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GOTHIC LITERATURE

   Written material is 'Gothic' when it conveys its story in a dark, somber manner which is a unique combination of melancholy, mystery, magnitude and fear.
   True Gothic atmosphere can best be  experienced  within medieval cathedrals such as Chartres or Notre Dame, haunted crypts or vast, forlorn ancient Stonehenge-like ruins.  
   Its literary masters include Poe, Blackwood, Stoker, Rice, Byron, Shelley, King, Lovecraft and a plethora of others.  The Victorian Era ushered in the stylish fashion of Goetia. 

                                         [click on the book]

GOTHIC IMAGES

   Appreciation for Gothic imagery has continued to grow since Victorian times, into subculture status today. There is simply something profound and awe-inspiring about the macabre Gothic Mythos, appealing to those of a sanguine, artistic temperament.  
   Masters of this form are monopolized by the Surrealist School of Salvador Dali, but also include current & precedent forerunners such as Fra Angelico, Abbot Sugar, Lorenzetti, Hieronymus Bosch,  Blake, Vallejo, Constable, Gustave Dore and many others.

                                              [click on the painting]

GOTHIC MUSIC

   Music of true Gothic texture, abounds in every style and age.  Compositional masters range from the stark, Medieval styles of Machaut & Josquin through the overpowering Romantic Heroism of Wagner to the dissonant modern sonority's  of Penderecki, Havergal's "Gothic Symphony," Therion, Nox Arcana & Midnight Syndicate... Amazon.com lists over 3000 offerings under this category alone.
    Over the past 20 years, Heavy & Death Metal Rock bands have also established a firm foothold within the Gothic genera.

                              [click on the Phantom]

GOTHIC CINEMA

   Most agree that Gothic video began with the vampire film 'Nosferatu' in 1921.  
   Since that time, film makers have been literally obsessed with themes of Darkness & Horror. Vampire cinematography actually occupies a relatively small percentage of the whole, but ground-breaking examples include: Return of the Vampire (1944), Salem's Lot (1979), Van Helsing (2004), Fright Night (1988), Blade (2004), Underworld (2006), Brides (1960), The Lost Boys (1987), Interview (1994), and the set masterpiece, 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' (1992).
   Other key Gothic Horror films include: Fall of the House of Usher, Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte, Tim Burton's films (esp. Sleepy Hollow), the Batman series & Frankenstein. 
        
                                          [click on Nosferatu]