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 Woman in White
Gothic Novels as Broadway Musicals
There’s just something about the aesthetics and melodrama of the Gothic that lends itself so well to the stage. So, it shouldn’t be surprising that more than a few classic Gothic novels have been adapted into modern pieces of musical theater—and often quite successfully! Below are some well-known and lesser known examples of Gothic adaptations that have been performed under the bright lights of Broadway: Continue reading Gothic Novels as Broadway Musicals
Gothic Settings: Asylums
Complete isolation within your padded cell walls. The screams and unintelligible ramblings of your fellow inmates. The torturous “treatments” that are more terrifying than the monsters in your own mind. What could make a better setting for horror than the madhouse? As popular as lunatic asylums still are in modern horror, this setting has its roots deep in Gothic literature—going back further than you might think. Indeed, like so many of the other recurring Gothic settings, these institutions lend themselves particularly well to Gothic tropes. Isolation and imprisonment are at the core of the asylum’s function. Any story set within its walls can use the spectacle of insanity as the engine of horror. And apart from madness itself, there are also the horrors of the cruel treatment, cramped spaces, and poor physical conditions that unfortunately characterize such institutions.
