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Gothic
This enduringly popular book has become a classic in the expanding and increasingly popular field of Gothic Studies. This long awaited new edition contains a new chapter on ‘Contemporary Gothic’, an expanded section on American Gothic and more discussion of the gothic in women’s film and writing throughout the book. It is also updated in relation to media and technology with further discussion of stage sensations and photography as well as engaging with all major texts and criticism since initial publication in 1995. With the added benefit of series features such as a glossary and annotated further reading section, this remains the ideal guide to the Gothic.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
October 27, 2013
This was a bit of an introductory once over, lightly. The book is fine as a first text on the main themes of the Gothic, from the late 1700s novels to post-modern film, but it didn't have the depth I was hoping for. Here's to The Late Victorian Gothic: Mental Science, the Uncanny, and Scenes of Writing being more what I'm after.
July 22, 2022
The first piece of lit crit I've read since getting my BA nearly a decade ago which probably explains why it took me so long to finish. A pretty good survey of mostly British Gothic texts from Horace Walpole to Angela Carter with a killer bibliography and passages that range from the pedantic to the poetic, sometimes in the same sentence. The last chapter is concerned with Gothic adaptations and conventions in film and ends with an excoriating criticism of Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula hysterically titled "The End of Gothic," in which he laments the film's sentimentality and it not being gay enough. I don't think we were watching the same movie. Anyway, I would be interested in an updated edition where Botting absolutely destroys the post-Twilight Paranormal Romance boom and takes a more global look at the Gothic tradition.
November 10, 2017
This is a sound and comprehensive overview of the Gothic genre. It seems to be intended primarily for undergraduate students, whereas I read it as a general, non-academic reader with a strong interest in the subject. Perhaps for this reason, I initially thought the style rather heavy-going. Once I settled in and got used to it, I found much to enjoy and learn in this book.
Botting starts his story with the Graveyard Poets of the early 18th Century who, with their images of death and night, were the precursors of the Gothic authors who would emerge later in the century. In the subsequent chapters, all the usual suspects are covered – Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew “Monk” Lewis, William Beckford. However, space is given to relatively lesser-known purveyors of the Gothic including Regina Maria Roche and Sophia Lee.
Some books about the subject restrict themselves to the “English Gothic”. However, Botting provides a chapter on the transformation of the Gothic by American authors such as Charles Brockden Brown, Hawthorne, Poe and Melville. The book is also very good at explaining how, later in the 19th Century and in the first decades of the 20th, the Gothic was “diffused” into a number of other literary genres, including the sensation and crime novels. What was a new perspective for me was also the Gothic’s influence and/or presence in modernist works by T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.
The 20th Century brought with it the rise of cinema and other media were Gothic sensibilities can manifest themselves beyond literature. This development is also addressed in the final chapters although, possibly because of the very vastness of the subject, the closing sections have a rather “rushed” feel to them. As a general introduction to the Gothic, however, this is hard to fault.
Botting starts his story with the Graveyard Poets of the early 18th Century who, with their images of death and night, were the precursors of the Gothic authors who would emerge later in the century. In the subsequent chapters, all the usual suspects are covered – Horace Walpole, Ann Radcliffe, Matthew “Monk” Lewis, William Beckford. However, space is given to relatively lesser-known purveyors of the Gothic including Regina Maria Roche and Sophia Lee.
Some books about the subject restrict themselves to the “English Gothic”. However, Botting provides a chapter on the transformation of the Gothic by American authors such as Charles Brockden Brown, Hawthorne, Poe and Melville. The book is also very good at explaining how, later in the 19th Century and in the first decades of the 20th, the Gothic was “diffused” into a number of other literary genres, including the sensation and crime novels. What was a new perspective for me was also the Gothic’s influence and/or presence in modernist works by T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf.
The 20th Century brought with it the rise of cinema and other media were Gothic sensibilities can manifest themselves beyond literature. This development is also addressed in the final chapters although, possibly because of the very vastness of the subject, the closing sections have a rather “rushed” feel to them. As a general introduction to the Gothic, however, this is hard to fault.
