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1.4.1 The Gothic Novel
A novel has always been defined as a long story that gathers characters, dialogues, actions, events and a plot all together in order to create a coherent whole following a chronological order. It serves many purposes; the most important one is to amuse and interest the reader; through the events the author gives his view and opinions about the different life’s fields which led to create a relation between the writer and the reader through this “novel”. It tackles several topics concerning social, political and even cultural life (Crawford, p11-p18).


The novel, also deals with fictional topics in which there is horror novels, detective novels and gothic novels. This last one was very famous in the American society by the end of the eighteenth century. It broadly combines elements of


horror, darkness and Gothicism with nature and Romanticism as it is found in the novel “Frankenstein” (1818) by Mary Shelly in which the author provides a monster made by a doctor which consists of different parts from dead humans, to be his friend but then he realizes his mistake when he loses control over him. The events of this classic novel offer an example of the use of supernatural, horror, darkness, mystery and fear which are all characteristics of gothic literature.


1.4.2 The Gothic Short Story
As the gothic novel, the gothic short story also has its own characteristics and a unique journey it made before being as much successful as it is nowadays. This short story that appeared as a new literary form and genre, after, being only an oral way to retell old stories and fairytales, and continues to evolve and develop through time. It contains specific characteristics as it will be explained next.