However, like a ghost, it returns to haunt the living. The Enlightenment’s focus on reason and logic meant that gothic literature’s supernatural elements were viewed with disdain. The popularity of gothic literature has ebbed and flowed over time. Present in all gothic horror is an overwhelming sense of dread and paranoia that isn’t just limited to the pages of the book, but also reflects a social paranoia. These are often representations of social conflicts or the fears of the time. However, the most common gothic themes include an oppressive, isolated environment (think of the eponymous The Castle of Otranto or Wuthering Heights), supernatural threats, disturbing, and grotesque characters or situations and the past returning to haunt the present. In reality, there is no one defining feature of gothic literature. When you think of gothic horror, you probably immediately think of creepy graveyards, women in Victorian dresses fleeing in the night and foreboding castles on misty hills. In a modern and technologically advanced world, why does gothic literature, with its supernatural elements and antiquated aesthetics, remain so popular? WHAT IS GOTHIC LITERATURE?

Gothic horror has made its way to the silver screen with Netflix shows like “ The Haunting of Hill House” and “ The Haunting of Bly Manor” receiving critical success and some would argue Twilight is a modern gothic romance. Gibson’s A Dowry of Blood, a retelling of Dracula that focuses on the stories of Dracula’s brides. Staples of classic horror have been retold and updated for the modern age, like S.T. Schwab, to literary fiction, such as Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield.

Gothic fiction can be seen across genres, from young adult, like Gallant by V.E. It makes perfect sense that gothic horror has returned from the dead. A pandemic has changed life as we know it, the rising cost of living hangs hauntingly over our heads, and climate change poses a dreadful threat.

House of hunger by alexis henderson