January 16, 2010
A good general introduction to the gothic genre, from the 18th to the 20th century. The prose is often turgid when dealing with broad currents but frequently catches fire when individual works are being discussed.
May 19, 2018
An excellent introduction and exegesis of the Gothic, from its historical literary origins, its defining moments (and texts), to its current iterations. Botting's work gives a deep sense of the tropes and themes of the Gothic that have made their way into (primarily) British and American literature, tracing the ebb and flow, the concentration, integration, dissolution, concealment, and appropriation of the Gothic (and its tools and techniques) over English-speaking literary history. The opening chapter alone is a perfect primer on all of the necessary Gothic signposts, and should be required reading for students of the genre. Furthermore, the lucid examples and keen insights found throughout the critical analysis inspire the thought—which is Gothic in itself—that the Gothic is both everywhere and nowhere, everything and nothing, simultaneously as totalizing and encompassing as it is foreclosing and negating.
July 11, 2025
a useful, clear, and concise overview of the gothic genre spanning the late-eighteenth century to the late-twentieth century
July 24, 2012
A very sound academic introduction to the Gothic literary phenomenon, although Botting loses momentum and perhaps judgment once he reaches the twentieth century which he deals with in a rather cursory and slightly negative manner.
Nevertheless, 90% of the book is devoted to analysing both the core literary phenomenon and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries so he can certainly be forgiven. The book should also stimulate the reader to try the original texts and make their own judgments - that has to be a good thing.
Nevertheless, 90% of the book is devoted to analysing both the core literary phenomenon and the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries so he can certainly be forgiven. The book should also stimulate the reader to try the original texts and make their own judgments - that has to be a good thing.
May 18, 2011
Botting shifts the lens of Gothic Criticism to look at Gothic works in a continuous format, rather than simply sticking with the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as so many other critics have done. He has also employed the idea of fear as an educating device, taking on the critics of past years who focused solely on the escapist aspects of Gothic literature. This is a must-read for anyone in the field who wishes to do serious work going forward.
August 7, 2020
Mais uma leitura motivada por projetos de pesquisa.
Uma introdução bem básica à literatura gótica por um dos maiores estudiosos contemporâneos da área. Para quem já conhece, revela muito pouco, mas as referências podem ser um ponto de partida para indicar leituras futuras. Senti falta de algo que fosse além de um compêndio de referências, não tem muita teoria.
Uma introdução bem básica à literatura gótica por um dos maiores estudiosos contemporâneos da área. Para quem já conhece, revela muito pouco, mas as referências podem ser um ponto de partida para indicar leituras futuras. Senti falta de algo que fosse além de um compêndio de referências, não tem muita teoria.
October 20, 2020
fine introduction to the Gothic especially if you want to write on it for academia but also in general for an overview of how it has shaped our culture over the past centuries and is thoroughly intertwined with contemporary media & literature. super anticlimactic conclusion but otherwise develops its chapters into a cohesive image of gothic history.
4/5
4/5
June 6, 2020
One of the best high level overviews of Gothic fiction that I have read. A great jumping on point.
November 6, 2018
Nice overview of Gothic texts throughout time. I especially found his general typology of the Gothic useful: what do people mean when they call a work 'Gothic'? What are their commonalities?
On the other hand, I found Gothic not particularly useful for anyone looking for a survey of contemporary Gothic studies: Botting doesn't use footnotes in this text, and his references to critical works are minimal. The guide to further reading only lists a tiny amount of works, most of which are quite dated.
On the other hand, I found Gothic not particularly useful for anyone looking for a survey of contemporary Gothic studies: Botting doesn't use footnotes in this text, and his references to critical works are minimal. The guide to further reading only lists a tiny amount of works, most of which are quite dated.
February 27, 2023
Read for class.
