula , Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights , Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein .

5.2. Male Protagonists: Beastly & Burdened 

Gothic novels mostly feature beastly and burdened protagonists. The main characters initially appear as a nice, decent person, but must ultimately face a monster within them. A prime example of this is Henry Jekyll from Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

So, the typical Gothic protagonists face their own demons (the darkness ‘within’) while searching for peace among the living or the dead. Gothic fiction explores the madness within each human being as we often witness characters who represent the best and the worst versions of humanity.

In addition, the protagonists in Gothic literature are aristocratic, solitary, sophisticated, moody, cynical from outside, but nursing a guilty secret inside. This type of conflicted male figures exist everywhere in Gothic fiction. The best examples in this regard are Maxim from ‘ Rebecca’ and Mr. Rochester from ‘Jane Eyre’. Both these protagonists are tormented by their guilty pasts. Another example of a beastly protagonist can be seen in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein . 

Thus, in Gothic literature, the past always haunts the present. Whether it’s some guilty secret, sin or memory, there is always some form of a past the character would rather forget.

5.3. Female Protagonists: Damsels in Distress

In Gothic novels, the female protagonists are often damsels in distress. That is, they are victims and need to be rescued. Throughout the Gothic story, they face events that leave them frightened, screaming, panting and fainting. Moreover, these female protagonists are also virtuous heroines who are either imprisoned in an abandoned castle or pursued by a beast or an aristocratic lord. Throughout the course of the story they are running, screaming, sobbing or terrifying. 

Some examples of damsels in distress from early Gothic fiction are:

• ‘Matilda’ in The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
• ‘Emily’ in The Mysteries of Udolpho Ann Radcliffe

Gothic fiction also presents female protagonists in a particular light that completely alters the reader’s interpretation and leaves a profound effect upon a text. For instance, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories by Angela Carter and Dracula by Bram Stoker depict women as maternal figures, objects of desire, and supernatural beings. They are also defined by their biological roles. But the most interesting thing here is particularly the transition between these typecasts. It is the breaking of the female characters out of their stereotypes which provides Gothic writers to create obscurity and suspense within a plot. 

Thus, in Gothic literature we see female characters in two main roles: either victim or the predator. The first one is fragile and vulnerable; while the latter is dangerous yet powerfully attractive.

5.4. Ghosts, Monsters & Vampires

The antagonists in Gothic fiction are mainly ghosts, monsters, demons, vampires, zombies, witches, werewolves etc.  For instance, in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein , Victor Frankenstein creates a monster using body parts from various corpses in an attempt to make a perfect human being (which turns out to be a hideous monster!). 

Similarly, in Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto , we find the castle haunted by the restless ghosts of Alfonso and Ricardo. Moreover, the plot of Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho revolves around understanding the disjointed stories of two primary ghosts: Marchioness de Villeroi and Signora Laurentini.

5.5. Romance: Tragic and Bittersweet

Romance in Gothic literature has always been a central element, but what that means exactly has shifted over time. Basically in Gothic fiction, romance is tragic or bittersweet. Also, general Romanticism levels are through the roof, almost nearing melodrama. 

Literally, the earliest works of Gothic fiction were called “Romances”—referring to the popular Medieval genre of Chivalric Romance, featuring the adventures of a heroic knight-errant on various quests. This is because romantic love often played a significant role in these stories, particularly in the form of the hero either wooing a beautiful maiden or rescuing a damsel in distress. Thus, early Gothic novels were an imitation of these medieval elements. 

For instance, the very first Gothic novel written by Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto , depicts Theodore, a young man, who after his first sweeping romance with Manfred’s daughter, Matilda, ends in tragedy. He has to marry another girl and mourn the loss of his true love for years. 

Furthermore, in Frankenstein , Victor’s love story with Elizabeth Lavenza also ends up tragically. Similarly, Ann Radcliffe’s Gothic novels, A Sicilian Romance (1790) and Romance of the Forest (1791) also feature traditional romance plots. 

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5.6. gothic atmosphere: full of suspense and mystery.

The atmosphere in Gothic fiction is characterized by suspense, mystery and terror. It is further heightened by the unknown, unexplained or uncanny elements. The Gothic writers sometimes build their plot around a mystery: for instance, unknown parentage, someone’s disappearance, or many other inexplicable events. 

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein abounds in mysterious events and aptly features the gloomy atmosphere. Besides, there are a lot of mysterious happenings in The Castle of Otranto that arouse suspense among the readers. For instance, the appearance of a giant helmet, the giant sword, the skeletal hermit, and the giants. 

Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White presents another example of Gothic atmosphere. The book contains several mysterious and ghostly elements as well as unanswerable questions that heighten suspense.

5.7. Gothic Melodrama

Gothic fiction is highly melodramatic since emotions run high in Gothicism, reflecting a heightened sense of drama. We often find women swooning in Gothic novels and men raging due to some unseen inner torments. Gothic novels also feature murders, kidnappings, people going mad, and women holding knives. They are stories of conflicts that are heightened with music.

The Castle of Otranto is a medieval tale of terror, incest, and murder mixed with a fair amount of melodrama and humor. Besides, Ira Levin’s Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and Charlotte’s Bronte’s Jane Eyre are also examples of Gothic melodrama.

Among other things, Gothic melodrama is still widely popular in today’s movies.

5.8. The Grotesque in Gothic Fiction

Another key element of Gothicism in literature is the grotesque. Almost similar to the uncanny, the grotesque in Gothic fiction results from the striking combination of the familiar and the unfamiliar, or more likely the distorted familiar. It means that a character has a lack of knowledge about an unknown disturbing issue, but he/she simultaneously anticipates that some evil explanation is lurking behind it. Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an obvious example in this regard.

Moreover, the characters in Gothic novels are also considered grotesque if they induce both disgust and empathy. On the contrary, a character who inspires merely disgust is simply a villain or a monster. 

Among the examples of the grotesque characters include: physically distorted and mentally deficient characters, with cringe-worthy social traits. For instance, Mary Shelley’s monster in Frankenstein or the unusual characters depicted in Flannery O’Connor’s stories . 

Weather conditions like storms, fog, rain, wind, full moons, and clouds also play an important role in arousing the sense of the grotesque.

5.9. Exoticism

Exoticism is the quality of seeming unusual or interesting, usually because of associations with a distant country. Since Gothic fiction flourished during the height of British imperialism, both fear of and fascination with foreign cultures seeped into the genre. The writers of the era heavily entrenched Orientalism in all genres of English literature, but the significance of ‘the Other’ especially appealed to the Gothic writers. 

The most important example of the interplay between Gothicism and Orientalism is William Beckford’s Vathek (1782), subtitled “An Arabian Tale.” Besides, Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian is a prime example of exoticism in Gothic literature. Moreover, Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s most famous poems Kubla Khan and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner can be also seen as examples of Exoticism and supernatural, but they are not typically Gothic.

