History SoYouWantTo / WriteAGothicStory

** Transgression ''against family'' runs the gamut from [[InfidelityIndex marital infidelity]] to {{incest|IsRelative}} and is particularly insidious, given how important family is in the genre. On the other hand, Gothic fiction often presents the institute of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primogeniture primogeniture]] as transgressive against family[[note]]echoing ''Paradise Lost'', where it belies both Satan and Eve's respective fall[[/note]], resulting in a number of second sons, first-born daughters, and [[BastardBastard bastards]] cast as sympathetic victim-villains.

* The most obvious example of an imprisoning place is the HauntedCastle, which is also the most recognizable and enduring symbol of the Gothic -- not least because of its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture eponymous]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture architecture]]. A Gothic castle stands for claustrophobic enclosure with no maps, confusing corridors, [[BookcasePassage secret]] [[SecretUndergroundPassage passageways]], and [[TrapDoor hidden trapdoors]], often connecting to {{Creepy Cave}}s or [[AncientTomb tombs]]. Its architecture seems alive with its [[HellIsThatNoise clanking chains]], [[WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon howling dogs]], [[SinisterScrapingSound scraping knives]], and locked doors, and invokes images of [[ARestrainedIndex entrapment, abduction, forceful restraint]], and being BuriedAlive. With all that said, however, an imprisoning place does not have to be a literal castle -- any [[BigLabyrinthineBuilding labyrinthine man-made structure]] (an OldDarkHouse, an [[LockedAwayInAMonastery abbey]], a BedlamHouse, etc.) would do, as long as it conveys the emotions of isolation, alienation, and extreme duress. In late Victorian Gothic (1880s–90s), entire cities (particularly [[VictorianLondon London]]) became symbolic castles, with their labyrinthine sprawl hiding urban horrors and vices, while isolating and alienating inhabitants from one another.

* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_and_terror Horror vs. Terror]]: A distinction first described by Ann Radcliffe in ''On the Supernatural in Poetry'', terror is the [[NothingIsScarier dread and suspense]] you feel ''before'' a horrifying experience[[note]]e.g. seeing a TrailOfBlood[[/note]], while horror is the feeling of revulsion and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abjection abjection]] you get ''after'' it[[note]]e.g. actually discovering a decaying corpse[[/note]]. Terror is associated more with the feminine Gothic, whose heroines must repeatedly face their own fears (often [[ScoobyDooHoax discovering them to be overblown]]), while horror is more of a masculine Gothic thing, whose protagonists are traumatized by their confrontation with mortality, irrationality, and corruption (often expressed in supernatural events). Radcliffe argued that terror is the prime source of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Philosophical_Enquiry_into_the_Origin_of_Our_Ideas_of_the_Sublime_and_Beautiful Burkean Sublime]], while horror was later strongly associated with the Uncanny by [[UsefulNotes/SigmundFreud Freud]] (see Potential Motifs for more on the Sublime and the Uncanny). Lastly, Creator/StephenKing in ''Literature/DanseMacabre'' has introduced a third option, "revulsion" -- a visceral gag-reflex, which he sees as the lowest form of scariness that relies on cheap gore instead of psychological nuance.

* Gothic imagery alone does not make a Gothic story. Setting it inside a HauntedCastle, populating it with [[ByronicHero devious tyrants]], [[TheIngenue fainting maidens]], and [[PortentOfDoom oracular]] [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], and throwing DramaticThunder and/or OminousFog in for good measure is not enough. Unless you use said imagery to explore the alienation and suffering of someone who willingly or unwillingly violated the established order of things, your story is not Gothic on any but the most surface level.