August 31, 2019
Botting starts the book with a short but necessary introduction on the nature and meaning of Gothic in a literary sense; a definition that is much needed and still vague at times, and the elusiveness of which is perhaps the weakest aspect of Botting's writing on the matter. The ambivalence and general anxiety at liminal junctures of sociological progress are noted as hallmarks of Gothic literature and the introduction segues into a chronological account of Gothic origins (chapter 2) and later on, 1790's Gothic novel frenzy. Chapter 3 deals with the emergence of Gothic forms and the outlines of Gothic novel taking shape before the works of Radcliffe and Regina Maria Roch were published (discussed in much detail in chapter 4). Chapter 5 dwells on Gothic romanticism made manifest in works like Frankenstein and Melmoth the Wanderer. Chapter 6 recounts various aspects of Gothic literature in Britain and US, and chapter 7, importantly, focuses on fin de siècle Gothic and resurrection of Gothic hallmarks in celebrated works such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Dracula. One major problem I had with this chapter was the strange absence of The Picture of Dorian Grey (mentioned only in passing); a work that is consistently commented upon in any study of fin de siècle Gothic. Other than that, Botting mentions an impressive array of Gothic works in this book and manages to review an extensive number of them, while providing excellent sociopolitical context. The transgressive nature of Gothic and liminal ambivalence are perhaps best reviewed and explored in Botting's study of Dracula. If this is not the first (or most recent) study of Dracula for one to encounter, the originality of Botting's interpretations might be lost on the reader. But it was in fact, original in its time.
Despite the stellar reading of Dracula, the book is far from perfect in my opinion. The use of terminology feels far too casual at times and the entirety of chapter 8 (dealing with modern incarnations of Gothic) is far too rushed and even sloppy. One example that sticks out for me is how Hitchcock's Psycho is discussed under "Science Fiction", which is almost ridiculous and could have been avoided with more care directed towards structuring. The sub-chapter on Postmodern Gothic is equally disappointing and suffers from lack of nuance and structure. I do recommend the book for introductory purposes, especially chapters 1-5, but there are much better works to read on fin de siècle, modern and post-modern Gothic.
Dracula’s crossing of boundaries is relentless: returning from the past he tyrannises the present, uncannily straddling the borders between life and death and thereby undoing a fundamental human fact. In crossing the borders between East and West he undoes cultural distinctions between civilisation and barbarity, reason and irrationality, home and abroad. Dracula’s threat is his polymorphousness, both literally, in the shapes he assumes, and symbolically in terms of the distinctions he upsets.
Despite the stellar reading of Dracula, the book is far from perfect in my opinion. The use of terminology feels far too casual at times and the entirety of chapter 8 (dealing with modern incarnations of Gothic) is far too rushed and even sloppy. One example that sticks out for me is how Hitchcock's Psycho is discussed under "Science Fiction", which is almost ridiculous and could have been avoided with more care directed towards structuring. The sub-chapter on Postmodern Gothic is equally disappointing and suffers from lack of nuance and structure. I do recommend the book for introductory purposes, especially chapters 1-5, but there are much better works to read on fin de siècle, modern and post-modern Gothic.
July 7, 2018
Sections of this book were assigned reading for the Gothic Literature course that I just finished. I also decided to use it as a resource for my term paper, since it deals with the evolution of the Gothic genre throughout the years.
At first, I found this text to be extremely dry, disconnected and difficult to understand and I gave up on it for about 8-9 months. I hesitated picking it up again when I had to do my research for my term paper, but I realize that the reason for my initial struggles stemmed from the fact that the assigned reading happened to be various sections throughout different chapters without much context to give the student a foundation to build on. The second time around I began the text from the beginning and it made a lot more sense and was actually extremely informative, although there is still a lot of fact dumping done within a small amount of space.
Overall, it did the job satisfactorily.
