When most people think of gothic fiction, they envision a heroine dashing through a crumbling manor in middle of nowhere England, chased by the ghosts of her lover’s past, one as rife with secrets as the holes in her moth-eaten gown.
19th and 20th century classics such as Bronte’s Jane Eyre, du Maurier’s Rebecca, and Austen’s Northanger Abbey come to mind, as well as monster gothics like Shelley’s Frankenstein and Stoker’s Dracula. Many in non-publishing tend to believe the genre is as dead as these authors, maybe excepting fans of Guillermo del Toro’s 2015 gothic masterpiece Crimson Peak.
When I tell my non-publishing friends about my new book, The Haunting of Moscow House, a gothic horror set in post-Revolutionary Moscow, their first question is WHY. Why gothic fiction? Why write such a story at all? First of all, why not gothic fiction?
It doesn’t have to be the same old iteration, though that can be delightful in its own way. After all, the genre is more relevant to us now more than ever. Gothic fiction and, more broadly, horror, shows us the darkness within ourselves and our worlds. And since our world today seems very dark indeed, it reflects our deepest, greatest fears, our most insecure vulnerabilities as humans. It horrifies, it entrances, it romances, it invites escape, all in equal measure. Like other genres, gothic fiction doesn’t need to be static. It can change with the times, encompassing our modern realities, sensitivities, and preoccupations. And it has.
Read the full article: https://crimereads.com/gothic-fiction-with-a-twist/