5.10. Terror and Horror

Both terror and horror are key elements of Gothicism in literature. However there is an obvious distinction between them: horror evokes physical emotion i.e. sensationalism; whereas terror is more psychological i.e. dealing with subtle and sublime. 

Terror in Gothicism results from dreadful suspense and veils a ghastly unknown. Whereas, horror stems out of generating revulsion. Terror persuades the reader to advance cautiously and with anticipation. While horror yearns for the sudden, crude, blatantly comic, and for the grotesque. 

The most famous Gothic novels that evoke both terror and horror are The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliff, The Monk by Matthew Lewis , The Fall of the House of  Usher by Edgar Allan Poe , We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson and others.

Read More Elements of Gothic Literature

6. major characteristics of gothicism in literature.

There is a difference between the characteristics and elements of Gothic literature. While explaining Gothic literature, when we talk about the elements of Gothic novels, we specifically mean the basic things that need to be understood before anything else can be taught. Whereas, the characteristics of Gothic fiction means how these elements are incorporated and dealt with in the Gothic novels. 

Gothic Literature or Gothic fiction contains four major elements: 

• The story is set in decaying, gloomy or remote places. 
• The plot involves macabre, grotesque or violent incidents. 
• Characters are suffering from physical and/or psychological torment.
• The presence of paranormal or otherworldly elements.

From these major characteristics branch-off many other Gothic features. Some of the most prominent characteristics of Gothic literature are discussed below:

6.1. Mysterious Happenings and Suspense

The plot of the Gothic novel or story consists of mysterious happenings and suspense. For example, the disappearance of characters or things is a very common feature of Gothicism in literature. Besides, the unknown parentage of the protagonist, the hidden secrets and unexplained manifestations in the Gothic fiction are utilized to invoke suspense among the readers.

6.2. Existence of Supernatural Elements

The existence of supernatural elements such as ghosts, vampires, zombies, giants, and monsters is another key characteristic of Gothic fiction. For instance, in Gothic novels, we see the walking giants and inanimate objects such as an armor suit or a statue or portrait coming to life . These supernatural elements, on the whole, excite readers’ emotions and they begin enjoying the story. 

6.3. The Gothic Buildings

The presence of enchanted houses, haunted mansions, gloomy old castles, isolated monasteries and ruined ancient buildings displaying the intricate Gothic architecture is another key feature of Gothicism in literature. These buildings also contain secret passages or hidden staircases. All these elements, undoubtedly, give the story a mysterious and horror touch.

6.4. Bleak and Deadly Atmosphere 

The atmosphere of bleakness, thrill, death, and decay has a key role in Gothic fiction. The dark and dismal themes are aptly utilized by the Gothic writers to enhance the bleak atmosphere. In addition, the characters in the story are constantly facing terror of the unknown.  We find them, for instance, struggling to evade their death at the hands of some supernatural being or a barbarous aristocrat. This key feature, in fact, has a tendency to invoke thrill among the readers.

6.5. Hereditary Curses and Prophecies

Another key characteristic of the Gothic novels is hereditary curses and prophecies. We find the protagonist of the story struggling with an ancient hereditary curse or suffering as a result of an old prophecy. Furthermore, the prophecies, omens and visions in the Gothic novel serve the purpose of foreshadowing technique. That is, they tell the reader what is going to happen next in the story. 

6.6. Psychological Trauma and Mental Disorder

The characters in Gothic novels mostly suffer from psychological trauma and mental disorders. For instance, in the Gothic novels we find conflicted male figures with guilty secrets and past. Besides, they are having nightmares or frightening visions which foreshadow upcoming tragedy.

Furthermore, the character’s mental illness, sometimes, stems out of the guilt of his past sins or crimes. While, in many cases, its causes are different. The character’s psychological trauma finally leads to his split personality and he becomes a threat for the surrounding people.

6.7. The Awful Weather and Frightening tone

Another key element of Gothicism in literature is awful weather and frightening tone. Such as, the stormy night, harsh weather, lightning and thunder—all contribute to the Gothic nature of the story. Moreover, the creaking sound of the door, the monstrous laughter of the unknown, and the sound of footsteps make the tone of the story even more frightening. 

The tone of Gothic fiction involves highly emotional states: dread, terror, anger, obsession, vengeance, anxiety, etc. However, the mood of Gothic literature is foreboding, melancholy, and an atmosphere of terror, suspense, and mystery.

7. Major Themes in Gothic Fiction

Themes refer to ideas that are recurrent or pervade a work of literature or art. They are the underlying meaning of a story. Themes give us an idea of what the writer is trying to convey through the story.

Some major themes used by the writers of Gothicism in literature are:

• Appearance and reality
• Terror and horror
• Justice vs. injustice
• Fear and anxiety 
• Intimidating hero
• Troubled heroine
• Duality of man
• Confinement
• Isolation and seclusion
• Religion and faith
• Power and corruption

8. Some Important Motifs and Conventions in Gothic Fiction

Motifs are a literary technique in which writers repeatedly use such elements or ideas that have a symbolic significance to a literary work. A motif may be a recurring image, a repeated word, a color, a phrase, or a topic expressed in language.

Some motifs that are characteristic of the Gothicism in literature are: 

• Doppelgangers
• Dreams, nightmares, visions
• Forbidden knowledge or power
• Omens, curses, prophecies, signs
• Psychiatric and medical conditions 
• Light/Darkness, Lights/Shadows, 
• Warmth/Cold 
• Twins and doubles
• Mistaken identity 

Literary Conventions refer to the features of a literary work that define its genre. These may include tropes, recurring images, specific colors, arcs, clichés, symbols, and or certain devices that help distinguish how the audience will classify a particular literary text. Moreover, these literary conventions can be aspects of:

• prosody (rhyme and sound)
• content (humor in a comedy)
• structure (acts in a play)

Some literary conventions that are characteristics of Gothicism in literature are: 

• Imprisoned Characters 
• Flickering candles
• Electrical failure
• Strange glowing
• Eerie sounds 
• Slamming doors
• Thunderstorms
• Firelight and shadows
• Crazed laughter 
• Abandoned areas 
• Howling of wolves and dogs 
• Sighs, moans, and clanking
• Footsteps and Staircases 

9. The Gothic Novel: A Truth in Fancy Dress

Gothicism in literature has never been truly about pure, distilled horror—there is always a submerged meaning, something actually lurking below the subtext (but not a monster in the fantastical sense). Similar to historical fiction, the Gothic distances readers from their current cultural context. If the past is a foreign country, the Gothic is an alien planet. For centuries, Gothicism in literature has been employed to explore social, cultural and political issues deemed taboo, uncomfortable, or too radical for their historical moment. 

For example, although Ann Radcliffe’s The Italian (1797) is about love lost and obsession during the Holy Inquisition, it surreptitiously offers commentary on the French Revolution. It actually interrogates the aristocracy, the perils of religious fervor and concepts of nationality from a safe, allegorical distance.

