Goths are people who enjoy the dark arts, horror, and macabre literature.
Goth writing is typically characterized by its descriptive style, use of supernatural elements, and focus on issues such as alienation.
Gothic stories may feature protagonists facing crises of faith or existential conflicts. A gothic story must also have a sense of the macabre and a physical manifestation of evil.
Many gothic stories contain elements of the Gothic, including castles, torture chambers, midnight journeys, dungeons, secret passageways, lonesome towers or old catacombs that contain secret vaults.
The castle is a recurring symbol of gothic writing. In traditional gothics there is often an emphasis on domineering male authority figures and women in submissive roles.
While the castle may not be necessary for a gothic story to be considered gothic it is often used as a backdrop for historical events or personalities.
Goths usually have a lot of strange and intriguing personalities, characters who are intrigued by brokenness, imperfections, and pain.
This can manifest as festering sores, manipulated necromantic rituals, the strange physical effects caused by ritual curses or shadow magic.which of these story ideas would be considered gothic writing
No list can cover every possible subgenre of gothic writing, but these five will give you a good start with tons of different topics to explore.
1. The Castle is the Perfect Gothic Story
The castle is one of the most common locations in gothic literature.
Many of the most popular gothic stories take place within the walls of a castle, which houses mysteries, secrets, and sorrows that are hidden behind its majestic stone façade.
This house of secrets is often owned by an evil lord or lady who lives with his or her loyal servant.
One of these masters or mistresses might be cruel while others are more eccentric than cruel.
When all else fails in this household, there’s usually some sinister figure trying to bring an ancient bloodline to its rightful destiny through secret rituals.
In some stories the castle’s master may be a vampire, a ghost, or a monster disguised as an ordinary man.
There are often numerous examples of interrogation rooms, dark catacombs, secret passageways, and even haunted residents.
Gothic stories tell many stories that involve female characters who are subject to abuse at the hands of their mistresses.
The female characters might include women whose minds have been broken by mental cruelty or supernatural forces.
2. Horror Stories Which Include Ghostly Creatures
This sub-genre is not surprising since gothic horror began as ghost stories about haunted castles.
These stories might contain any number of ghosts lurking within the house or outside in the woods.
The ghosts may be presented in several different ways.
Sometimes they’re transparent, but gothic ghosts will often appear to be nothing more than a person who has died.
The ghost might not even look like a real person. It might look like a skeleton or some other form of supernatural creature that is not quite dead, but still makes others feel uncomfortable when they see it.
The ghost might be solid looking, yet at the same time impossible to touch because its hands seem to slip through things like water.
3. Gothic Horror Stories Which Use Religious or Demonic Magic
We will call these stories “magic gothics” because of the intense use of magic that may involve both evil religious magic and dark demonic magic.
The magic in these stories might be something that is used for good, but most often it is evil magic.
These stories can take place in any setting and use any kind of character, but they usually involve complex plots and intricate descriptions of spells or rituals so you’ll definitely need to use strong words.
The story may also require some knowledge of occult practices since this part of the tale is so rich with details.
4. Gothic Horror Stories Which Involve Inner Torment
These stories aren’t just about ghosts and living dead creatures that walk among us.
They feature characters who are tormented by their own inner demons and they search for answers to questions that may never be answered.
Gothic horror stories often center around characters who are searching for answers to their own sanity.
If you write about these characters, make sure to make them complex and interesting. The more things they’ve done in the past the better.
These stories usually take place in isolated settings like dungeons or castles because it’s hard for anyone else to help the characters find their answers.
Gothic horror stories may also be centered on things like human sacrifice, but you should avoid writing about anything that might be too extreme or difficult for your audience to understand.