ElliotScribbles
At first, I found this text to be extremely dry, disconnected and difficult to understand and I gave up on it for about 8-9 months. I hesitated picking it up again when I had to do my research for my term paper, but I realize that the reason for my initial struggles stemmed from the fact that the assigned reading happened to be various sections throughout different chapters without much context to give the student a foundation to build on. The second time around I began the text from the beginning and it made a lot more sense and was actually extremely informative, although there is still a lot of fact dumping done within a small amount of space.
Overall, it did the job satisfactorily.
ElliotScribbles
December 11, 2024
1. Introduction
– Excess
– Transgression
– Diffusion
– Criticism
2. Gothic Origins
– Romance and Novel
– Ruins, Graveyards and the Poetry of the Past
– The Sublime
3. Gothic Forms
– 'The Castle of Otranto'
– Early Revisions
4. Gothic Writing in the 1790s
– Ann Radcliffe
– Terror Narratives
– Horror
– Labyrinths of Literature and Politics
5. Romantic Transformations
– Persecutory Romance
– Romantic Heroes
– Wanderers and Doubles
6. Homely Gothic
– American Gothic: Brown, Hawthorne, Poe
– Cities, Homes and Ghosts
– Sins of the Father
7. Gothic Returns in the 1890s
– Science, Crime and Desire
– Vampires
8. Twentieth-Century Gothic
– Modern Gothic Writing
– Science Fiction and Film
– Postmodern Gothic
– The End of Gothic
– Excess
– Transgression
– Diffusion
– Criticism
2. Gothic Origins
– Romance and Novel
– Ruins, Graveyards and the Poetry of the Past
– The Sublime
3. Gothic Forms
– 'The Castle of Otranto'
– Early Revisions
4. Gothic Writing in the 1790s
– Ann Radcliffe
– Terror Narratives
– Horror
– Labyrinths of Literature and Politics
5. Romantic Transformations
– Persecutory Romance
– Romantic Heroes
– Wanderers and Doubles
6. Homely Gothic
– American Gothic: Brown, Hawthorne, Poe
– Cities, Homes and Ghosts
– Sins of the Father
7. Gothic Returns in the 1890s
– Science, Crime and Desire
– Vampires
8. Twentieth-Century Gothic
– Modern Gothic Writing
– Science Fiction and Film
– Postmodern Gothic
– The End of Gothic
May 13, 2012
Good primer for the gothic.
May 10, 2025
Many years ago I toyed with the idea of undertaking a course in gothic literature. There wasn't anything available in Melbourne at the time so I did the next best thing and purchased one of the most popular texts that kept coming up on the reading lists of other courses, Gothic by Fred Botting. It then sat on my shelf for 7 years.
Gothic by Fred Botting is literary criticism and an academic overview of gothic novels - and movies - and changes in the gothic genre from the 1700s - 2012. While it’s only a slim book at 224 pages, the academic nature of the approach meant it was always going to be a slog reading this without the supporting structure of a course or guidance from a Professor of Literature to bring it to life.
What is gothic literature anyway I hear you ask? My 2012 blog post entitled Gothic Tales has been viewed more than 21,000 times and contains an ongoing list of gothic novels I've read, including an overview of nine elements that can make a novel gothic. Some of these include: setting in a castle; an ancient prophecy; women in distress or threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male and more.
Here Botting includes the following description of gothic elements from an essay published in 1797:
"... dark subterranean vaults, decaying abbeys, gloomy forests, jagged mountains and wild scenery inhabited by bandits, persecuted heroines, orphans and malevolent aristocrats." Page 41
In the gothic genre, authors set out to create an atmosphere of gloom and mystery populated by shocks, supernatural incidents, superstitious beliefs and threatening figures to create wonder and fear in the reader.
It was interesting to read that some cyberpunk and steampunk novels can also be classified as gothic novels and I'd never have guessed that the character of Ripley in Alien is a science fiction gothic heroine. Graveyard poetry was discussed and I think I'd like to read a book on gothic architecture and gothic revival architecture at some point because those styles send shivers down my spine for some reason.