Similarly, while John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) may seem to  be a far-fetched tale about a blood-sucking immortal, it may also be read as a subversive exploration of male same-sex desire in both historically and geographically Orientalized literary space. 

Although ridiculed, and associated with female hysteria or female writers in its heyday, Gothicism in literature is a highly seditious vehicle for the interrogation and dissemination of un-conventional ideologies, non-conformist criticisms of society, and alternative ways of existing.

Through its sublime landscapes, romantic architecture, preternatural monsters, and many, many damsels in distress, Gothicism in literature exposes the truly horrifying things.

Look for the truth in fancy dress!

10. A List of Famous Gothic Novels of All Time

Some famous Gothic novels and their writers are listed below:

• The Castle of Otranto (1765) by Horace Walpole
• The History of the Caliph Vathek (1786) by William Thomas Beckford
• The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe
• The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis
• Wieland (1798) by Charles Brockden Brown
• Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley
• The Vampyre (1819) by William Polidori
• Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Maturin
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1831) by Victor Hugo
• The Fall of the House of  Usher (1839) by Edgar Allan Poe
• Jane Eyre (1847) by Charlotte Bronte
• Wuthering Heights (1847) by Emily Bronte
• The House of the Seven Gables (1851) by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• Carmilla (1872) by Sheridan le Fanu
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891) by Oscar Wilde
• Dracula (1897) written by Bram Stoker 
• The Turn of the Screw (1898) by Henry James
• Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier.
• Psycho (1959) by Robert Bloch
• We Have Always Lived in the Castle (1962) by Shirley Jackson.
• Rosemary’s Baby (1968) by Ira Levin

20 Most Famous Classic Gothic Novels You Must Read

11. famous gothic writers: representatives of gothicism in literature.

Gothic writers usually focus on the darker side of humanity, the evils in man’s nature and the psychological effects of guilt and sin on man. Revenge, guilt, madness, superstition, prophecies, omens and supernatural elements such as ghosts and spirits are common motifs used by the writers of Gothicism in literature.

Moreover, the Gothic writers invent a host of characters in their writings, most of whom struggle to participate “normally” in a respectable society. They represent an entanglement of reality and fantasy with elements of mystery, terror, and supernatural. The list below features the most famous gothic writes that are truly representative of the Gothic genre.

Horace Walpole

Horace Walpole (1717-1797), the 4th earl of Oxford, was a famous antiquarian, art historian, politician, and author. He was the third son of Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first Prime Minister. Educated at King’s College and Eton College, Cambridge, he was a multipotential man with a slew of influential friends. Over his lifetime Walpole was an avid reader and writer. He also founded Strawberry Hill House, the Gothic Revival villa in London.

Horace Walpole wrote the first Gothic novel ‘ The Castle of Otranto ’ (1764) after being inspired by a nightmare he experienced at Strawberry Hill House. The book became immediate success and soon initiated an entire new genre in literature i.e. Gothic fiction. Walpole’s novel is solely responsible for the huge burst of interest in medievalism and ‘terror’ fiction that still endures to this day. 

William Thomas Beckford

William Thomas Beckford (1760-1844) was an English novelist, art critic, politician and traveler. Despite being rich and renowned in the family, he failed to make a political career due to the homosexual scandals he was starring in. Just to avoid being incriminated, he travelled long across Europe, developing a long Grand Tour and accumulating literary experiences. He was an eccentric collector of artworks and tried his best to accurately dissipate his heritage until the day he died. 

Beckford’s best-known Gothic work is Vathek , written in French in just three days and two nights and then published in English later. The novel, although not Gothic in the strict sense, explores many elements of it and was considered an important link between Enlightenment literature and the first pre-Romantic experiences. In addition to being, of course, appreciated by Lord Byron. 

Ann Radcliffe

Ann Radcliffe (1764-1823), the mother of Gothic fiction, was one of the most influential writers of her time. She had a striking impact on the Gothic genre and was among the first generation pioneers of gothic literature. Radcliffe wrote six novels of suspense and terror that made her one of the highest paid novelists of her time. She was regarded by contemporary critics as ‘the mighty enchantress’ and also the ‘Shakespeare of romance-writers’.

Radcliffe’s Gothic writings are universally admired and still widely read today. Her works influenced many later and better known writers such as Austen, Hugo, Dumas, Balzac, Dostoevsky, Poe, and probably most of the modern Gothic favorites like Daphne du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, and Donna Tartt.

Radcliffe’s most well known work is The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), one of the earliest examples of the Gothic romance genre. The book features large, ancient, imposing structures in desolate landscapes and heroines left to fend for themselves against sinister forces.

Her stories were some of the first to have compelling female characters who find themselves alone in threatening circumstances and must use their wits and sensibilities to overcome powerful male villains who often seek to imprison or psychologically dominate them.

Radcliffe became known for several innovations, including her poetic descriptions of the landscapes and her insistence on explaining the supernatural at the end of the books—a characteristic later criticized by Lovecraft. Although this technique was disapproved, Radcliffe kept it because she believed that the real Gothic fiction should make the reader dive not only into the fear of the supernatural, but also more concrete and immediate psychological terror. 

Ann Radcliffe’s other famous Gothic novels are The Italian , A Sicilian Romance , The Romance of the Forest , The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne , and others.

Do You Know? An interesting rumor about Anne Radcliffe was that before bed, she ate pork to weigh her stomach and thus increase the chances of having a nightmare. This way she was inspired to write her Gothic tales.

Matthew gregory lewis .

Matthew Gregory Lewis (1775-1818) was an English writer and dramatist, well-known for his Gothic novels. His most famous Gothic work is The Monk . The novel attained sensational popularity with it’s violence and eroticism, and its overall focus on horror rather than romance. He was frequently referred to as ‘Monk’ Lewis after that.

The Monk brought Lewis immediate literary success, condemnation due to some of its immoral content, and accolades from Lord Byron and Marquis de Sade. 

Influenced by Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho and contemporary German Gothic works, The Monk was followed by a popular musical drama in the same vein, The Castle Spectre  (1798). 

Charles Brockden Brown

Charles Brockden Brown (1771-1810) was a writer, editor and historian, interested in both the literature that emerged slowly in the Old World and in the subjects of its current day. He was the first American to make his primary living as a novelist. He wrote in multiple genres and is generally regarded by critics and scholars as one of the most important American novelists.

Charles Brockden Brown is also known as the “father of the American novel.” Most of his novels also aptly fit in the genre of Gothic fiction. Brown’s gothic romances in American settings became widely popular. They were later adapted by Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne, two of the greatest early American Gothic writers.

Brown published Wieland, or, the Transformation in 1798, which is now considered the first American Gothic novel. The novel is filled with suspense and mystery, and discusses subjects as religious fanaticism, belief in supernatural, and psychological manipulation.  

