Fear In Gothic Literature

Many people have at least read several novels that are classified as “horror”, such as the famous novel “I am Legend” by Richard Matheson, published in 1954. Where the sole survivor of a vampire pandemic, Robert Neville, must hunt for food and drink by day, and defend his home from monsters by night. Yet, such texts would not have been possible if not for the authors during the Gothic era that laid the foundation for such works to be created by today’s novelists. The novels Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole, and “Sir Bertrand” by Anna and John Aikin, give excellent examples on this subject. It was these works where the natural elements that gave the text a sense of fear, and impending doom on the character to give the reader a thrilling sensation that they would not normally get in their daily lives.
Noises were commonly used by the authors of the gothic era, these sounds were made from the elements found in their hypothetical environment, to convey a sense of fear to the reader, through the character. For example, in the case of The Castle of Otranto, Walpole uses wind to imply the looming threat of her pursuer closing in to keep the character in constant fear. “... she thought she heard a sigh. She shuddered, and recoiled a few paces.”(Walpole 588). If the protagonist had been traversing the path without the threat of her
As such, they were able to create the foundation for modern horror novels and films to be made today. From the undead to the supernatural, modern novelists have only been inspired by the stories from the Gothic era, and even incorporated their own interests to make new stories. Such uses of noise, buildings, and light, the authors of the Gothic era were able to create a lucid sense of fear and dread to be transferred to the