By Madison Kollar
Gothic media is a dying genre. Gothic literature rose in the 18th century as a dark, brooding mix of romance, monster stories and mystery. “Gothic” as a genre is defined by Merriam Webster as “of or relating to a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings and macabre, mysterious, or violent incidents.” There also tends to be a theme of sexuality throughout the suspense.
“The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole, published in 1764, is considered one of the first works of gothic fiction, with the subtitle of the book being “A Gothic Story.” The book is, essentially, a mystery novel set in a medieval castle, full of death and intrigue.
Over a century later, between which authors like Edgar Allan Poe and Oscar Wilde released works of gothic fiction, another powerhouse of the genre was published: “Dracula” by Bram Stoker. Following Jonathan Harker and Abraham Van Helsing, the novel is told through letters and journal entries.
The 1922 silent film, “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” was based “indirectly” on “Dracula,” without permission or copyright. This is why the details of Nosferatu so closely resemble those of Dracula: taking place in a remote castle, being held against one’s will — though lacking in the presence of a brave vampire hunter. “Dracula” got its own, titular movie in 1931, complementing a film adaptation of Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” coming out in the same year.
Gothic fell as a genre in the early to mid-1900s, but the rare gothic book was still coming out, such as Shirley Jackson’s short story, “We Have Always Lived in the Castle” (1962), “Rosemary’s Baby” (1967) — adapted to film in 1968 — and Anne Rice’s “Interview With The Vampire” (1976), a work which has since enjoyed several film and television adaptations. Despite this, the gothic genre is struggling to stay afloat.
The release of “Nosferatu” (2024) was a great step in the direction of some sort of revival, and the film received moderately good reviews, with a 7.3/10 on IMDb and 84% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. Most reviewers appreciated its attention to detail and honoring of the genre. Director Robert Eggers, whose other work includes “The Lighthouse” and “The Witch,” clearly has an affinity to horror, but I can only hope that his next film continues to play with gothic elements.
A gothic revival would be more than welcome, in my opinion, in the modern era — especially with the horror genre being so popular already. Putting a gothic spin on horror films might be especially appealing to fantasy-loving audiences, a genre that is on the rise for its allowance of easy escapism from the turmoil of the real world.
According to Gary Price, using Circana Bookscan data, “Adult fiction was the strongest segment of the total book market in 2024. #BookTok is a key factor in the discovery and amplification of fiction sales.” As much as I truly hate to give BookTok any credit for positive developments in the reading world, online and social media popularity may be the key to the gothic revival I so desire. I believe that gothic media has all of the aspects we enjoy about reading-for-fun literature, and in the modern era, it could be even more inclusive and diverse than it used to be. I would love to see a comeback of the genre with an emphasis on female-driven storylines and far less sexual objectification.
Author
About the Author
I think Gothic is seeing a boost lately. I read and write Gothic, but my Gothic has elements of magick, romantasy, and witchcraft. It appears that Gothic fiction is emerging now with genre-blending into Gothic horror, thrillers, and with fantasy elements. Gothic fantasy, anyone?