Mary Shelley

Mary Shelley (1797-1851) is one of the world’s most renowned Gothic writers. She was the daughter of radical philosopher, William Godwin, and writer as well as women’s rights advocate, Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Shelley was born in London and her mother died less than a month after her birth. Her father, the political philosopher, raised her, giving her an informal but advanced education.

Aged 16, Mary met Percy Bysshe Shelley, an older and married poet at the cemetery, where her mother was buried. She started a romance with him and, after her father disapproved of the relationship, the couple eloped to France. Her  life was full of tragedies and surprising deaths.

In her life, Shelley broke the casts then expected for a woman in the period. She believed that sympathy and cooperation (especially that of women) was the path to reforming society, which made her a political radical at her time. 

Mary Shelley is most famous for her Gothic masterpiece Frankenstein which some argue as being one of the first works of science fiction. Her book is a deep reflection on human existence as well as an analysis of the boundaries between morals and scientific creation. Her lesser known works include Mathilda , Valperga , and The Last Man . 

John William Polidori

John William Polidori (1796-1821) was an English doctor and writer, whose life was marked by his relationship with Lord Byron, the famous poet of Romanticism . He was Byron’s personal physician who accompanied him on his travels around Europe and had been charged with documenting the experience.

According to some, it was Polidori who created the first aristocratic literary vampire, Lord Ruthven, modelling him on his employer and based on a piece written by Lord Byron. His literary vampire combines evil with the quality of a lovely aristocrat of women. 

John Polidori is most famous for his Gothic story The Vampyre (1819), the first vampiresque English-speaking prose narrative. The novel came to birth in 1816, the year without summer. At the Villa Diodati, a place rented by Byron at Lake Geneva, Switzerland, both met Mary Shelley, her husband, P. B. Shelley, and Claire Clairmont, Mary’s half-sister. 

One night in June, after reading  aloud the ‘Tales of the Dead’, a collection of horror tales, Byron suggested that each write a ghost story. P.B. Shelley wrote ‘ A Fragment of a Ghost Story’ and five more ghost stories. Mary Shelley wrote a short story that later evolved into Frankenstein . Byron wrote (and quickly abandoned) a fragment of a story, ‘ Fragment of a Novel’ , about the main character, Augustus Darvell, which according to critics Polidori later used as the basis for his own short story, The Vampyre .

Charles Maturin

Charles Maturin (1780-1824) was an Irish playwright, novelist, and a Protestant clergyman. He was well-known for his Gothic plays and novels. However, the 19th century critics generally appraised Charled Maturin as a talented but incautious writer. According to them, his novels and plays were marred by excesses of horror.

Maturin is most famous for his Gothic novel Melmoth the Wanderer (1820). This novel, through a series of stories, tells of the Wanderer’s effort to seek redemption for selling his soul for 150 extra years of life. When talking about the development of Gothic fiction, it’s impossible not to mention Maturin’s Melmoth the Wanderer. This was one of those titles that helped to shape Gothic fiction itself.

Moreover, along with Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto , Lewis’s The Monk and the works of Ann Radcliffe, Melmoth the Wanderer is absolutely essential to understand the literary horror aesthetic of the turn of the century in the European context. This Victorian era classic novel also influenced Oscar Wilde’s masterpiece, The Picture of Dorian Gray .

Edgar Allan Poe

Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) is one of the greatest Gothic writers of all time. He was a poet and short story writer, well-known for his gruesome take on things. He is, undoubtedly, the master of Gothic style and horror stories. No one has yet reached him in his obsession with the subjects of death and its personification. His Gothic stories and poems have terrified and fascinate readers of all generations. 

Poe’s dark and melancholic life had delivered a shadow on his works and filled his pages with darkness and sorrow. He wrote horror, but not that disgusting horror with flesh and blood, but horror that haunts one’s mind and soul. It’s a horror mixed with sorrow that creates a world with black and sad atmosphere. His short stories are unlike any common short story and leaves a deep effect of melancholy and terror. 

Edgar Allan Poe’s famous works include The Raven , The Fall of the House of Usher , The Tell-Tale Heart, The Murders in the Rue Morgue , The Black Cat and others.

Bram Stoker

Bram Stoker , in full Abraham Stoker,  (1847-1912) was a famous Irish novelist, newspaper editor, theatre critic, and close associate of the actor Henry Irving. He is the creator of one of the greatest literary legends, Dracula. After a brilliant university career in Dublin, Stoker successfully began a career in journalism.

In 1878, Bram Stoker became the private secretary and collaborator of British actor Henry Irving, of whom he wrote a long and exciting biography. He was a man of enormous physical stature as well as a man of enormous and powerful genius and imagination. 

Author of several popular novels, Bram Stoker remains known for one of the greatest Gothic novels of all time, Dracula (1897). This classic became a milestone in the early stages of Gothicism in literature. His character, Count Dracula, is no doubt based on Vlad Dracula III, known as Vlad Tepes (The Impaler) who ruled over Wallachia (Transylvania) in the 1400s. 

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been talked about a lot and thousands of versions and adaptations have been released, both in film and literature. But the original can’t compare to any. 

Read More About Bram Stoker

The Brontë Sisters

The Brontë sisters—Charlotte Brontë(1816-1855), Emily Brontë(1818-1848) and Anne Brontë(1820-1849)—were the world’s “greatest literary sisters.” They are best known as novelists and poets, particularly writing Gothic Romances. Brontë sisters originally published their works under male pseudonyms Currer (Charlotte), Ellis (Emily) and Acton (Anne) Bell. They wrote from an early age, initially stories that took place in the mythical land of Angria, as well as poems. 

Charlotte Brontë, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters, is famous for her book Jane Eyre, a Gothic Romance novel. It combines elements of supernatural horror with romance. Emily Brontë is famous for her Gothic novel, Wuthering Heights . Her novel takes place in dark, and sometimes exotic, settings and focuses on the mysterious or supernatural. Anne Brontë is well-known for her novel Agnes Grey which is not very gothic at all, unlike its literary cousins Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights .

The Brontë sisters with their writings broke out of traditionally perceived social roles destined for a woman, hence using male nicknames. Originally their fascination with English literature was not very enthusiastically accepted, it was rather men who were seen as writers: sensitive and with a rich imagination. The novels of the Brontë sisters feature very complicate protagonists, with unusual traits and weaknesses. However, their female characters are self-reliant, emancipated, and self-conscious. All sisters died young, most likely from tuberculosis.  

Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde, known as Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish writer, dramatist and poet. He was one of the most prominent playwrights of the Victorian era, famous for his usual wit and social sarcasm. Wilde was also a great driver of the Dandi Movement, which defended the cult of beauty as an antidote to the horrors of the industrial era. Due to his great and sharp ingenuity, he also became a celebrity of the time. 

