1922

Gothic horror is a genre that explores fear through a psychological lens, often blurring the line between reality and the supernatural. It relies on dark settings, dreary atmospheres, and the physical manifestation of emotions like guilt, trauma, and regret. The genre originated with Horace Walpole’s 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, whose haunted castle reflects the Gothic architecture from which the genre draws its name. Authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker, and Stephen King himself went on to popularize and legitimize the genre.

Central to the Gothic horror genre is the exploration of the interconnectedness of the supernatural and the darkest human traits. Often, Gothic horror characters commit an evil act, then their guilt and trauma are represented through the physical manifestation of supernatural events. Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart (1843) is one of the most famous examples, as the unnamed narrator kills an old man with whom they used to live. After they bury the man beneath their floorboards, they become convinced that the man’s heart continues to beat, infiltrating their thoughts and forcing them to confess to the police to get it to stop.