* ThickerThanWater: Pretty much every Gothic story is a story about family, specifically about losing it and, if [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism the author feels generous]], finding it again. Family secrets, homes, [[ReallyRoyaltyReveal lost lineages]], [[WillAndInheritanceTropes inheritance]], primogeniture, {{marriage|Tropes}}, and [[BloodyTropes blood]] all play crucial roles, since the Gothic, like Romanticism at large, was very concerned with the weakening of the family unit by the advent of modernity (and particularly by UsefulNotes/TheFrenchRevolution, which spurred the first British Gothic boom in the 1790s), and sought to validate and to reinvent it.

** A LovableRogue and TricksterArchetype who [[GuileHero constantly outwits his enemies]] and always keeps a smile on his face,

** Masculine Gothic, on the other hand, starkly condemns its (male) protagonist's transgression and rarely, if ever, has a happy ending for him. Like Miltonian Satan, the protagonist tries and fails to be TheHero and is forced to wander for the rest of his life, longing in vain to return to Eden, although in later Victorian Gothic, he is at least given a chance to [[RedemptionEqualsDeath redeem himself before he dies]]. Stylistically, masculine Gothic is usually told in first person by [[SwitchingPOV multiple disjoint narrative voices and perspectives]].

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Phenomena unexplainable to a rational mind (particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], {{curse}}s, and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]]) are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-story or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore associated primarily with villains and transgressors.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Phenomena unexplainable to a rational mind (particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]]) are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-story or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore associated primarily with villains and transgressors.

* ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho'' (1794) by Ann Radcliffe is the foundational novel of the Gothic romance subgenre, of the feminine Gothic tradition, of the Female Wanderer archetype, and of the [[ScoobyDooHoax "explained supernatural"]] school. It also [[TropeCodifier codified]] the Tyrant/Maiden dynamic (although Walpole [[UrExample did it first]]). In spite of its influence, the book was relegated to the GirlShowGhetto for much of the genre's history, and the PurpleProse was considered florid and overwrought even at the time, so use with some caution.

* ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}'' (1818) by Creator/MaryShelley [[TropeMaker gave us]] the FrankensteinsMonster trope[[note]]although the original novel's Creature is [[UnbuiltTrope hardly an example of it]][[/note]] and introduced the ScaleOfScientificSins to the Gothic, so it is also often named as the origin of ScienceFiction.

* ''Literature/{{Dracula}}'' (1897) by Creator/BramStoker is, in many ways, the ultimate Gothic novel, mixing transgression, family, romance, blood, castles, tyrants and maidens, dark pasts, secret histories, and so on under one cover, but also a stark departure from some old Gothic traditions, like ScienceIsBad and CreepyCatholicism.

* ''VideoGame/{{Bloodborne}}'' (2015) likewise employs a massive number of Gothic tropes, particularly, early in the game, as well as more subtle [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HW6_0rr1IG8 Gothic]] [[http://ontologicalgeek.com/the-weird-science-of-bloodborne/ themes]] throughout the entire story. However, it also dives head-first into LovecraftLite by mid-point, so most players end up seeing the Gothic in it as more of a RedHerring, despite the aforementioned themes.

Multiple scholars of literature have observed that Gothic fiction surged during times of sociopolitical crises and exposed contemporary anxieties of the educated (British) middle class. These anxieties centered on the erosion of traditional social institutes like family, gender roles, [[OutgrownSuchSillySuperstitions religion]], royalty and nobility, as well on new threats like accelerating urbanization, [[ScienceIsBad unchecked scientific experimentation]], and growth of the poor and working classes. Feminist scholars in particular have put forth countless interpretations of the Gothic as an artistic expression of the conflict between the [[GoodOldWays patriarchal, conservative order]] and the emerging individualism and female empowerment.

** Transgression ''against family'' runs the gamut from [[YourCheatingHeart marital infidelity]] to {{incest|IsRelative}} and is particularly insidious, given how important family is in the genre. On the other hand, Gothic fiction often presents the institute of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primogeniture primogeniture]] as transgressive against family[[note]]echoing ''Paradise Lost'', where it belies both Satan and Eve's respective fall[[/note]], resulting in a number of second sons, first-born daughters, and [[BastardBastard bastards]] cast as sympathetic victim-villains.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Unexplainable (to a rational mind) phenomena, particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]], are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-story or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore associated primarily with villains and transgressors.