Moreover, Oscar Wilde lived an extravagant life and, after being convicted of indecency, was imprisoned in 1895 for two years. His sentence of two years in prison included forced labor. Wilde’s versatile and complex personality is still being discussed and inspected.

Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of the most important works of English literature. It is a superb example of late-Victorian Gothic fiction with Fausto’s myth and hedonism as central axes and with much criticism of Victorian society. 

Wilde has created beautiful, complex characters who are dark and disturbing, yet enjoyable. He talks about both the crafts of art and writing in an absolutely meaningful way. However, he was also severely criticized for the novel’s corrupting influence and unashamed immoral ideology of the protagonist.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and a great traveler. His most famous classic Gothic novella is The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886). The book is arguably most popular even today due to its representations of evil and themes such as morality, hypocrisy and duality of human nature.

Robert Louis Stevenson other famous works are Treasure Island (1883) and a  narrative Journey with a Donkey in the Cevennes (1879). He also wrote several collections of poetry including A Child’s Garden of Verse which was well received among all ages and includes popular poems such as ‘My Shadow’ and ‘The Lamplighter’. 

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant”—Robert Louis Stevenson

Sheridan Le Fanu

Sheridan Le Fanu (1814-1873) was an Irish writer famous for his tales of mystery and Gothic horror. He is one of the masters of Gothic literature and also of the precursors of the modern genre of terror. Sheridan Le Fanu’s famous Gothic novels are Uncle Silas , Carmilla , and The House by the Churchyard , In A Glass Darkly and others.

Le Fanu’s Gothic stories represent one of the first examples of the genre of terror in its modern form, in which, as in his story Schalken the Painter , does not always succeed virtue or offer a simple explanation of supernatural phenomena. His Gothic stories are highly intense and full of intrigue. His specialty consisted of recreation of ‘atmosphere’ and ‘effects’ rather than mere fright, often within a mystery format.  

Le Fanu most famous Gothic novels are Uncle Silas and Carmilla . In fact, his vampire novel Carmilla is undoubtedly the epitome of 19th century Gothic and predates Dracula by 26 years. The book was an inspiration for Bram Stoker ’s Dracula , Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles and a slew of films such as Hammer Horror’s The Karnstein Trilogy. 

Daphne du Maurier

A list of famous Gothic writers would not be complete without mentioning the phenomenal Daphne du Maurier (1907-1989). She was a British writer who reinvigorated the Gothic genre. 

Daphne du Maurier is most famous for Gothic novels such as Rebecca (1938) and My Cousin Rachel (1951), both taken to the movies. She also wrote some famous Gothic short stories such as The Birds and Don’t Look Now, both made into classic films.

She is most famous for her classic Gothic novel, Rebecca . It’s one of her great literary accomplishments and reflects her brilliant narrative. The story of the book ricochets through the streets of Los Angeles, a dangerous marriage to an exotic stranger, and the mind of a young woman whose past may not release her. 

Daphne du Maurier is the queen of sinister ambiguity and a mistress of calculated irresolution. She devises her stories in a way that never puts her readers’ mind at ease. Her mysterious riddles persists and her novels continue to haunt the reader beyond their endings.

12. Difference between Romanticism and Gothicism in Literature

Gothicism in Literature is considered to have originated from Romanticism; it is a subgenre of the English Romantic Movement . Both Romanticism and Gothicism were parallel movements. Romanticism focused on the realization of nature’s beauty, imagination, intuition, idealism, inspiration, and individuality in literature and other arts. While Gothicism dealt with the darker and more tragic themes than the Romantic works.

Since Gothicism is characterized by some critics as a subgenre of Romanticism, both share many similarities as well. For instance, both genres deal with the existence of sublime and transcendent, reason and rationality, and the medieval references. 

13. Why is Gothicism in Literature Still Popular Today?

Originating in England, the Gothic style of writing has never gone outdated. In fact, it’s gaining more and more popularity with the passage of time. Mystery, suspense and horror—these elements when added to the story—have a tendency to excite everyone. This is something that has encouraged the Gothic writers to produce more works of horror and mystery.

Now, today’s Gothic literature has evolved into a more psychological horror, featuring the atmosphere as much a character as the acting characters themselves. This feature provides the reader an opportunity to indulge in the horror of the mind. What someone conjures up when alone in the dark is often far more terrifying than reality. 

Gothicism in literature is still popular today because it conveys deeper meanings and its elements appeal to the readers emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Today’s Gothic fiction includes stories of vampires, demons, supernatural beings, castles, dark and stormy nights and an abundance of darker themes. Some famous modern and contemporary Gothic fiction writers are: Anne Rice, Stephanie Meyer, H. P. Lovecraft, Shirley Jackson, Daphne du Maurier, Kate Morton, Diane Satterfield, Stephen King and others.

Moreover, Gothicism in literature has significantly influenced today’s life. It now has a great impact on how people dress, speak and act. Over the years, Gothic fiction has developed in many ways, but the most drastic change came when the genre moved to America. Since its birth (two-and-a-half centuries ago) Gothic fiction has never really left Western culture. Its stories have started to delve more deep into disorder and darkness. 

In addition, Gothicism has become a major source of inspiration for today’s blockbuster horror movies, TV series, and graphic horror novels. All these means of entertainment, indeed, forever appeal to the reader!

Read on Readers!

Can’t get enough of the Gothic? Check out our articles on Elements of Gothic literature and Southern Gothic literature . And if you’re looking for more dark must-reads to keep you up at night, Check out the posts below!

• Interesting Gothic Literature Facts
• An Ultimate Guide to Halloween Books
• Best Gothic Accessories For Your Study Room

Sources of this article: 

• Andrew, Smith: Gothic Literature . 2008
• Eagleton, Terry: Literary Theory, An Introduction .  2013
• Fred, Botting: Gothic (A New Critical Idiom) . 2013
• Miles, Robert: The Gothic (The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature) . 2006
• Snodgrass, Mary Ellen: Gothic Literature ( Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature) . 2005
• Stevens, David: The Gothic Tradition . 2000

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What Is Gothic Literature? 6 Examples

Let’s look at what is gothic literature, how supernatural elements can tie into gothic fiction, and explore the most famous examples of gothic literature.

From Frankenstein to Dracula, gothic literature is a mainstay of many college and high school English classrooms.

First introduced in the 1700s, gothic literature embodies supernatural, mystery, and horror themes. Since its inception, the genre has split into several sub-genres, including gothic romance. Authors and readers enjoy working to solve a mystery, especially when supernatural factors throw in an unexpected twist.

Some gothic authors are traditionally associated with gothic literature–such as Edgar Allen Poe and Mary Shelley–while others are typically associated with other literary genres. Some books, such as Jane Eyre, blend the genres of romance, gothic literature, and self-discovery.

Here, we’ll explore how gothic literature is defined, and we’ll take a look at a few of the most famous gothic novels and novellas.

What Is Gothic Literature?

