Summary of Gothic Horror and Edgar Allen Poe

Summary Of gothic horror What is horror? People find different things scary, so different people have different ideas about what horror actually is. A lot of people enjoy the feeling of being scared, reasons being that it gives them a thrill, lets them take a break from things in their life they may be bored of, they are trying to conquer something the really do have a fear of, or just because that’s who they are. Horror stories include things like suspense, surprise, a setting that gives that “creepy” feeling in the setting, and things that very from author-to-author and director-to-director. Horror literature and movies are said to be more popular with thrill-seekers and people with intense day jobs (like bomb-diffusers or day traders). Another thing about horror, some people thinks it’s more appealing to men. Is it because it women tend to be the victims in horror literature/movies? Some people think a man wouldn’t fit the part of a victim as well as a woman would. I had my own idea that it may be because of the so called “snuggle theory”.

Gothic literature is an early root for modern horror stories; some of the first gothic works were Frankenstein by Mary shelly and The Castle of Otranto. The first works of gothic literature date back to 1765 in Europe. Some characteristics of gothic literature include: Mystery, horror, the grotesque, violence, and the supernatural. A lot of the gothic literature takes place in settings of gothic architecture. Some characteristics of the architecture include: vaulted doors, gargoyles, high ceilings, arches, stained windows, and passageways. Some gothic conventions include: a damsel in distress, secret passageways and corridors, curses, ruined castles with graveyards nearby, priests or monks, and dreams or death-like-states. Some famous gothic writes include Anne Rice, Joyce Carol Oates, Stephen King, Stephanie Myers, and Edgar Allen Poe being one of the most famous.

Edgar Allen Poe, also known as the father of the horror and detective story and master of suspense, had a tough life. His first tragedy being at the age of 2 when his mother died of tuberculosis, afterwards he was separated from his siblings and sent to a foster family, the Allen’s. Poe was raised well by his foster father who was a merchant and cherished by his foster mother. His father sent him to college, his art and stories were popular among the other kids and they liked to come to his dorm and listen to him tell stories. He was poor so he started gambling and got into 2000 dollars in debt. He ran away and joined the army under a fake name to escape debtors jail. When he lost his step mom to tuberculosis, he moved in with his aunt and her 8 year old cousin Virginia. Poe ended up falling in love with Virginia; he married her when she was 13 years old. They were a happy couple; but then Virginia got tuberculosis. This was Poe’s third family member getting tuberculosis. Before she died he wrote a poem called the raven, this was Poe’s first published work. Poe was always in search of forbidden knowledge. He wanted a connection with the afterlife, probably to see the ones he loved and lost.