Huge, creepy houses; dangerous, controlling men; pale women with candelabras; dark secrets….these are all aspects of the gothic novel. If you’re looking for an atmospheric blending of horror and mystery, then you should totally consider this genre!
What is Gothic Fiction and Why Do We Like It?
Gothic fiction is a genre that’s not quite horror, not quite mystery. It focuses on a dark, creepy atmosphere, intense emotions, the suggestion of the supernatural, revenge, death, and fear. These stories are often quite fantastical and melodramatic, with macabre themes, and a certain ghoulishness about them. They are, in a word, quite fun.
Readers enjoy gothic fiction for a number of reasons. For starters, this genre combines some of the best aspects of horror and mystery, for a book that is deeply suspenseful and a little bit scary. It’s like a scary mystery or a mysterious horror story. We want to know what happens next, and these lavish page-turners will definitely keep you up at night. Is a ghost haunting the manor or is it something else? Did Lord Aimsworth fall to his death because he was pushed by human hands or because he was pulled down by the ghosts of the men he had killed? The search for answers will keep us guessing for hours!
The Byronic Hero
One element seen in many gothic novels is the character of the Byronic hero. This is a dark, brooding male figure with questionable motives and high emotion. We don’t know if we can totally trust this man, and to make matters worse, he is often the villain. Think of him as the brooding count, the overbearing husband, the lord of the manor. Despite his controlling nature and self-destructive tendencies, the Byronic hero is smart, passionate, and has a magnetic personality, making it nearly impossible for the pretty young heroine of the story to escape from his influence.
This character type was named after Lord Byron, the English romantic poet and friend of Percy Bysshe Shelley (husband of Mary Shelley of Frankenstein fame). Examples of Byronic heroes in literature include Heathcliff (Wuthering Heights); Mr. Rochester (Jane Eyre); and Edmond Dantes (The Count of Monte Cristo).
Ghastly Gothic Themes
Gothic novels come in a couple of flavors. Here are some you might enjoy:
- Classic Gothic: Your standard creepy castle or mansion, full of dark secrets
- Southern Gothic: Crumbling plantations, old families, and the encroaching swamp
- Neo-Gothic: Gothic themes in a modern setting
- Psychological Gothic: Is it all in your head?
Related Genres
Here are some related genres in case you wanted to read more!
- Horror: Scary stuff happens, lots of monsters!
- Mystery: There’s been a murder! Who’s responsible?
- Romantic Thrillers: Love is a dangerous thing
- Weird Fiction: Combines horror, mystery, fantasy, and science fiction in order to unsettle the reader
Recommended Reading
There are so many classic gothic novels to explore! Today, we’ll give you five to help get you started!
The Phantom of the Opera (Gaston Leroux)
A young performer at the Paris Opera suddenly bursts into stardom, and it’s all thanks to her tutor, a mysterious “Angel of Music” who has been sent by her dead father and has been giving her lessons. But, is this shadowy figure really coming to her from heaven, or is there something more sinister at work? A masked madman has been living under the opera since it’s construction, and he knows every secret, every passage, and everything that everyone is doing. When he falls in love with the beautiful Christine Daae, he offers to give her voice lessons in order to get closer to her. But, not content with simply hiding behind the mirror, he decides to bring Christine down into the depths of the building in order to show her his secret world and to profess his undying love.
The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (Horace Walpole)
This is the original Gothic story, and boy is it a trip! When tragedy strikes on his son’s wedding day, Lord Manfred believes it is a foreboding omen, and will do whatever it takes to stop it-no matter how immoral. Set in the 18th century, The Castle of Otranto begins on the day Manfred’s son, Conrad, was meant to be married. Known for his sickly nature, Conrad is the eldest child of two, and is set to marry Princess Isabella, a union that would reap strong benefits for the noble family. However, when tragedy strikes right before the ceremony, Manfred is terrified that it is a premonition of a bad luck curse. Paranoid that the curse would threaten his bloodline, he leaps into action. Determined to strengthen his legacy before it’s too late, Manfred decides to divorce his wife so that he can marry Isabella in his son’s place. However, when Isabella adamantly refuses, Manfred slips into a manic state of immorality, as he becomes desperate to do whatever it takes to marry Isabella. After Theodore, a brave peasant man with mysterious origins, becomes dedicated to protecting Isabella from Manfred, the lord must outsmart and overpower the couple to get his way. Through coercion, capture, and even murder, Manfred will do anything to avoid the threat of a curse.
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë) Charlotte Brontë tells the story of orphaned Jane Eyre, who grows up in the home of her heartless aunt, enduring loneliness and cruelty. This troubled childhood strengthens Jane’s natural independence and spirit – which prove necessary when she finds employment as a governess to the young ward of Byronic, brooding Mr Rochester. As her feelings for Rochester develop, Jane gradually uncovers Thornfield Hall’s terrible secret, forcing her to make a choice. Should she stay with Rochester and live with the consequences, or follow her convictions – even if it means leaving the man she loves? A novel of intense power and intrigue, Jane Eyre dazzled readers with its passionate depiction of a woman’s search for equality and freedom.
Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë) When Heathcliff, a poor Gypsy boy, is adopted into wealthy Catherine Earnshaw’s family, he and Catherine form a bond that progresses from childhood friendship to teenage passion. Because of Heathcliff’s lowly social status, however, Catherine decides she cannot marry him, and instead marries the gentleman Edgar Linton. This sets in motion a chain of events that ravages both the Linton and Earnshaw families with jealousy, revenge, and bitterness, leaving only the ghosts of Catherine and Heathcliff to haunt the moors. This beautiful, passionate book is a tale of revenge, darkness, and mystery has entertained students and fans of the classics for decades. (On that note, this is one of those books that I was supposed to read in school, but I never actually did. So, I’ve bumped it up to the top of my to-read list!)
The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins) The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright’s eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter becomes embroiled in the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his charming friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons, and poison. Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism. This chilling tale is a massive book that will keep you guessing for hours, as each new revelation only creates more questions along the way.