Common themes and characteristics of gothic literature, examples of gothic literature, 1. frankenstein by mary shelley, 2. dracula by bram stoker, 3. the castle of otranto by horace walpole, 4. jane eyre by charlotte bronte, 5. the mysteries of udolpho by ann radcliffe, 6. the fall of the house of usher by edgar allan poe.

Gothic literature  is a type of European fiction that started in the 1700s. The name Gothic wasn’t originally associated with horror and gore; instead, it was simply a style of medieval architecture. Many gothic novels were set in old castles and monasteries, and the word gothic eventually became associated with mystery and horror.

The general aesthetic of fear, haunting, and mystery is associated with gothic literature and often allows events from the past to haunt the present.

Often, old buildings are used in gothic literature settings to create a sense of the past, with authors creating a claustrophobic, dark environment that lends itself to nervousness and anxiety. Gothic literature protagonists can be either male or female and are often highly relatable, encouraging readers to root for the main character as they work through terrifying scenarios and try to get to the root of the story’s problem.

While the word gothic itself refers to a type of architecture,  gothic literature often embodies the same themes as gothic buildings–dark, mysterious, morbid, and even criminal. Supernatural themes tend to permeate gothic literature. Readers may have an uneasy or eerie feeling as the story unfolds, blending elements of real-life and supernatural fiction to make it hard to figure out what’s real and what should be attributed to the supernatural. 

Often, elements of witchcraft or wizardry are connected with gothic novels. While wizards and witches may not physically be present in gothic tales, spells and potions are often used to move gothic stories forward. Characters in gothic novels may have visions or dreams that predict the future or warn them of nefarious people who will enter their lives. 

Gothic literature settings vary widely. Many gothic novels and novellas are set in Europe, where countless old castles and mansions are old. In the 1900s, some gothic novels began to occur in the Southern United States. Many horror stories written in America today continue to occur in this area. 

“All men hate the wretched; how, then, must I be hated, who am miserable beyond all living things! Yet you, my creator, detest and spurn me, thy creature, to whom thou art bound by ties only dissoluble by the annihilation of one of us. You purpose to kill me.”

Frankenstein’s monster has gone down in history as one of the most recognizable gothic literature figures. Mary Shelley expertly uses the monster’s story to explore themes of ambition, life, and humanity while creating the first science-fiction novel. Shelley’s addition of fantastical elements opened the door for other authors to include supernatural scientific elements in their stories, creating a new world for readers to explore.

When all was ready, Van Helsing said:—

“Before we do anything, let me tell you this; it is out of the lore and experience of the ancients and of all those who have studied the powers of the Un-Dead. When they become such, there comes with the change the curse of immortality; they cannot die, but must go on age after age adding new victims and multiplying the evils of the world; for all that die from the preying of the Un-Dead becomes themselves Un-Dead, and prey on their kind. And so the circle goes on ever widening, like as the ripples from a stone thrown in the water.”

Plaguing the nightmares of many for centuries, the story of Dracula was based on European folktales and  Vlad the Impaler , a 15th-century prince of Romania. He eventually took on the name Dracula. The prince was known for torturing his victims, often driving a wooden stake through their bodies. Like many gothic authors, Stoker took real-world inspiration and combined it with fantastical elements to strike horror into the hearts of his readers.

“But alas! my Lord, what is blood! what is nobility! We are all reptiles, miserable, sinful creatures. It is piety alone that can distinguish us from the dust whence we sprung, and whither we must return.”

Regarded by many literary experts as the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto was published in 1764. The general scene set in the book has remained the backdrop for many horror stories to this day. The book tells the tale of a cursed royal family dealing with the consequences of an ancient prophecy. A nightmare inspired the author that he had in his own home, a Gothic Revival building in London.

“I have for the first time found what I can truly love – I have found you. You are my sympathy – my better self – my good angel – I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my center and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”

Known as a gothic romance, Jane Eyre includes themes of belonging, love, family, religion, and the role that a belief in the spiritual and supernatural can play in a person’s life. While the story of Jane Eyre does delve into many of the elements typically associated with gothic novels, the coming-of-age tale also grapples with the struggle between desperately wanting the love of someone else and learning to love oneself unconditionally.

“A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error, to escape from the languor of idleness. Store it with ideas, teach it the pleasure of thinking; and the temptations of the world without will be counteracted by the gratifications derived from the world within.”

One of the first gothic romances, The Mysteries of Udolpho, explores the life of Emily St. Aubert. As the protagonist works through her romantic life, she’s also faced with the death of her parents, moving across the country, and eventually having to live in a castle plagued with supernatural problems. In addition to both humorous and horrific takes on love and life, readers also enjoy seeing Emily eventually escape her difficult life in the arms of a secret lover.

“It was possible, I reflected, that a mere different arrangement of the particulars of the scene, of the details of the picture, would be sufficient to modify, or perhaps to annihilate its capacity for sorrowful impression; and, acting upon this idea, I reined my horse to the precipitous brink of a black and lurid tarn that lay in unruffled luster by the dwelling, and gazed down — but with a shudder even more thrilling than before — upon the re-modeled and inverted images of the gray sedge, and the ghastly tree-stems, and the vacant and eye-like windows.”

Known for his haunting poems and short stories, Edgar Allan Poe’s name is synonymous with gothic literature. The narrator believes that his friend’s home has taken on evil energy in the short story. Poe expertly describes the home’s environment and the strange events that happen inside during his visit. Both mysterious illnesses and changing personalities are complex for the narrator to explain, allowing the reader to move back and forth between the real world and Poe’s fantastical imagination.

To learn our, check out these top 15 must-read classic literature books !

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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How to Study Gothic Literature: Setting and Themes

• Dr Janet Rose
• October 25, 2019

Why study Gothic literature?

Before we consider how to study Gothic literature, it is worth considering why it is important.  A quick look through the various GCSE, IGCSE, A level and IB English syllabuses reveals that the Gothic genre appears frequently.  It is a popular choice for schools, with well-known classics like Frankenstein or Jekyll and Hyde often chosen for GCSE or IGCSE. There are also a range of interesting but possibly less well-known options at this level, such as The Fall of the House of Usher and The Woman in Black.

On various A-level syllabuses appear Dracula, Rebecca, Wuthering Heights, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Little Stranger and The Bloody Chamber.  All these texts are either firmly in the Gothic genre or have powerful Gothic elements. This is far from a comprehensive list, but it is clear that Gothic prose features repeatedly on Literature papers.

I would argue that even if your teenager does not have a Gothic novel or story to study for their exams, it is definitely worth encouraging them to read some Gothic literature.  This is because they will invariably be learning about setting, characterisation, themes and atmosphere whichever books they are studying.  Gothic literature makes these essential GCSE, IGCSE, A level and IB requirements very easy to understand.

