Although sales largely flourished in England, these novels were also popular on the Continent and spread to America. Readers from the aristocratic elite to poor servants were held in thrall by the fantasy worlds these novels promised to deliver.
Main Characteristics of the Gothic Horror Novel:
The Gothic Horror Novel was another aspect of Romanticism that was a response to the ‘Age of Reason’ and a reaction to the developing era of rational thought. It’s most popular phase was from 1765 to 1820. The main elements of the novel were:
- A heightened sense of emotion due to irrational fear
- A melancholy atmosphere related to mortality
- A sense of oriental allure aroused by popular fascination with the colonies.
- Graphic descriptions of sex and violence
- Shocking images brought alive by the text.
The most popular of these books at the time were:
The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole:
Walpole created a new kind of literary genre that placed real persons in ‘magical’ situations with helmets falling out of the sky, walking portraits, ghosts, giants and statues that come to life. This blending made readers feel as if the ‘magical’ elements could really happen in their own world. The sensations aroused by reading this novel were enhanced for the first time by things like mysterious sounds, doors opening independently of persons and descriptions of the castle’s gloomy passages and vaults.
Vathek (1786) by William Beckford:
Beckford continued where Walpole left off, using similar gothic styling for his own novel but framing them within an oriental context, to capitalize on the mass public’s fascination for everything oriental. The story is about a Caliph who loses power and engages in immoral activities in order to gain supernatural powers. It includes ghosts, spirits and various devices to mount a feeling of terror in the reader.
The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Mrs. Ann Radcliffe:
This is the best known of the author’s handful of Gothic romances, set in a gloomy castle in the mountains of Italy. The novel’s heroine is abducted there by her villainous uncle and she is beset by various seemingly supernatural horrors.
The Monk (1796) by Matthew Lewis:
This novel is probably the first of this genre that contains a heady mixture of sex and violence that led to a call for the book to be suppressed. It tells the tale of a respected monk who becomes sexually obsessed with a pupil and once he is damned by the Inquisition tries to make a pact with the devil. There are instances of using supernatural power throughout the book.
Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley:
Probably one of the most famous books of this genre, Frankenstein is the story of a botched scientific experiment that has unintended consequences when a monster is created. Mary Shelley wrote this work at a time when interest in the Gothic Horror novel was waning and the historical novel was beginning to get a foot in the popular imagination. Besides the dark, ominous undertones of the book’s settings, there is the main theme of exploring man’s fear of mortality and difficult relationship with it.
Melmoth the Wanderer (1820) by Charles Maturin:
Some consider the end of the period of the Gothic Horror novel to be when Melmoth the Wanderer was published. The novel begins with introducing the protagonist Melmoth as 100 years olds having made a pact with the Devil in exchange for a prolonged life. The only way to escape the pact is to find someone to take over Melmoth’s part in it, and here the stories of various characters evolve. Torture, deceit, villains and the Devil make frequent appearances in the book, making it one of the most interesting examples of the Gothic Horror novel.
Jessica Faleiro - Jessica has an MA in Creative Writing from the UK and has published travel articles in The Times of India Crest edition. She currently ...
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