Botting takes the reader through the gothic genre chronologically and while I hadn't read any of the offerings in the early pages, familiar titles certainly started to pop up so I made the lists below. Towards the end of the book the author begins to mention films that I wouldn't have thought were gothic in nature at all so I added those too.
Books referenced that I've read
Carter, Angela (The Bloody Chamber)
Conrad, Joseph (Heart of Darkness)
Dickens, Charles (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist)
Du Maurier, Daphne (Rebecca)
Eco, Umberto (The Name of the Rose)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel (The Scarlet Letter)
Meyer, Stephanie (Twilight)
Rice, Anne (Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat)
Shelley, Mary (Frankenstein)
Stoker, Bram (Dracula)
Wells, H.G. (The War of the Worlds)
Wilde, Oscar (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Book referenced on my TBR
Morrison, Toni (Beloved)
Authors I've read but different books were referenced
Ackroyd, Peter
Austen, Jane
Harris, Charlaine
Jackson, Shirley
James, Henry
King, Stephen
Melville, Herman
Twain, Mark
Woolf, Virginia
Movies referenced I've watched
Alien
Blade
Blade Runner
Lost Boys
Poltergeist
Psycho
Terminator and Terminator 2
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Amityville Horror
The Name of the Rose
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Vampire Lestat
Twilight
The academic writing style is very dry and technical and without the structure of a literary course it fell flat for me. Having said that, what I found really disappointing was that it just ends. The author doesn't speculate or posit anything for the future of the gothic genre and that was a missed opportunity in my view.
Gothic - Second Edition by Fred Botting is part of The New Critical Idiom series recommended for students and non fiction readers of literary criticism.
Gothic by Fred Botting is literary criticism and an academic overview of gothic novels - and movies - and changes in the gothic genre from the 1700s - 2012. While it’s only a slim book at 224 pages, the academic nature of the approach meant it was always going to be a slog reading this without the supporting structure of a course or guidance from a Professor of Literature to bring it to life.
What is gothic literature anyway I hear you ask? My 2012 blog post entitled Gothic Tales has been viewed more than 21,000 times and contains an ongoing list of gothic novels I've read, including an overview of nine elements that can make a novel gothic. Some of these include: setting in a castle; an ancient prophecy; women in distress or threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male and more.
Here Botting includes the following description of gothic elements from an essay published in 1797:
"... dark subterranean vaults, decaying abbeys, gloomy forests, jagged mountains and wild scenery inhabited by bandits, persecuted heroines, orphans and malevolent aristocrats." Page 41
In the gothic genre, authors set out to create an atmosphere of gloom and mystery populated by shocks, supernatural incidents, superstitious beliefs and threatening figures to create wonder and fear in the reader.
It was interesting to read that some cyberpunk and steampunk novels can also be classified as gothic novels and I'd never have guessed that the character of Ripley in Alien is a science fiction gothic heroine. Graveyard poetry was discussed and I think I'd like to read a book on gothic architecture and gothic revival architecture at some point because those styles send shivers down my spine for some reason.
Botting takes the reader through the gothic genre chronologically and while I hadn't read any of the offerings in the early pages, familiar titles certainly started to pop up so I made the lists below. Towards the end of the book the author begins to mention films that I wouldn't have thought were gothic in nature at all so I added those too.
Books referenced that I've read
Carter, Angela (The Bloody Chamber)
Conrad, Joseph (Heart of Darkness)
Dickens, Charles (Great Expectations, Oliver Twist)
Du Maurier, Daphne (Rebecca)
Eco, Umberto (The Name of the Rose)
Hawthorne, Nathaniel (The Scarlet Letter)
Meyer, Stephanie (Twilight)
Rice, Anne (Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Lestat)
Shelley, Mary (Frankenstein)
Stoker, Bram (Dracula)
Wells, H.G. (The War of the Worlds)
Wilde, Oscar (The Picture of Dorian Gray)
Book referenced on my TBR
Morrison, Toni (Beloved)
Authors I've read but different books were referenced
Ackroyd, Peter
Austen, Jane
Harris, Charlaine
Jackson, Shirley
James, Henry
King, Stephen
Melville, Herman
Twain, Mark
Woolf, Virginia
Movies referenced I've watched
Alien
Blade
Blade Runner
Lost Boys
Poltergeist
Psycho
Terminator and Terminator 2
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
The Amityville Horror
The Name of the Rose
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Vampire Lestat
Twilight
The academic writing style is very dry and technical and without the structure of a literary course it fell flat for me. Having said that, what I found really disappointing was that it just ends. The author doesn't speculate or posit anything for the future of the gothic genre and that was a missed opportunity in my view.