Generally speaking, aspects of setting, theme, character and atmosphere are glaringly obvious in Gothic literature, whilst they may be much subtler and trickier to define in other genres.  Some of the choices are easier to read than others.  For example, Dracula or Wuthering Heights will probably be a challenge for many teenagers, but Du Maurier’s Rebecca, or Waters’  The Little Stranger, are much easier.

Watch the trailer for The Little Stranger

Settings in gothic literature

The setting is always an important, if not crucial, element of a Gothic novel.  The isolated house, the spooky castle, dense woods, a graveyard, or wild moorland have powerful associations with isolation, loneliness and being cut off from potential avenues of help and support.  We, the readers, know that if something awful happens (and in Gothic novels we can be sure that something awful will happen), the characters will struggle to get help. Help, we know, will be slow in arriving or may not come at all.  So the suspense and tension begin to build.

Pay attention to how the writer uses setting to create an atmosphere of trepidation, threat or decay.  Consider the language they are using, see if they are employing metaphor or simile to make comparisons with horrible things.  Here is an extract from The Little Stranger .  This is towards the beginning of the book, before anything scary has happened.  See how Waters uses language choices to warn us about the house within which the plot will play out.

‘What horrified me were the signs of decay. Sections of the lovely weathered edgings seemed to have fallen completely away, so that the house’s uncertain Georgian outline was even more tentative than before. Ivy had spread, then patchily died, and hung like tangled rat’s-tail hair. The steps leading up to the broad front door were cracked, with weeds growing lushly up through the seams.’ Waters, Sarah,  The Little Stranger, Little, Brown Book Group.

Can you see how the writer’s choice of language e.g. ‘patchily died’, ‘cracked’ and ‘weeds’ sets the scene of decay?  The use of the simile ‘hung like tangled rat’s tail hair’ makes an unpleasant comparison, evoking disturbing imagery and, without any other information at all, we already know that things have gone wrong at this house.

Analyse a Novel Part 1

Setting and Personification

See if the writer is using personification to bring alive inanimate objects and make them threatening.  A tree, for example, is not very threatening when it is just a tree, but if it suddenly has malevolent human characteristics, it suddenly becomes a threat.

This is an extract from Rebecca , when the narrator is describing the drive up to the house.  Notice how the writer brings the plants alive to create a sense of menace.

‘…on either side of us was a wall of the colour, blood-red, reaching far above our heads. We were amongst the rhododendrons. There was something bewildering, even shocking, about the suddenness of their discovery. The woods had not prepared me for them. They startled me with their crimson faces, massed one upon the other in incredible profusion, showing no leaf, no twig, nothing but the slaughterous red, luscious and fantastic. These were monsters, rearing to the sky, massed like a battalion, too beautiful I thought, too powerful; they were not plants at all.’ Du Maurier, Daphne, Rebecca, Little, Brown Book Group.

Can you see how the writer has used personification to bring the plants to life?  Obviously, if they are just pretty red flowers they are in no way threatening to us personally, but here they have ‘faces’, they are ‘rearing’ and they form a ‘battalion’ i.e. they are soldiers.  They are also ‘powerful’, ‘monsters’ ‘blood-red’ and ‘slaughterous’.  Suddenly a drive through cheerful plants has become threatening to the narrator’s safety.

Analyse a Novel Part 2

Themes in Gothic literature

It is quite tricky to define Gothic literature in some ways, because not all ghost stories or vampire stories are necessary Gothic.  So how do we identify it?  There are themes that are common (although not universal) in Gothic fiction:

Corruption of the innocent.        

Frequently, there is the concept of corruption of an innocent party or parties. The obvious example here is Dracula, where innocent people are turned into bloodsucking vampires

As described above, Gothic narratives often centre on a single location, most frequently a house.  Usually there is an evil element attached to the house, which often intends  harm to the occupants.

The Gothic genre arose out of the Romantic movement, so it is unsurprising that a romantic element is present in many Gothic tales.  Wuthering Heights is the perfect example, of course, as love, death and the supernatural are woven seamlessly together.

  Links to the past

Often there is some sort of dark or sad history attached to the location. Frequently it is a death, or relates to death.  The supernatural element occurs when the entity, for example a ghost or a vampire, continues to interact with the human world after death.

As I mentioned above, atmosphere is crucial in a Gothic narrative.  The setting seems to be decaying; things will be physically falling apart, or not what they used to be.  It doesn’t just have to be the setting that is decaying either – often it is the mental health of characters in the story.  We can see this human decay in so many of the great Gothic novels.

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Origins of Gothic Literature

The 1760s was the decade of literary forgeries. One of the most famous forgeries which that decade produced, Horace Walpole’s 1764 book The Castle of Otranto , was responsible for founding the Gothic novel genre. Walpole, who was the son of the first de facto Prime Minister of Britain, Robert Walpole, claimed the story was a genuine medieval manuscript which had recently been discovered and translated. The literary world flocked to buy this exciting new book. A year later, when the book was reprinted, Walpole added a preface in which he came clean and admitted that he’d made the whole thing up. In doing so, he founded not only a new literary genre but also one of the most perennial features of the Gothic story, the so-called ‘found’ manuscript. Many of the features of Gothic which endure today, such as the subterranean secret, the gloomy castle, and the mysterious ghostly sightings, were all used in Walpole’s novel. Without Walpole, it is doubtful whether there could have been any Edgar Allan Poe , Mary Shelley’s  Frankenstein , Dracula , or even Stephen King . This one novel (which in many ways makes for a dull, laboured read) founded not only a genre but a whole style of writing.

Walpole was also a prolific inventor of new words, and is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with introducing over 200 words into the English language, among them beefy, malaria, nuance, sombre, and souvenir. But another lasting linguistic legacy was being the origin of the word ‘serendipity’ , meaning the ‘faculty of making happy and unexpected discoveries by accident’. He coined the word in a letter of 1754, when recounting the ‘silly fairy tale’ (‘fairy tale’ is another term he is credited with inventing) of ‘The Three Princes of Serendip’ (Serendip being a former name for Sri Lanka). The tale is one of the earliest detective stories in existence: it recounts how three princes track down a missing camel largely through luck and good fortune, rather than any forensic skill. ‘Serendipity’ has been called one of the most difficult words to translate.

Walpole’s influence on the Gothic revival extended beyond literature. His London house, Strawberry Hill, was a vast villa that approached the scale and appearance of a castle. Walpole’s house became so celebrated that it gave its name not only to an area of London (near Twickenham and lying in the London borough of Richmond) but also to a style of architecture known as Strawberry Hill Gothic.

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The Dark Secrets of Writing Gothic Fiction

Gothic Fiction has become so associated with horror, that the traditional roots of the genre are often lost amidst the noise of vampires, werewolves and gargoyles. These creatures of gothic literature are representative of the gothic tradition, but as writers, to adequately write within a genre it is important to have a deeper than surface level understanding of that genre.

