An interesting article on Gothic Horror

[Soren / Zarathustra217]

This is perhaps one of the most qualified (short) run-throughs you can read about how the genre was formed and what it is motivated by:

http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/articles/the-origins-of-the-gothic

The page also feature a lot of other interesting articles on the genre: http://www.bl.uk/romantics-and-victorians/themes/the-gothic

[IDreamofDaleks]

Walpole pretended that the story itself was an antique relic, providing a preface in which a translator claims to have discovered the tale, published in Italian in 1529, ‘in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England’. The story itself, ‘founded on truth’, was written three or four centuries earlier still (Preface). Some readers were duly deceived by this fiction and aggrieved when it was revealed to be a modern ‘fake’.

So.....Basically Gothic horror was the precursor to the 'found footage' genre? *snickers*

[Kendaric]

Walpole pretended that the story itself was an antique relic, providing a preface in which a translator claims to have discovered the tale, published in Italian in 1529, ‘in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England’. The story itself, ‘founded on truth’, was written three or four centuries earlier still (Preface). Some readers were duly deceived by this fiction and aggrieved when it was revealed to be a modern ‘fake’.

So.....Basically Gothic horror was the precursor to the 'found footage' genre? *snickers*

I felt reminded of "The Princess Bride" actually (the book, not the movie), since it's written in a similiar way.

Anyways, the article was definitely an interesting read.

[Bluebomber4evr]

Walpole pretended that the story itself was an antique relic, providing a preface in which a translator claims to have discovered the tale, published in Italian in 1529, ‘in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England’. The story itself, ‘founded on truth’, was written three or four centuries earlier still (Preface). Some readers were duly deceived by this fiction and aggrieved when it was revealed to be a modern ‘fake’.

So.....Basically Gothic horror was the precursor to the 'found footage' genre? *snickers*

You'd laugh even more if you'd read The Castle of Otranto. Its plot uses the exact formula of every single episode of Scooby-Doo, Where are You?.

[Exordium]

I read that some while ago in its original language. Dictionary comes useful, as apparently the English of the day had, among other things, specific words for side entrances of castles and so on!

I didn't find it quite as bad as I expected, but it's certainly a bit difficult to follow. Anyhow, I feel the article, while being a good bit of literature history, kind of fails to bring up the moral teachings often found in many gothic and gothic horror stories. The quest for overcoming death, either through vampirism (Dracula), witchcraft (Wake Not The Dead), mad science (Frankenstein) or a heir (The Castle of Otranto), and the punishment for trying to act like a god, is perhaps the most common theme found. In a way, I see many gothic stories as lessons in humility. It was quite important in that era for stories to contain a moral teaching, even if a thinly veiled one.