Why gothic novels so popular

Well let me tell you, it is still very much alive and kicking! It is an incredibly elusive term that evades strict definition and categorisation and can often mean several things at once. The Gothic originated as a style of medieval architecture that flourished in France between the 12th and 16th centuries.

Most prominent in great cathedrals and churches, the Gothic architecture appealed to the emotions; a sense of greatness, of the sublime. Something to awe and fear. This style gradually died out, but was revived shortly after during the Gothic Revival of the 18th century.

Its popularity grew rapidly throughout the nineteenth century and it is this, I believe, that triggered the settings for many great Gothic novels throughout the seventeen and eighteen hundreds. Its core elements became staples of Gothic fiction. Set in a labyrinth Medieval Italian castle, the tale is steeped in the supernatural, romance and murder.

Both are set in large buildings a castle and a church , and tackle themes of religion, the supernatural and entrapment. The same year Mary Shelley released Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus, which, similar to the vampire figure, saw the macabre horror of raising the dead. This ground-breaking tale, though, emphasised the role of science and the dangers of man playing God.

It can of course be argued that this is a merging of Gothic and Science Fiction. Exposing how women are often trapped in a domestic space and dominated by men, the novel was both celebrated and detested. However, it is perhaps the last thirty years of the nineteenth century — widely regarded as the Fin-de-Siecle — where a succession of Gothic gems lie.

The Gothic, then, concerns itself with the taboo. It is a genre which, through the supernatural, the fantastic and the remote, allows a discussion of everything that has been repressed. Email Address:. Surprisingly, Gothic fiction has very little to do with Gothic architecture or with Goth fashion and music for more on that relationship, check out this brief YouTube video.

And while most of the genre do take place in haunted houses, not all haunted house stories are Gothic, or vice versa. As this very helpful Tor. Others come along and decorate it.

Gothic horror is a very decorative genre. So what is Gothic fiction? In the 18th century, the Enlightenment movement emphasized discarding superstition in favor of science and reason. Gothic arose out of Romanticism, with artists and authors combining elements of the latter with horror, death and the supernatural, starting with The Castle of Otranto in by Horace Walpole, and followed by the works of Poe, Mary Shelley, Byron, and many others.

To put it simply, Gothic fiction could be considered the love-child of 18th and 19th century Romance stories and horror stories. How do we identify it? Well, the horror novel Kill Creek by Scott Thomas which I highly recommend , itself a Gothic novel, gives a great run-down of some of the common elements of the genre I hope Mr. So what else makes a Gothic story? Remember, Gothic fiction rose from Romanticism, which venerates nature, emotion and beauty.

Of course, this is just scratching the surface of what constitutes Gothic, and I could go on for days on the subject if you let me. The best summary I can do for this post is to say that Gothic fiction are horror stories with a particular group of tropes, a veneration of darkness and horror, and Romantic appreciation for aesthetic and the fantastic world.

And even that feels incomplete. So what appeals to us about Gothic fiction, and has allowed it to survive and evolve whereas other niche genres like Westerns went out of style in less than sixty years? The Tor article says that the rules and expectations of the genre can be learned and make it appealing to readers.

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