Gothic

What started "gothic"? How did some body come up with the idea using double exposure or even dressing in a certain way? What made the Victorian era so special to be known as the gothic horror period.....

The term of gothic normally is thought about from a genre of literature the term is a reference between a combined idea of creating horror & romance just like to many now with 50 shades of grey, gothic literature created a desired feeling with the Victorians a side delved into ones darker side; love and horror feeling that give you that raised hair feeling or fluttered heart beat. One of The first and really memorable novels to really take of within the gothic horror genre was the novel by Horace Walpole "The castle of Otranto" in 1764. The book was a success and sparked a literary genre; though Walpole is seen to many as the pioneer start to the genre we can also look at authors like Ann Radcliffe & Edgar Allan Poe for a early example of Gothic writing.

The gothic genre of literature took a different turn in the later 18th & 19th century the need for gothic horror became vastly popular. in the Victorian era the whole idea came from the quest of finding the "sublime" the idea of creating something much like a strong sensation for the reader a feeling of ecstasy within a book or even a location, the sublime wasn't just for literature but was also wanted in the Victorians lives.... In one lecture my tutor spoke of "fake ruins" how the Victorian's would create places of ruin just for a atmosphere; many of these would include churches (of course) these were invented to provoke a sense of adventure and even fright to an interested victorian. Remember this was a time before film (cinemas were created in the 1890's) had been created.

Gothic Literature also follows certain motifs such as strange places & power and constraint even love... just look at Bram Stokers Dracula with Dracula's love for Mina the re-encarnation of his lost long Elisabeta. The idea of the "sublime" within gothic literature was popular finding the ecstasy between the two main components that create the genre ROMANCE & HORROR.
Within the victorian era the whole sublime idea was extremely important; people had become more adventurous sure but that still meant that within literature it was heavily needed. A book even now takes us away from everything, it sparks our imagination. In the video below professor john Bowen talks of how people became fascinated with the idea of experiencing things that aren't in the usual categories things that aren't seen as beautiful or ordinary in daily life, writers started imagining what its like to be in the middle of a storm or on some snowy mountain.
The idea of creating a strange place that  Much like the victorian's needed gothic horror sparked something in its audience that changed peoples thinking Just look at Miss Havisham's decrepit old house lay in a complete shambles for twenty years. What do I think of when I think of gothic literature.... Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818) or Bram Strokers Dracula (1897)

the clip below is Professor John Bowen talking in detail of key motifs held within gothic novels, including the sublime, supernatural, strange places and the uncanny