* {{Missing Mom}}s. A typical Gothic mother is absent or dead, which is both a commentary on the suppression of women in the Victorian era, and a motivation for male characters to usurp maternal roles (done most blatantly in ''Literature/{{Frankenstein}}''). If the mother is present, she will either be [[AdultsAreUseless incapable and foolish]] (like Lucy's mom in ''Literature/{{Dracula}}''), [[ThePlotReaper killed]] half-way through the story (Elvira in ''Literature/TheMonk''), or [[EvilMatriarch outright evil]].

** Finally, ''{{gambling|Tropes}}'' is a special kind of evil in Gothic fiction, combining elements of all of the above in one big transgressive package. It is a transgression against the Divine because TheGambler rejects the grace of God in favor of Chance; against one's family, because gambling inevitably leads to its [[TrappedByGamblingDebts financial impoverishment and moral ruin]]; and against social norms, because it allows for social advancement without birth or merit, serving as the antithesis of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic Protestant work ethic]] prevalent among British middle class at the time[[note]]who considered gambling to be a [[AristocratsAreEvil vice of the aristocracy]][[/note]].

* {{Blood|yTropes}} plays many different roles in the Gothic. It is simultaneously a symbol of life itself, of [[ThickerThanWater geneaology]] and familial (and racial) purity, and of money (the "blood" of a capitalist economy). All of these meanings are reflected in the [[ClassicalMovieVampire Gothic vampire]], who both takes life and grants a perverse semblance of it, and is often both of noble descent (thus sucking the blood of the lower classes both literally ''and'' metaphorically) and [[VampiresAreRich filthy rich]]. Vampirism [[Literature/TheVampyre may also be]] a metaphor for [[TheGambler gambling]], as both things drain people of blood/money and both are typically addictive and compulsive.

** Finally, ''{{gambling|Tropes}}'' is a special kind of evil in Gothic fiction, combining elements of all of the above in one big transgressive package. It is a transgression against the Divine because TheGambler rejects the grace of God in favor of Chance; against one's family, because gambling inevitably leads to its financial impoverishment and moral ruin; and against social norms, because it allows for social advancement without birth or merit, serving as the antithesis of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protestant_work_ethic Protestant work ethic]] prevalent among British middle class at the time[[note]]who considered gambling to be a [[AristocratsAreEvil vice of the aristocracy]][[/note]].

** The Gothic (particularly Ann Radcliffe's) was hugely popular in Imperial Russia, with the [[UrExample first original]] Russian Gothic novel, ''The Island of Bornholm'', published by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Karamzin Nikolay Karamzin]] in 1794 (same year as ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho''). The [[TropeCodifier king of Russian Gothic]], however, was Creator/NikolaiGogol, who wrote several Gothic short stories based on the Cossack lifestyle, Ukrainian folklore, and Orthodox Christianity in the early 1830s, including "St. John's Eve", "A Terrible Vengeance", "The Portrait", and "Viy".

** The Gothic (particularly Ann Radcliffe's) was hugely popular in Imperial Russia, with the [[UrExample first original]] Russian Gothic novel, ''The Island of Bornholm'', published by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolay_Karamzin Nikolay Karamzin]] in 1794 (same year as ''Literature/TheMysteriesOfUdolpho''). The [[TropeCodifier king of Russian Gothic]], however, was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Gogol Nikolai Gogol]], who wrote several Gothic short stories based on the Cossack lifestyle, Ukrainian folklore, and Orthodox Christianity in the early 1830s, including "St. John's Eve", "A Terrible Vengeance", "The Portrait", and "Viy".

** The [[TropeCodifier king of Russian Gothic]] is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Vasilievich_Gogol Nikolai Vasilievich Gogol]], who wrote several Gothic short stories based on the Cossack lifestyle, Ukrainian folklore, and Orthodox Christianity, such as "St. John's Eve," "A Terrible Vengeance", "The Portrait," and "Viy", arguably his most famous work.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Unexplainable (to a rational mind) phenomena, particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]], are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-fiction or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore associated primarily with villains and transgressors.

* The most obvious example of an imprisoning place is the HauntedCastle, which is also the most recognizable and enduring symbol of the Gothic -- not least because of its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture eponymous]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture architecture]]. A Gothic castle stands for claustrophobic enclosure with no maps, confusing corridors, [[BookcasePassage secret]] [[SecretUndergroundPassage passageways]], and [[TrapDoor hidden trapdoors]], often connecting to {{Creepy Cave}}s or [[AncientTomb tombs]]. Its architecture seems alive with its [[HellIsThatNoise clanking chains]], [[WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon howling dogs]], [[SinisterScrapingSound scraping knives]], and locked doors, and invokes images of [[ARestrainedIndex entrapment, abduction, forceful restraint]], and being BuriedAlive. With all that said, however, an imprisoning place does not have to be a literal castle -- any [[BigLabyrinthineBuilding labyrinthine man-made structure]] (an OldDarkHouse, a [[LockedAwayInAMonastery monastery]], a BedlamHouse, etc.) would do, as long as it conveys the emotions of isolation, alienation, and extreme duress. In late Victorian Gothic (1880s–90s), entire cities (particularly [[VictorianLondon London]]) became symbolic castles, with their labyrinthine sprawl hiding urban horrors and vices, while isolating and alienating inhabitants from one another.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Unexplainable (to a rational mind) phenomena, particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]], are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-fiction or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore associated primarily with the villains.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Unexplainable (to a rational mind) phenomena, particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]], are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-fiction or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore attributed exclusively to the villains.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Unexplainable (to a rational mind) phenomena, particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]], are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-fiction or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, however, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws, and is therefore often attributed exclusively for the villains.

* {{Supernatural|Fiction}}: Unexplainable (to a rational mind) phenomena, particularly [[OurGhostsAreDifferent ghosts]], [[TheProphecy prophecies]], and generic [[TheDarkArts dark powers]], are a staple in Gothic fiction, whether they are real in-fiction or [[ScoobyDooHoax not]] (see Choices, Choices below). Even when they are, hover, the supernatural is never the focus of the story, but a device to embellish human corruption and moral flaws and is therefore often reserved for the villains only.

* The most obvious example of an imprisoning place is the HauntedCastle, which is also the most recognizable and enduring symbol of the Gothic -- not least because of its [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_architecture eponymous]] [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_Revival_architecture architecture]]. A Gothic castle stands for claustrophobic enclosure with no maps, confusing corridors, [[BookcasePassage secret]] [[SecretUndergroundPassage passageways]], and [[TrapDoor hidden trapdoors]], often connecting to natural caves or [[AncientTomb tombs]]. Its architecture seems alive with its [[HellIsThatNoise clanking chains]], [[WolvesAlwaysHowlAtTheMoon howling dogs]], [[SinisterScrapingSound scraping knives]], and locked doors, and invokes images of [[ARestrainedIndex entrapment, abduction, forceful restraint]], and being BuriedAlive. With all that said, however, an imprisoning place does not have to be a literal castle -- any [[BigLabyrinthineBuilding labyrinthine man-made structure]] (an OldDarkHouse, a [[LockedAwayInAMonastery monastery]], a BedlamHouse, etc.) would do, as long as it conveys the emotions of isolation, alienation, and extreme duress. In late Victorian Gothic (1880s–90s), entire cities (particularly [[VictorianLondon London]]) became symbolic castles, with their labyrinthine sprawl hiding urban horrors and vices, while isolating and alienating inhabitants from one another.