Classic Gothic

Before I get to the good stuff I must begin with a brief literature lesson. Named after the infamous Goths of northern Europe - those dastardly barbarians who actually succeded in pillaging and plundering the Roman Empire - the gothic officially began as a genre when Horace Walpole published The Castle of Otranto in 1764. Other gothic novels followed, including Matthew Lewis's The Monk (1796), Ann Radcliffe's The Italian; or The Confession of the BlackPenitents (1797), and, of course, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1818). Simply put, the classic gothic employed a supernatural element to help move the story along. In the early works, the supernatural elements were almost always explained. The goal of the story was to scare the reader and then return the reader to the time's status quo. In other words, chaos reigned for all of 100+ pages and then was defeated and/or explained so that the reader's fear ended. In the mid-1800s, however, the supernatural elements became more and more extreme and less mundane. By the late 1800s, the gothic had evolved into a genre with inexplicable supernatural events, but the status quo remainded by the text's end. It was not until the 1950s (thank Robert Bloch and Alfred Hitchcock for a little novel/film called Psycho) that chaos reigned supreme at the end of the text. But I want to focus on the "best of the best" of the classic gothic, the stuff that came out before Psycho because, unfortunately, this is the stuff that is slowly being forgotten. (Okay, technically my television choice is after Psycho but the feel of the show places it firmly in classic gothic.)

Literature: The Fall of the House of Usher
I could have gone with so many texts so where do I begin? Why, the mac daddy of them all: Edgar Allan Poe. How could I possibly post a classic gothic blog without him? It would be blasphemy!!!! Why "Usher"? Well, this story still scares the beejezus out of me. I've read it about a dozen times and I still peer over my shoulder when Madeline appears. Eek! If you've never read "Usher," pick it up. You can find it online but I suggest you print it out to read. If you want to read about the decaying Usher family and their incestuous past, do it under a blanket with your back against the wall. For added spookiness, read it during a thunderstorm.

Film: Nosferatu (1922)
Again, which to choose? Both John Barrymoore's Jekyll and Hyde and Lon Chaney's Phantom of the Opera were options here. In the end, however, I went with the first film adaptation of Stoker's Dracula. (Although the close runner-up was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Those German Expressionists knew their gothic!) The effects won't surprise anyone today, nor will the story keep you on the edge of your seat. However, if you want to see what the early filmmakers did with a gothic text, this is the film to watch. Gothic was made for film and it didn't take long for filmmakers to realize it. Plus, since F. W. Murnau didn't have the rights to Stoker's novel, he played with the storyline. In this adaptation, Nina (Mina from the novel) is the true hero. She is the one who vanquishes the evil vampire, although I won't spoil the ending by telling you how. Oh, and after you've seen Nosferatu, rent Shadow of the Vampire (2000), a mock behind-the-scenes film that offers the possibilty Max Schreck (the vampire) was a true vampire.

Television Show: The Twilight Zone
First, I need to tell you all that I mean the original. None of this remake crap! On holiday weekends The Sci Fi Channel runs Twilight Zone marathons. As a teenager, I was fascinated. I would watch as many episodes as I could get away with. You're going to get a wide variety from a marathon, anything from aliens to paranoia to the atomic bomb. Some are definitely better than others and not all of them are really gothic. The ones that are gothic - and have always creeped me out - are "The Passersby," "Deaths-Head Revisited," and "The Midnight Sun." It should come as no surprise that The Twilight Zone is the best gothic television has to offer; many of its authors are still considered classic gothic writers of the 1950s. You all may also be surprised to learn that many plot lines from Zone became popular stories in the hands of other writers, but I'll leave it up to you to figure out which ones. (Stephen King was a huge Zone fan, hint hint.)

Next week tune in for famous vampire tales...