Gothic Fiction

Gothic fiction is literature which uses primitive medieval, wild, or mysterious elements. Gothic fiction often feature places like mysterious and gloomy castles and uses elements of fear, the supernatural and darkness, as well as by characters such as vampires, demons, heroes and villains.

The English Gothic novel began with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story (1764). It was during the Romantic Period that Gothic literature was born. Two of the most famous Gothic novelists are Ann Radcliffe and Mary Shelley.