Don't know if my novel is gothic

[Isaac]

Wrote this bookA Woman in the Woods which is dark and mysterious with some supernatural elements, but I really don't know if it's actually a gothic novel.
Need your help to figure it out :-)

[Shainlock]

From Wordbook:
goth⋅ic /'gäthik/
adjective
characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque • gothic novels like `Frankenstein'
as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened
syn: medieval, mediaeval

[Shainlock]

And Dictionary.com app: —gothic: adjective

(often initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to a style of literature characterized by a gloomy setting, grotesque, mysterious, or violent events, and an atmosphere of degeneration and decay: 19th-century gothic novels.
(initial capital letter) noting or pertaining to the alphabetical script introduced for the writing of Gothic by Ulfilas and derived by him from Greek uncials with the addition of some Latin and some invented letters.
(often initial capital letter) being of a genre of contemporary fiction typically relating the experiences of an often ingenuous heroine imperiled, as at an old mansion, where she typically becomes involved with a stern or mysterious but attractive man.
—noun

(usually initial capital letter) the arts and crafts of the Gothic period.
(initial capital letter) the extinct Germanic language of the Goths, preserved especially in the 4th-century translation by Ulfilas of the Bible. Abbreviation: Goth, Goth., goth.
(often initial capital letter) a story, play, film, or other work in the gothic style.
(usually initial capital letter) British. black letter.
(often initial capital letter) a square-cut printing type without serifs or hairlines.
Origin: 1605–15; < Late Latin Gothicus of, pertaining to the Goths. See Goth, -ic

—Related forms
goth·i·cal·ly, adverb
goth·ic·ness, goth·ic·i·ty , noun
non-Goth·ic, adjective
post-Goth·ic, adjective
pre-Goth·ic, adjective, noun
pro-Goth·ic, adjective
pseu·do-Goth·ic, adjective
un·goth·ic, adjective

[Shainlock]

Hope that helps ;)
Good explanation Nancy

[Isaac]

ty, kind of confused with all those categories out there.

[Trinity]

Gothic does usually come down to setting and tone. Is it gloomy? Does it get under your skin? Does it haunt your reader long after it has been read? Do you have a backdrop that is unsettling?

Do check out the discussion mentioned. It may give you a bit more insight into what other readers consider Gothic as well.