Gothic - Second Edition by Fred Botting is part of The New Critical Idiom series recommended for students and non fiction readers of literary criticism.
October 30, 2024
This book provides quite a useful account of the historical development of “the gothic” as a genre in literature and visual media. I like the way in which Botting describes the constantly-evolving ways of engaging with its themes and tropes through time, as a result of changing socio-political motivations.
Botting utilises a close analysis of several key Gothic texts as part of his exploration of the genre’s tropes. Even though he provides a short plot summary for context, this proves to be much more engaging when he deals with a book I’ve already read.
In short, this is a quick, easily digestible introduction to the genre, which I’d probably recommend to readers interested in learning about its origins and forms, but it’s not a particularly memorable read.
Botting utilises a close analysis of several key Gothic texts as part of his exploration of the genre’s tropes. Even though he provides a short plot summary for context, this proves to be much more engaging when he deals with a book I’ve already read.
In short, this is a quick, easily digestible introduction to the genre, which I’d probably recommend to readers interested in learning about its origins and forms, but it’s not a particularly memorable read.
September 27, 2024
I read this in conjunction with Andrew Smith's GOTHIC LITERATURE; the two books are closely related and cover much the same ground and, indeed, discussion of the same texts. I think the Smith book has the edge in terms of readability, but this title is also extremely useful in its thorough exploration of the major Gothic forms from the late 18th through to the early 20th centuries. Botting tends towards the verbose, but a large range of texts are mentioned and I found his work on the Romantic poets particularly engaging. There is less focus on literary critics and theorists than in the Smith volume, but otherwise I was not left wanting.
August 7, 2025
Nice concise overview of the Gothic. Botting characterizes the Gothic as a genre of excess, which I agree with. Because he covers like 250 years of material in both England and the U.S. parts of the book are necessarily rushed, but there are some nice analyses of the texts he spends more time with (namely Mysteries of Udolpho, Frankenstein, and Dracula). I like his point about women being an object of exchange in Dracula.
July 8, 2021
A solid primer to the early Gothic, but it runs out of steam with 20th century material and popular forms of media such as film. The author obviously has a liking for the earlier stages of the genre, and almost treats more modern works with a studied disdain.
But as somewhere to start on this knotty subject, it's not bad.
But as somewhere to start on this knotty subject, it's not bad.
January 16, 2025
A great place to start with Gothic studies. A bit out of date beside contemporary scholarship, particularly in relation to eco-Gothic studies. Nevertheless, reliable footing as an introduction.
See also:
The Gothic by David Pinter and Glennis Byron
The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction by Jerrold Hogle
See also:
The Gothic by David Pinter and Glennis Byron
The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction by Jerrold Hogle
April 28, 2023
An excellent introductory text for those studying Gothic literature, my professor recommended this book for my essay and it aided me and my research greatly. I would add that this books only really worth reading for those who are studying Gothic literature, otherwise it’s a bit unnecessary.
November 11, 2018
Additional reading for an assignment in my Rewriting and Adapting class
June 24, 2020
Perfect as an introductory book to the Gothic.
January 11, 2021
Leído para la tesis.
September 25, 2022
Solid intro to the field but because it covers so much territory so quickly it often feels frustratingly shallow
November 21, 2022
just going to consider this finished
September 10, 2023
Love it, so many useful analyses for my dissertation!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews