What conventions of Gothic Fiction are?

Answer 1

Most Horror films follow a set of conventions consistent through out the genre, however many chose to bypass these.

- Dark/shadowy lighting

-Isolated location

-Female victim

-Disruption of normality

-Sub plot of male/female relationship

-Defeat of monster

Answer 2

Conventions of Gothic fiction include themes of the supernatural, gloomy and mysterious settings, damsels in distress, eerie atmosphere, melodramatic tone, and an emphasis on emotions and psychological turmoil. It often involves elements of horror, suspense, and the macabre.

Answer 3

she uses the conventions of gothic horror but as my English teacher says 'turns them on there heads' meaning for example at the beginning of chapter 5 instead of a thunder storm Mary Shelley describes the weather as 'a dreary night of November'

Answer 4

!. Something from the past. Usually this is in the setting... an old castle or some ruins... or with the characters... members of an old family with secrets and curses and a general sense of their own history. Usually this intrusion is not a good thing... it is a burden or even a threat.

2. Fate... portents, prophecies, visions, a general feeling of inescapable fate and the echoes of its approaching footsteps. A feeling that there is a pattern and a plan to what is happening, events are not merely random.

3. Romance... not necessarily a romance between characters but a general outlook that is not cold and rational... there is passion and mystery and the unknown... possibly a suggestion of the supernatural.

This is also reflected in the usual presence of nature as an almost sentient force... animals as symbols, warnings... weather as a foreshadowing or mirror of mood.

Also the frequent use of darkness, night time, shadowy places adds to the mystery... the romance... the potential for something to come out of the darkness, whether it is love, death, horror.

4. Some sort of antagonist... a villain, a monster, a curse to be overcome... sometimes it is an inner struggle... sometimes it is some 'evil' aspect of nature or something out of the past.

5. Emotion... strong emotions of love, fear, anger, hatred. Maybe this should come under 'Romance' but I'm not sure. The characters react strongly to what goes on around them... none of them are cool and remote from the situation.

Answer 5

Horror or occult type stories usually set in the past, a spooky hotel or manse in, well Transylvania. even Verne got into the act with the Castle of the Carpathians. The horrors turn out to be well, read the book and find out about this deceptive forerunner of the carnival spook house! Poe was noted for (Gothics) in short story form such as the pit and the pendulum, for example.

Answer 6

Camera angles/movement: Low angle, High angle, Extreme close up, Extreme long shot, Point of view shots, tilt, pan, arc, push in pull out, close up.

Lighting: Profile, Under lighting, Low key, Back lighting.

Sound: Eerie/Scary music, stabs, ambient, contrapuntal, demonic laughs, nursery rhymes, incidental music, sinister music.

Editing: Long takes to build up fear and suspense, sharp cuts, fades, graphic matches.

Answer 7

Conventions of Gothic horror are used to cause feelings of unease and fear in readers. They can include ghosts, masks, supernatural events, curses, doppelgangers, dark locations, abandoned cemeteries, old houses, castles, and manors.

Answer 8

Here are some; this list is by no means all-inclusive.

1. A secret, which involves madness, murder or another horrific crime, great riches as yet undiscovered, or a combination of all three.

2. A young, innocent yet plucky protagonist, often a female, who is placed in great danger, or places herself in danger for a greater cause.

3. The protagonist's love interest, who may or may not have a dark secret of his or her own.

4. A castle, manorhouse or other large, old residence in an isolated location; the place often has a dark history.

5. Servants or villagers who know more than they let on about the recent history of the house and its residents.

6. Bad weather, which serves to further isolate the house and prevent people from coming to the assistance of the occupants of the house. When people do arrive, it is often in the middle of a terrible storm, which forces them to stay.

7. Rumors or stories of a ghost or other supernatural visitor, who may or may not make an appearance in the story.

8. An older person who has either invited the protagonist for a visit or offers her shelter. This person may have dark secrets, such as a spouse who vanished under vague or bizarre circumstances.

9. Dungeons, hidden passageways and secret rooms.

10. Violence of some sort, often related to the history of the house.

11. Suspense, suspense, suspense! Candles mysteriously blown out, windows mysteriously broken, instruments that seem to play by themselves, animals that react hysterically for apparently no reason. Circumstances become grimmer, more dangerous, more hostile as the story develops and the protagonist plumbs whatever mystery surrounds the house and its residents.