GOTHIC LITERATURE

Today, the Gothic continues to influence the novel, the short story, and poetry, and provides a major source of themes and elements in film making. In fact, Gothic elements have been used so often in film that some have become predictable cliches. For example, when people enter an abandoned room in a supposedly abandoned house, the door often closes and locks behind them.

Walpole himself lays on most of these elements pretty thick (although he's a lot lighter on darkness than many modern Gothic works), so it might be said that another element of the classic Gothic is its intensity created by profuse employment of the vocabulary of the Gothic. Consider this from Chapter 1 of The Castle of Otranto: The servant "came running back breathless, in a frantic manner, his eyes staring, and foaming at the mouth. He said nothing but pointed to the court. The company were struck with terror and amazement." Then, "In the meantime, some of the company had run into the court, from whence was heard a confused noise of shrieks, horror, and surprise."