The Gothic Novel

 THE GOTHIC NOVEL

1. Who invented the G.N? What was the title of the first G.N? When was it first published? 

Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, 1764.

2. Which basic elements of horror do you remember from the introductory lesson?

Paranormal situations, the woman in distress, dark places, people screaming, howls of wolves,
distanced steps, squeaky doors, secret doors, lights turning off all the time, ghosts, fog.

 DRACULA 

This Gothic horror novel was written in 1897 by Bram Stocker, where he presents the Count Dracula character, making popular, at the same time, the vampire fantasy. He wrote it after getting informated about the "Transylvania's superstitions" and a vampires mith. He seems to want to do this to explore the limits of what it is to be human. 

The novel tells the story of Dracula's attempt to move from Transylvania to England, by buying a house in London. He may find new blood and spread the undead curse. To reach his propouse, Dracula fights with a small group of people led by Professor Abraham Van Helsing. There also appears Jonathan Harker, who goes off to Central Europe and he's suddenly captured by Count Dracula and imprisoned in a violently, ancient world. 

That's very typical of all Gothic fiction. It wants to see the relationship between the modern world and the past (not as one of evolution) with an often violent conflict ,by using a creature that you think is dead but comes back alive in the present.