Gothic Horror : The Epic Battle Of Good Versus Evil

To begin, “The term Gothic fiction refers to a style of writing that is characterized by elements of fear, horror, death and gloom, as well as romantic elements, such as nature, individuality, and very high emotion. These emotions can include fear and suspense.”. (Greaver, 1). This specific style of writing began in the late seventeen hundreds. Gothic fiction was created in order to keep a narrower set of viewers or readers more intrigued and interested. “The term Gothic actually originated as a term belittling the architecture and art of the period, which was dark, decaying, and dismal. The settings were often old, dilapidated buildings or houses in gloomy, lifeless, fear inducing landscapes.” (Greaver, 1). Gothic literature is often explained as an illusion that is unexplainable. “Gothic fiction hovers between the uncanny and the marvelous, offering little

In these gothic literature short stories regarding romanticism the authors often use many elements that pertain to fear, however, the most prevalent themes in: “The Black Cat” by Edgar Allan Poe, “Prey” by Richard Matheson, “The Devil and Tom Walker” by Washington Irving, and “The Feather Pillow” by Horacio Quiroga are grotesqueness and violence. The authors utilize grotesqueness and violence in order to furthermore portray a dismal mood, foreshadow events to come, and to further entice the reader.

The novel Dracula is a very popular book that was written in the form of Gothic Literature. This novel was written by Bram Stoker in the Victorian Age. A large portion of this piece of writing deals with many famous Gothic motifs. Gothic Literature combines the usual Gothic horror with fiction and Romanticism (Wikipedia). A motif is a distinctive symbol or dominant idea used in literature. So therefore, a Gothic motif is a literary symbol that usually combines fiction with either horror or romance. Bram Stoker’s usage of Gothic motifs not only helps define Dracula as a piece of Gothic Literature, but also helps the reader become better acquainted with what is happening in the novel. Gothic motifs are found in many different forms in pieces of work, and if readers are already accustomed to these motifs, it makes reading Dracula clearer and easier. Stoker uses many different Gothic motifs throughout this novel, but there are only a few that are the more important and stand out from the rest. These motifs are: castles and strange places, power and constraint, and revenants.

The Gothic genre often reproduces a conservative paranoid structure when it comes to homophobia and other moral panics over sex (Hanson, Pg. 176). Eve Sedgwick depicts this in her work, ‘Between Men: English Literature and Male Homosexual Desire’ as she discusses how these ideas (paranoia) are represented within the Gothic, in what she describes as the ‘homosocial’ in reference to male bonds (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). She also discusses how bonds between men exist as the backbone of social form and forms (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). Thus, a consequence of said structure is the ability to define, control, and manipulate male bonds, which in turn becomes an inexplicably powerful instrument of social control (Sedgwick, Pg. 86). Thus, homosexuality is represented as the ‘unspeakable’ within the Gothic, as it has been defined, controlled, and manipulated to be such though social control. Therefore, this paper will discuss how ‘homosocial’ bonds between men, are used as a tool in social control and used as a way to produce paranoia and moral panic, thus in reference to the Gothic, these forms epitomize homosexuality as the ‘unspeakable,’ especially through homosexual representations within the contexts of ghosts and haunted houses.

The gothic writing is more of an imitation of medievalism, in which horror is the central theme. The pieces written during this time aimed to make their works pleasurably terrifying. Writers and poets in this era used tools to make their works relate to the mysterious, fantastic, supernatural, and ghostly. Mary Shelley did a great job of this in her terrifying novel, Frankenstein (The Romantic Period: Topics).

I think Bram Stoker decided to write the novel about Dracula as a result of one of his experiences with that supernatural when he was a child. According to Stoker, in the novel Dracula, he explains how in a certain day all the evil spirits come out to the human world and take control of it. “It is the eve of St. George’s Day. Do you know that to-night, when the clock strikes midnight, all the evil things in the world will have full sway”(4). Until this day there are many people that believe on the supernatural and how humans are getting more involved with it. One example could be Halloween, many people believe during this day all bad spirits come out and that’s why people get dressed or wear difficult costumes to blend with all the spirits. Stoker also adds by mentioning, “This gave me a sort of shock, for what I suppose the general superstition about midnight was increased by my recent

Throughout history, vampirism has become an acclaimed topic of discussion. It has sparked conversation regarding their demonic nature, supernatural qualities, and existence. In addition to the opinions prevalent in popular culture, the Christian community has also developed their own stance pertaining to these fiendish creatures. Bram Stoker's 1897 gothic horror novel, Dracula, has played a role in influencing such religious beliefs. Stoker's integration of Christianity, specifically Catholicism, Anglicanism, and Protestantism, has resulted in diverse perspectives. Each of these, however, possess underlying similarities centering around the satanic representation of the vampire, Dracula. Stoker distinguishes Dracula as an Anti-Christ who promises

