Gothic Fiction: Definition, Authors and Books

Also known as Gothic horror, Gothic fiction is a literary genre characterized by elements of mystery, horror, and the supernatural. Inspired by the aesthetic and architecture of the Middle Ages, Gothic literature gets its name from the Gothic castles, churches, ruins, and abandoned estates it uses as a setting for the haunting storyline. Writers combine dark imagery with suspenseful narrative to reflect the decayed and battered state of the architecture, fusing terror with pleasure.

Romance often plays a role in Gothic fiction literature, as writers interweave the element of death into romantic relationships to build tension and capture the reader’s emotions. As new writers contributed to the Gothic genre, numerous subgenres developed, such as the Southern Gothic, Gothic romance, Gothic ghost story, and modern Gothic, all of which fuse aspects of the supernatural into the story.

While the popularity of the Gothic novel soared during the late eighteenth century, it peaked during the Victorian era. Today, Gothic fiction continues to inspire the themes and styles of thriller and horror novels. Modern writers that use Gothic elements in their stories include Neil Gaiman, Toni Morrison, Shirley Jackson, Susan Hill, and Stephen King.

These are a few of the distinctive features of Gothic fiction:

• Complex heroes: In Gothic tales, writers portray the protagonist as an anti-hero—someone with a complex personality that reveals elements of good and evil. As an outcast of society, the protagonist usually has monotonous features, which appear physically or emotionally. For example, the hero may have an uncontrollable rage. Thus, the troubled and doomed anti-hero is a Gothic motif that has influenced the literary canon.
• Damsel in distress: A damsel in distres—typically an innocent, young woman—is a classic, Gothic trope used across stories. Often a supernatural being has held the helpless woman in captivity, locking her away in an isolated tower or castle. In Gothic romance, the damsel in distress often falls in love with the anti-hero, who has a seductive and charming personality combined with a dark side, such as a violent temper.
• Existential themes: Gothic fiction also explores existential themes to dramatize the plot. Gothic writers examine and question morality, reality, religion, and philosophy to match the ominous setting.
• Extreme emotions: The idea of emotional extremes is another creative tool used in Gothic fiction to dramatize the story. Characters experience an internal torment that can assume a variety of different forms. Tragic and ominous plot points, such as the death of a loved one or an unsolved murder mystery, often send the protagonist into a spiral or raging catharsis.
• Ominous setting: An eerie and spooky setting is a pillar of the Gothic novel, invoking suspense into the narrative. Common locations in Gothic fiction include Medieval ruins, haunted houses, and dilapidated monasteries. These types of ominous spaces often have secret hallways, trapdoors, and mysterious rooms that conjure fear and curiosity in the reader.
• Supernatural elements: Supernatural elements—such as the use of ghosts, vampires, monsters, and demons—are another defining feature of Gothic fiction. Gothic writers employ these spooky elements to explore paranormal activity, embed terror into the plotline, and evoke fear within the reader.

The most notable Gothic fiction authors published their works during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

• Ann Radcliffe: Ann Radcliffe was a prominent eighteenth- and nineteenth-century writer who significantly influenced the Gothic genre. Known for her ability to create realistic explanations for supernatural occurrences, Radcliffe’s stories captured the attention of a broad audience. Some of her most well-known works include The Italian, The Castles of Athlin and Dunbayne, and The Mysteries of Udolpho, which influenced Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca.
• The Brontë sisters: Charlotte, Anne, and Emily Brontë lived in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England, and became well-known poets and writers during the nineteenth century. At first, the sisters published their work under pseudonyms to avoid additional criticism and backlash as women writers. However, today, Jane Eyre by Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights by Charlotte Brontë, and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë are all considered important works of Gothic literature.
• Edgar Allan Poe: A nineteenth-century writer and poet, Edgar Allan Poe used his writing to explore Gothic themes and the macabre. Some of his most famous works were “The Raven,” “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.” He is also considered the father of the detective fiction genre and a significant influence on the science fiction genre.
• Horace Walpole: Considered the father of the Gothic genre, Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto used a Medieval castle as the setting for its terrifying story of death, love, and prophecy. By blending realism with the supernatural, Walpole created the first horror novel that fused fantasy and reality. In 1749, Walpole began the construction of his own Gothic revival–style home, known as Strawberry Hill, an estate in Twickenham, London.
• Mary Shelley: Known for Frankenstein, Mary Shelley’s Gothic writings influenced new genres, including science fiction and monster-themed horror. After writing Frankenstein, Shelley continued to write numerous works within the Gothic genre, such as the short story “Mathilda” and the novels Valperga and The Last Man.

The Gothic genre led to a wide range of imaginative and suspenseful stories that helped shape modern-day horror and thriller novel.

• The Castle of Otranto (1764): The first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, takes place in a haunted castle and follows Manfred, a father affected by the sudden and tragic death of his son. Manfred becomes consumed with the idea of marrying a young bride to produce heirs and continue his line.
• Dracula (1897): Bram Stoker’s Dracula is an epistolary novel that combines folklore legend and Gothic fiction to tell the tragic story of Count Dracula, a vampire who lives in a castle in Transylvania. This famous Gothic work has inspired many theatrical and cinematic adaptations, such as Bram Stoker’s Dracula, directed by Francis Ford Coppola in 1992.
• Frankenstein (1818): Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is one of the most well-known works of Gothic fiction. In this classic Gothic novel, Shelley explores the ramifications of science, as protagonist Victor Frankenstein attempts to create life from a corpse. Shelley’s image of a monster sewn together from human body parts has become a famous symbol associated with Gothic literature and horror.
• Melmoth the Wanderer (1820): Melmoth the Wanderer is a Gothic novel by Charles Maturin that explores themes of madness, religion, and diabolism. After its publication, the novel received praise and recognition from other significant writers, including Honoré de Balzac and Oscar Wilde.
• The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886): By combining fantastical elements with the pursuit of science, Robert Louis Stevenson explores the duality of humans. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde tells the story of two opposite personalities: one good and one evil.
• The Monk (1796): Matthew Lewis’s The Monk portrays the Catholic Church in a scandalous light by depicting the lives of corrupt monks. While Lewis explores the supernatural in this Gothic tale, he delves deeper into the theme of morality by portraying the triumph of evil.
• The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794): The Mysteries of Udolpho is a famous Gothic book written by Ann Radcliffe. Filled with crumbling castles, psychological terror, and secret admirers, Radcliffe’s novel is an archetypal Gothic romance that influenced many literary works. For example, Henry James’s novella The Turn of the Screw and Edgar Allan Poe’s short story “The Oval Portrait” both reference The Mysteries of Udolpho.
• The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891): Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray is a Gothic horror story that uses a portrait as a base for entering the supernatural world. Wilde examines morality in the text, as the protagonist chooses to sell his soul in the pursuit of sin.
• The Woman in White (1860): Wilkie Collins’s The Woman in White is a Gothic mystery set in a dark, foggy London town that uses multiple narrative points of view to unravel the villain’s secret. Collins’s work is often considered Gothic with a twist, as he chooses to explore realistic dangers instead of supernatural threats. Due to the protagonist’s investigation techniques, the novel is also an early work of detective fiction and sensation writing.

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