A Literary Guide to Gothic Horror
Tis the season of ghouls, ghosts and goblins! It's time to fill your bookshelf with spooky tales of haunted houses and shadows in the night. Who doesn't love a classic gothic horror novel?!
The ghostly aura of these novels will make you want to hide behind the pages of your book, yet somehow you won’t be able to turn away from the enticingly gloomy and brooding spell of this genre. The lure of these terrifying tales are something you can't quite explain, but one thing is for certain, they're sure to have you trembling in your boots.
This blog is jam-packed with the best books, authors, facts and more to inspire your reading list and get you feeling ghostly. Let's dive in!
What is Classic Gothic Literature?
You may be surprised to learn that Gothic Literature grew from the European Romantic literary movement! Gothic Literature is full of oxymorons, with pairs such as love and death, pain and pleasure standing as the building blocks of this genre. It draws on the extremes of romance and terror to create the most thrilling stories and unique atmosphere.
Classic gothic tales rely heavily on dark, eerie, romantic settings and take inspiration from the gothic architecture of 18th century Europe. Think abandoned churches, spiralling towers and dark castles. It has inspired the current trend of Dark Academia, a chic, gloomy style that promotes inclusivity, intelligence and self-expression.
Key Elements of Gothic Novels
There are many key elements you can find laced throughout many gothic novels. Such as:
● COMPLEX CHARACTERS
Gothic Literature relies heavily on the psychiatric torment and emotional pressure of its main characters. Usually, characters experience uncomfortable situations, such as isolation, omens from the past or experiences with the supernatural.
● THE UNFAMILIAR
Strange situations and unexplainable circumstances; the oddities found in gothic novels are crucial to the gloomy feel of the genre.
● EERIE ATMOSPHERE
There is nothing quite like the spine-tingling chill you feel from a Gothic Literature novel. A dark, creepy atmosphere is a must-have for any classic horror.
● DARK THEMES
Classic Gothic novels follow incredibly dark themes, most of which revolve around the protagonist, such as mental ruin, physical decay, existential crisis and man vs the supernatural.
Gothic Novel Recommendations & Great Quotes
1. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole
"There is no bombast, no similes, flowers, digressions, or unnecessary descriptions. Everything tends directly to the catastrophe."
2. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
"Nothing is so painful to the human mind as a great and sudden change."
3. Dracula by Bram Stoker
"I am all in a sea of wonders. I doubt; I fear; I think strange things, which I dare not confess to my own soul."
4. The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
"Do you believe your heart to be, indeed, so hardened that you can look without emotion on the suffering, to which you would condemn me?"
5. Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Louis Stevenson
"If I am the chief of sinners, I am the chief of sufferers also."
6. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
"He's more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same."
7. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
"Evil is always possible. And goodness is eternally difficult."
8. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
"Men are simpler than you imagine, my sweet child. But what goes on in the twisted, tortuous minds of women would baffle anyone."
9. The Turn of the Screw by Henry James
"He uttered the cry of a creature hurled over an abyss..."
10. The Italian by Ann Radcliffe
"I wish that all those, who on this night are not merry enough to speak before they think, may ever after be grave enough to think before they speak!"
11. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
"Am I walking toward something I should be running away from?"
12. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
"His appetite for the marvellous, and his powers of digesting it, were equally extraordinary."
13. The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
"What other dungeon is so dark as one's own heart! What jailer so inexorable as one's self!"
14. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
"Our words are giants when they do us an injury, and dwarfs when they do us a service."
15. Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
"Everything that happens before Death is what counts."
Best Gothic Book Adaptations
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux was the inspiration behind the hit Broadway and West end musical The Phantom of the Opera, composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Richard Stilgoe. The musical was then adapted into a feature film in 2004 starring Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum. The plot follows a young opera singer, Christine, who discovers the phantom in the mask that haunts the theatre.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo has been adapted into a stage show, and a hit Disney musical feature film (although the darker elements were wisely removed...)
Dracula by Bram Stoker is one of the most famous American gothic horror films of all time, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. It stars Gary Oldman as Count Dracula and Winona Ryder as Mina Harker.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving was most famously adapted into a film in 1999, directed by Tim Burton. An evening of spooky scenes starring Johnny Depp?! What could be better?
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier has been adapted for TV and film numerous times, most recently into a Netflix Drama starring Lily James. The most famous and probably best adaptation was directed by no other than Alfred Hitchcock.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Louis Stevenson is also a hit musical composed by Frank Wildhorn. You can watch the whole 2011 Broadway production on YouTube!
Five Fun Facts
Mary Shelley, the genius author of Frankenstein, kept her late husband's heart with her at all times after he drowned at a young age. It is rumoured the heart stayed with her until she passed when it was found on her desk beside her writing paper.
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow author Washington Irving introduced the myth that medieval people thought the world was flat in his book A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus. Apparently, Columbus thought the world was round all along.
Nathanial Hawthorne was discovered dead by former president Franklin Pierce who was Hawthorne's old college friend.
Shirley Jackson became interested in witchcraft during her early years in college and continued studying it for the rest of her life. She had a huge collection of Witchcraft books!
Bram Stoker married Oscar Wilde's childhood sweetheart! The two were friends until Florence Balcome decided to marry Stoker, and Wilde left Ireland and moved to England.
Gothic Character Costumes
Are you looking for some Halloween inspiration? Check out our suggestions below.
Dracula (Dracula by Bram Stoker)
Mr Hyde (The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Louis Stevenson)
Dorian Gray (The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde)
Going as a couple?
Dr. Frankenstein and The Monster (Frankenstein by Mary Shelley)
Jane Eyre and Bertha (Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë)
The Phantom and Christine (The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux)
Read More: How to Host a Literature Themed Halloween Party