At the end, Stoker suggests that rationalism is the best weapon for combating the unknown elements. In doing so, he proves Dracula is not supernatural despite the fact that he lives in a castle and sticks to the behavior of medieval times but instead a mortal that bleeds and die like everyone else. This use of reason that is apparent in his novel not only counters the Gothic structure that is paramount in every Gothic novel but also negates it

The myth of Dracula grew out of the superstition of the villagers and those who heard tales of his impalements. The interests in Vampires started to come about in attempts to explain things of that the people did not understand about death. Beresford (2008) mentions how interests in vampires died down around 1770, but was reborn by novels on the undead and immortality (114-115). Brahms Stoker’s Dracula brought about a romantic view of a Romanian Prince who makes a pact with the devil and given immortality. It is in this myth that Dracula is the seductively dark, mysterious creature of the night.

     The term Gothic refers to a genre that came about in the late eighteenth century. It can be a type of story, clothing, or music nowadays. In this paper it will refer to a style of literature. A very good example of this type of literature is Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. There is a sense of foreboding throughout the whole novel, which is one of the basic necessities of the Gothic. This theme of the Gothic has different characteristics that all fit into the story of Victor Frankenstein and his monster and make this one of the first horror stories every told.

Mystery, a key element and genre in Stoker’s novel, seems to be taken out of the film with scenes plainly revealing the supernatural aspects right away to audiences. The first scene of Dracula we encounter is him rising out of his coffin, revealing himself as not 100% human. We see him react to a crucifix, transform into a bat and even him entering Lucy Westera’s room to drink her blood. Tod Browning’s adaptation seems to take on some dramatic irony in this case, with audiences knowing more than the characters, while Stoker prefers to keep readers and characters at the same level of awareness. The supernatural in the books is hinted at but never clearly shown or told until Van Helsing’s revelation half way through the

All too often the gothic literature genre is reduced in its interpretation to gloomy weather and archaic haunted houses. These patterns do exist, but they do not define the genre. Gothic literature found its niche in the 18th and 19th centuries, and during the Victorian era it served a more nuanced purpose than simply to scare readers. Many gothic authors used a monster as a vessel to symbolize topics that the Victorian era sensibilities would label as “monstrous.” They are the incarnation of the taboo subjects society is trying to repress. In Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Edgar Allan Poe’s “A Tell-Tale Heart”, the authors use Freudian symbolism along with literary symbolism to demonstrate the repercussions of repressing “id” desires.

Bram Stoker's Dracula is a true Gothic novel that belongs on any gothic literature course. Focusing in on the recurring themes, characters and settings used throughout the novel one sees how Dracula has set the standard for Gothic literature today.

The first known piece of gothic literature was Walpole’s ‘’The Castle of Otranto: A gothic story’’, which arrived in 1764(Britannica Pg.1). The audience was shocked by the bold movement of Walpole when he published his novel, which introduced new themes no one has ever seen before. The novel’s themes consist in murder, betrayal, and creepy places. This new and exciting piece of work slowly, without the knowledge of the author or everyone else, started the genre Gothic, which until these day is still alive. This genre is normally recognized because of its elements such as creepy settings, ghosts, spirits, unknown monsters, curses, omens, visions, death, mystery, tragedy and romances. ´´What scares me is what scares you. We´re all afraid of the same things. That is why horror is such a powerful genre.´´ John Carpenter once said trying to explain why horror and its basis gothic literature were and are so famous and lucrative. Gothic literature since the beginning has been jaw-dropping and scandalous for using themes other genres are afraid of introducing. The popular genre was short-lived due to the horrors of real life, then it picked up again in the 1920’s by horror film industry and is still a very lucrative, famous and well received.

Gothic Literature is a style of literature popularized during the late 18th century and the early 19th century with the publication of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. This style usually portrays fantastic tales dealing with the horror, despair, the grotesque and other “dark” subjects. Characteristics of gothic literature includes the presence of victims and their victimizers who usually hold immense powers along with their evil purpose. The setting of this kind of literature generally takes place within impenetrable walls, whether physical or mental. This setting creates a sense of hopeless isolation within the victim. The summarization of the characters and situation creates an atmosphere pervaded by a sense of mystery, darkness, oppressiveness, fear, and doom.