Gothic Horror in Literature and Architecture

Gothic Fiction

Gothic horror, or gothic fiction, is a genre of literature that includes both horror and romance together. It is thought that Horace Walpole, an English author, created this genre in 1764 with his novel 'The Castle of Otranto'. This new genre became very popular throughout the 1800s and early 1900s with famous books like Frankenstein (1818), Dracula (1897) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890). Gothic fiction thrives off of people's fear of the unknown, feeding their want to be shocked and thrilled. It makes use of the unnatural, supernatural and uncanny to pleasure, but terrify, the audience.

The First Gothic Horror Book
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Motifs within the Gothic
- Strange places
- Clashing time periods
- Power and constraint
- A word of doubt
- Terror versus horror
- Sexual power
- The uncanny
- The sublime
- Crisis
- The supernatural and the real

Gothic Architecture 

Gothic architecture developed from Romanesque architecture. Romanesque architecture was a popular architectural design in the ancient world (i.e the Romans and the Greeks). At the end of the Roman Empire, when it was destroyed by large groups of Barbarians, including Goths and Franks, the invaders added their own unique twist to the unwanted architecture to make it their own. This is when Gothic architecture was first created.

Gothic architecture is very extreme and over the top, with all the intricate detailing and the vast scale of the buildings. Many of the great cathedrals, abbeys and churches of Europe are gothic as these were the buildings that made this style so famous and iconic.

Gothic architecture were and still are very tall because it was thought they they were reaching towards the heavens, many of these buildings were cathedrals. However there are three main elements of gothic architecture that distinguish them from the rest; the first one being their pointed arches. The pointed arches allowed the buildings to be taller than ever because their stress lines were much more vertical. Ribbed vaults are another element of Gothic architecture, they make the weight of the building direct downwards, allowing for the walls to not need to be as thick. Flying buttresses are another key element of Gothic architecture which again make sure that the weight is directing towards the ground, instead of pushing the walls outwards. 

Example of pointed arches.
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Example of ribbed vaults.
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Example of flying buttresses.
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Examples of famous Gothic Architecture

The interior of the western end of Reims Cathedral.
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Milan Cathedral in Italy.
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Resources:
https://www.princeton.edu/~achaney/tmve/wiki100k/docs/Gothic_fiction.html
http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/gothic-art-and-architecture.html