Taryn,

Author: * FuFu Fufius - 4 Posts on this thread out of 13 Posts sitewide.
Date: May 26, 2006 - 14:06

. . . in reponse to your question:

“Do fantasy books come under Gothic?”
Your inital post's link, Gothic Experience provided the answer.

“ . . . What makes a work Gothic is a combination of at least some of these elements:

* a castle, ruined or intact, haunted or not,
* ruined buildings which are sinister or which arouse a pleasing melancholy,
* dungeons, underground passages, crypts, and catacombs which, in modern houses, become spooky basements or attics,
* labyrinths, dark corridors, and winding stairs,
* shadows, a beam of moonlight in the blackness, a flickering candle, or the only source of light failing (a candle blown out or an electric failure),
* extreme landscapes, like rugged mountains, thick forests, or icy wastes, and extreme weather,
* omens and ancestral curses,
* magic, supernatural manifestations, or the suggestion of the supernatural,
* a passion-driven, wilful villain-hero or villain,
* a curious heroine with a tendency to faint and a need to be rescued–frequently,
* a hero whose true identity is revealed by the end of the novel,
* horrifying (or terrifying) events or the threat of such happenings.

The Gothic creates feelings of gloom, mystery, and suspense and tends to the dramatic and the sensational, like incest, diabolism, and nameless terrors. . . .”

So, while all Gothic novels are Fantasy, not all Fantasy novels are Gothic.