Gothic tradition

Touchstones of the gothic tradition include Bram Stoker's Dracula , Mary Shelley's Frankenstein , and Shirley Jackson's The Lottery . There is a common thread within these works, but it cannot be pursued without understanding the concept of "natural philosophy." During the period in which early gothic writers began producing their best works, there was a push in culture to approach the unknown via a scientific lens. "Natural philosophers" were early scientists which attempted to find logical, objective truth, through reason. In short, early gothic works were rooted in science and exploration of the natural world.

Not all gothic fiction is horror, but a fair amount of the most famous works deal with the horrific and the unknown. This is by contrast to Eldritch or Lovecraftian horror which deals with the horror of the fundamentally unknowable. Where Eldritch horror seeks to paint a picture of something so incomprehensible that it breaks minds and shatters souls, gothic literature is the exploration of the dark unknown, in an effort to reveal the sensations associated with these mysteries. Rather than reach the conclusion "I don't understand this evil" as eldritch horror often does, gothic horror often seeks to delve deeply into the source of evil, and the nature of the antagonists of its works. With this as a guiding principle, we can outline a few "do" and "do nots" for gothic writers.

Follow the rules

Gothic antagonists follow rules. Establish a set of the rules by which your antagonist functions, and adhere to these rules. These might be the qualities of a monster: slain using silver, transforms during moonlight; or it might be the rules of engagement that the antagonist uses. Perhaps the antagonist is a killer like Jack the Ripper – another gothic touchstone. If this killer has rules about who they kill, where they kill or how they kill, then they will be much more palatable to the reader who is seeking a truly gothic feel. The genre is grounded in reason, and there should be an underlying cause, explanation, and logic to the actions of your antagonists.

Don't be afraid to engage with the darker side of a character's psyche, especially the antagonist; and don't be afraid to search for an antagonist in strange places: the narrator may be the antagonist, the protagonist may work against themselves, or the antagonist may be a culture – a group of people with a similar ideology. In any of these cases it is important that you justify the actions of the antagonist. It doesn't matter to the reader of gothic literature whether what the antagonist is doing is morally good, but only that the antagonist has reasons for their decisions. This advice is, of course, relevant across many genres, but it is a necessity of gothic texts. Think of the ways in which Jack from Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is all of these: narrator, hero, villain. Consider also that his actions are motivated by a lack of understanding: he changes his actions after his motivations are revealed to him – through reason – to be harmful. The gothic seeks to understand viewpoints outside the normal and Jack Skellington's wish to understand Christmas makes him an excellent gothic protagonist.

Give answers

In the same way antagonists require rules, it is important that readers have a chance to see the answer to their questions revealed, or that the readers are given enough clues to formulate an answer for themselves. The Lottery does a great job of presenting a seemingly enigmatic scenario – a lottery for which people do not wish to be chosen – and giving a reasonable explanation for why it might exist. In this way gothic literature can be said to relate more closely to the mystery genre, than the horror genre. Though, of course, these genres already compliment one-another quite well.

What gothic literature does not do, is leave the reader hanging as regards answers to the primary motivations of the plot. Yes, there may be a few threads unresolved at the end of the story, but the central horror (or other darkness) of the text should be explicable (understood by the reader) by the time the text is finished. Again, the unknowable, the unanswerable and the incomprehensible are all elements of eldritch horror.

Smaller settings

In the same way that gothic literature separates itself from eldritch horror in terms of the size of the threat (the antagonist), good gothic literature also tends to center around smaller settings. These settings can be almost claustrophobic, and the protagonists lonely. These are not stories of nations clashing in battle, but rather of individuals grappling with a close and immediate threat. Dracula offers repeated scenes of the eponymous count dining with the protagonist; Frankenstein paints painful pictures of the creature returning to look in the window at the doctor; and works like The Lottery focus their efforts on a single community, or single town. This is not to say that your plot can't span a large geographical area (both Frankenstein and Dracula cross continents), but only that it should be concerned primarily with the intimate moments between the protagonist and the antagonist.

Archetypal characters

In gothic fiction certain characters are considered archetypal. These characters have a recurring place in many stories, and while they should not be relied upon, they should also not be shunned. Just because a character is archetypal, does not mean they are necessarily cliché. In most gothic fiction the hero is virtuous, ambitious, and self-sacrificing; they are motivated to return to or pursue a relationship, either in love, lust, or kinship; and they are separated from their goal by circumstances arising either from the antagonist of the fiction, or the horror of the fiction, or both.

For instance, the creature in Frankenstein seeks out companionship, but is thwarted by its appearance. This becomes the core motivator for the plot, and the tragedy of the creature causes conflict between the protagonist (here conceptualized as the creature) and the antagonist (here conceptualized as the doctor). Of course Shelley's masterpiece allows you to view the same story from another angle, and consider Viktor Frankenstein the protagonist (unrequited love included), and his creation the monster or monstrous force which prevents him from reaching his goal, or uniting with his beloved.

Other archetypal characters include members of the clergy, or members of religious orders. Often the "spiritual" characters in gothic literature are presented as having an intuition regarding the dangers the protagonist will face, which the logical, reason-centric protagonist, cannot at first see. Consider the protagonist in Dracula, who is warned away from Dracula's mansion quite early in the story but can deduce no logical reason to avoid an encounter with the count. In this case, though the protagonist eventually comes to know their enemy – discovering weaknesses such as holy water, stakes through the heart, etc. – they are slower to realize their danger than the characters who are presented as "spiritually attuned." This duality is useful to us as writers – the contrast of "the person of faith" and "the person of reason" is a powerful one to introduce into any narrative, and it allows gothic fiction to tread a middle ground between science and fantasy that requires only "reason" not "reality".

The supernatural or the sensational

I have mentioned previously that the supernatural is closely related to the gothic, but I want to expand on that. In gothic literature the supernatural can be replaced with the sensational. It is not necessary that some monster be the threat, but rather a community's tradition, the beating heart beneath the floorboards , or a murderer on the loose might be the source of danger. In every case there must be danger. This is why I use the word sensational. The subject matter of gothic literature does not deal with mundane events, but rather acts as an exploration of supernatural or sensational events, so that by the end of the reading we better understand the source of these phenomena.

If you are afraid of something, the quickest path to overcome that fear is to handle the subject of the fear directly. Gothic literature is derived not from the fear of the unknown, but rather from intimacy with the unknown – direct interaction with dark themes, with death, and with monsters.

What to keep in mind

There are no hard-and-fast rules to adhere to within the gothic genre, but there are particular approaches to subject matter which are typified by exploration of what is scientifically possible. Remember these three tenets: separate your gothic literature from other similar literatures, such as eldritch horror and body horror; deal with dark themes, and address them through the sensational or supernatural; have every element of your plot, and your character motivations, be motivated and constrained by the text's internal logic. If all else fails, turn to the sources of darkness which inspired famous gothic writers: blood, bones, darkness, gravestones, murder, killer creatures, and Jack Skellington.

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