Gothic Lit Final

Author of Carmilla

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

Author of Ligeia

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Oval Portrait

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Tell Tale Heart

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Black Cat

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Fall of the House of Usher

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Masque of the Red Death

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Imp of the Perverse

Edgar Allan Poe

Author of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Author of The Werewolf

Angela Carter

Author of The Company of Wolves

Angela Carter

Author of The Monkeys Paw

W. W. Jacobs

Author of The Husband Stitch

Carmen Maria Machado

Author of A Good Man is Hard to Find

Flannery O’Connor

Author of Revenge

Yoko Ogawa

Author of Bloodchild

Octavia Butler

Author of The Haunting of Hill House

Shirley Jackson

psychological horror, unreliable perception, fragile identity, domestic space as hostile, loneliness

close third-person narrative, long, hypnotic sentences with quiet dread, ambiguity

space is alive or morally wrong, interior thoughts drifting to fantasy, repeated phrases, subtle and creeping unease

Identifiers for The Haunting of Hill House

power imbalance, reproductive/body horror, autonomy

clean and controlled prose, first-person narrator, graphic biological detail

the ‘other,’ calm but disturbing tone, ethical complexity

Identifiers for Bloodchild

obsession, grief as rot, casual cruelty, interconnection

emotionally flat narration, quiet and unsettling imagery,

calm descriptions of the grotesque, ordinary becoming sinister, emotional restraint

Identifiers for Revenge

misused religion, moral blindness, grace through violence, southern

satirical tone, heavy dialogue, irony and dark humor

religious language used hypocritically, brutal violence

Identifiers for A Good Man is Hard to Find

autonomy, domestic horror, folklore

second-person, metafiction, lyrical and confrontational prose

lists, asides, stage direction, explicit discussion, modern language

Identifiers for The Husband Stitch

fate vs free will, consequence of desire, interfering with natural order

traditional narration, build to horror, maralistic tone

working-class family, horror through implication instead of gore

Identifiers for The Monkey’s Paw

sexual awakening, power and desire, fairy tales, agency

lush and sensual language, mythic tone, violence mixed with eroticism

embracing danger

Identifiers for The Company of Wolves and The Werewolf

aestheticism, moral decay, art vs. ethics

witty dialogue, philosophical monologues, elevated victorian prose

obsession, immoral aphorisms, sensual but restrained decadence

Identifiers for The Picture of Dorian Gray

obsession with sound, insistence on sanity, organ imagery

Identifiers for The Tell Tale Heart

alcohol, domestic violence, animal cruelty, guilt manifesting physically

Identifiers for The Black Cat

decaying structure, the double, reflections, live burial

Identifiers for The Fall of the House of Usher

allegorical, plague, color symbolism, inevitable death

Identifiers for The Masque of the Red Death

philosophical explaination of self-destruction, crime confessed due to compulsion

Identifiers for The Imp of the Perverse

art draining life, sacrifice for art, frame narrative

Identifiers for The Oval Portrait

idealized dead person, obsession with eyes, resurrection, excessively ornate language

Identifiers for Ligeia

repressed sexuality, forbidden desire, parasitism, anxiety

framed narrative, slow and atmospheric pacing, dreamlike encounters

intimate and eroticized feeding, illness and weakness, decay

Identifiers for Carmilla