Gothic Horror

Gothic Horror 

Key motifs in Gothic:

• strange places; this is the setting, a gothic story comes to life with the setting of the horror, this may be a castle, labyrinth or a dark place that gives the feeling of being trapped buried alive 
• clashing time periods 
• power and constraints; power can play a huge part in the storyline as it is normally the main sinister character to want or have power over someone, this may include; supernatural power such as mind control, being compelled to do something that you cannot control is one of the most fearful things for a person, it can make women vulnerable (sexual power)
• sexual power, is used in gothic novels to scare and shock the audience; this may involve incest, same sex relations, rape, desire and living dead relations
• the sublime, this is often described as something non beautiful but awesome and terrifying at the same time 
• crisis, something that causes an emotion or a fear in someone, normally the reader  
• terror and wonder, this can keep the storyline an anticipation; something that is terrifying but also intriguing pushing the reader to continue while also have the emotion of feeling scared or suspicious 
• supernatural and real, this could involve Satan and selling your soul for something you desire, or ghosts and other ghouls that ay appear real but are supernatural
• the uncanny; this involves objects that may look human but aren't such as dolls and wax works  

Gothic Horror novels officially started with Horace Walpole, he was an author who wrote the novel 'The Castle of Otranto' he writes about the castle and the horror that comes with it, the feeling of being trapped and haunted feared readers as this was one of the first gothic horror novels written. This story shoes the setting is an important factor when writing a gothic novel, it creates a baseline to work upon and the imagination of the reader will entrance them in the book. 

Walpole created Strawberry hill, inspired by fashion for gothic in both architecture and writing. While other houses of this time where based on classic traditions, Walpole chose the architecture of gothic cathedrals as the inspiration for this villa. Chimney pieces, doors ceiling and windows are all based on the concept of gothic, he had medieval tombs and gothic style windows. This may have been part of the inspiration for the setting of his novel combined with his dream; one night, Walpole awoke from a dream and imagined he saw a giant armoured fist on the staircase of the castle and it was this that inspired the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto. Printed on the first private printing press in the country at Strawberry Hill, it was the inspiration for Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and other literary which lasts into modern times.

Strawberry Hill 

http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-100489/Strawberry-Hill-at-Twickenham-outside-London-was-acquired-by-Horace, viewed 02.02.16, (digital image)

Horace Walpole 

http://www.slideshare.net/brianhousand/engineering-serendipity-ncagt, viewed 02.02.16, (digital image)