Introduction to the Gothic

The gothic genre typically has many obvious conventions and concepts which are used frequently throughout many different gothic novels and stories. 

Gothic Concepts

- Horror and Terror 
- The Sublime
- The Uncanny
- Taboos
- The Supernatural or Preternatural 
- Oppositions
- Otherness
- Obscurity
- The Revenant 
- The Doppleganger
- The Liminal
- Abhuman
- Antihero
- Transgression
- Excess


History of the Gothic

The Gothic genre began in the late 18th century and began the Age of Reason (or Enlightenment). It can also be seen as a response to the French revolution or revolution in general. It is often seen as a genre of excess and is thought to have begun with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto.