ABSTRACT
In Gothic fictions, it seems reasonable to begin with a brief examination of the word Gothic itself. It is used in a number of different fields: as a literary term, as a historical term, as an artistic term, as an architectural term. In a literary context, Gothic is most usually applied to a group of novels written between the 1760s and the 1820s. When thinking of the Gothic novel, a set of characteristics springs readily to mind. An emphasis on portraying the terrifying, supernaturalism, the presence of highly stereotyped characters are the most significant. Used in this sense, Gothic fiction is the fiction of the haunted castle, of heroines preyed on by unspeakable terrors, of the blackly lowering villain, of ghosts, vampires, monsters and werewolves. Gothic is the term which publishers still use to sell a particular genre of paperback historical romance.
