Gothikana

Epigraphs from Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven” and Bram Stoker’s Dracula reference darkness and solitude. A map shows the different locations at the University of Verenmore. A full-page photograph shows a raven perched on a tree, with a full moon in the background. A second epigraph from “The Raven,” cites the line, “Quoth the raven, ‘Nevermore!’” (xiii).

Young Vad Deverell reflects on the psychic powers obtained by Old Zelda, a caretaker at the boys’ home where he lives, since she lost her sight several years prior. Vad is frightened of the woman, particularly her prediction that his best friend, Fury, will “eat flames” someday. She predicts that Vad will go “to a castle where none go,” where he will “find purple eyes,” something the other boys mock for its unlikeliness (2). Vad takes it seriously, however, as Zelda warns him this is “a matter of many deaths” (2).

Ten-year-old Corvina Clemm thinks about how she enjoys the color black and darkness, though other children fear it. Corvina disdains the village children, however, as they accuse Corvina’s mother, who hears “voices that [tell] her things” (4), of being a witch.