Tired of wearing the same costumes as everyone else? Why not show off your literary knowledge and find something unique by plumbing the depths of Gothic literature! Of course, Count Draculas and Frankenstein’s monsters are common enough costumes, though usually based more on the film adaptations than their source texts. But there are plenty of other monsters, apparitions, and dramatic characters to be found within the genre. Here are a few ideas I’ve come up with: Continue reading Unique Halloween Costumes Inspired by Gothic Literature
Tag: The castle of Otranto
Gothic Settings: Castles
I’m starting a new blog post series! Much like my Gothic Tropes series, these posts will highlight recurring elements that appear time and again throughout different works of Gothic literature. But rather than focusing on plot elements, motifs, or themes, the Gothic Settings series will examine the physical locations in which these stories are set. Of course, I had to start off this week with the most obvious classic setting for a Gothic novel: the castle.
Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries
The eyes of the portraits are watching you, seeming to follow you no matter where you go.… It’s such a classic scene in horror that we see this moment parodied in nearly every sitcom or children’s cartoon that has a haunted house episode. But where did this trope come from? To an extent, it’s inspired by an actual artistic phenomenon—an optical illusion called “ubiquitous gaze,” in which the artist’s use of perspective makes the subject appear to be looking at the viewer, no matter what angle the viewer approaches it from. In Gothic literature, however, a supernatural explanation is more likely. In fact, in several classic works, the portraits do quite a bit more than merely follow you with their eyes. Below are a few of my favorite examples of portraits and tapestries that come to life:
Continue reading Gothic Tropes: Animate Portraits and Tapestries
Gothic Tropes: Found Document Framing Device
Usually, when discussing tropes in Gothic literature, I talk about certain recurring themes and plot elements (such as madness, prophecies, or burning houses) or character types (like the Creepy Housekeeper, Corrupted Clergy, or First Wife). But the genre also makes use of particular structural or stylistic techniques. One of my favorite stylistic tropes in Gothic literature is the found document framing device.
Continue reading Gothic Tropes: Found Document Framing Device
Guest Appearance on Sublimely Gothic Podcast
There’s a new Gothic podcast in town! Sublimely Gothic is a Gothic literature-themed podcast hosted by Amy Sophiamehr and Jessica Znidarsic. In each episode, they discuss a single Gothic text along with its core tropes and themes. The podcast launched last month with a debut episode on Jane Eyre. And I had the pleasure of being a guest on Episode 2: The Castle of Otranto, which aired on Friday. You can find both episodes on the Pagan Poetess website!
Let me know what you think of the episode! I’m hoping to do more guest appearances with Sublimely Gothic in the future, so keep an eye out.
Iconic Ghosts from Gothic Literature
As Halloween approaches, the veil between this word and the next grows thinner and, according to legend, the spirits of the dead can more easily come into contact with the living. These days, we tend to focus less on communing with our dead ancestors and more on dressing in costume, watching horror films, and telling ghost stories. But either way, we’ve still got ghosts on the brain. And what better way to celebrate ghosts than by seeking out some shining examples from Gothic literature? For the purposes of this post, I’ve limited myself to only ghosts that are fairly unambiguous supernatural apparitions of dead humans, though the Gothic genre contains a multitude of spirits that range from literal to metaphoric or imagined to everything in between. Below are five of the most memorable ghosts that appear in Gothic literature: Continue reading Iconic Ghosts from Gothic Literature
Gothic Tropes: Prophecies and Curses
I often say that the core concept at the heart of the Gothic is the idea of the past haunting the present. One common way that this manifests in stories is through an old prophecy or curse. Prophecies serve to explain how the story’s current action is rooted in some event of the past. In many cases, the prophecy addresses a past wrong and how it might be revenged or righted. Generally, some injustice was committed by a member of a previous generation, and now the perpetrator’s descendants suffer the consequences, recalling the biblical notion that “the sins of the father shall be visited upon the children.” The prophecy can come from a divine source, or can be intentionally inflicted as a curse by a character associated with witchcraft. Prophecies may or may not be paired with other supernatural elements, such as literal hauntings by ghosts, revenants, or doppelgangers. Continue reading Gothic Tropes: Prophecies and Curses
Romance in Gothic Fiction
With Valentine’s Day around the corner, we’ve all got a bit of romance on the mind. And what could be more romantic than an entire genre that was originally called “Gothic Romance”? Of course, the term “romance” has meant different things over the course of the genre’s history, and each iteration of the Gothic utilizes romantic elements in different ways. Let’s take a brief look at the role romance has played in Gothic fiction.
Gothic Tropes: Incest
One of the defining features of Gothic literature is that it engages with the taboo—those subjects and behaviors so far outside the accepted norms of society that to even mention or hint at them stirs up fear and anxiety. Exactly what is considered taboo varies from culture to culture and changes over time, but one of the strongest taboos that you’ll find in almost every culture (although often defined differently) is that of incest. Sexual relations between family members are in many places prohibited by law and by religious code, in addition to being against social custom. But perhaps more so than any other crime, incest has the tendency to arouse strong feelings of disgust and discomfort. It is precisely these emotions—along with shock and horror—that writers of Gothic literature have sought to induce by including incest in their fiction. Continue reading Gothic Tropes: Incest
Anonymity and Pseudonyms in Gothic Literature
Publishing works either anonymously or under a pseudonym has been a tradition in the Gothic literary genre since its very creation. Such deception might be done for a variety of reasons. Early works of Gothic literature often tried to pass themselves off as something older—long-buried ancient manuscripts newly discovered and translated by an enterprising soul—to both increase their mystique and shield the author’s reputation from critiques of this untested new style. As Gothic novels became increasingly popular with female authors, many of them adopted male pen names or left their name off entirely to avoid the stigma of their gender. Today, pseudonyms give authors the opportunity to depart from their usual genres, to step away from their existing fame, or simply to add to the fun. Continue reading Anonymity and Pseudonyms in Gothic Literature