Wednesday, 12 June 2013

What is the difference between Gothic horror and normal horror?

Gothic is the combination of romance and horror. For example you would expect to see haunted houses, vampires, ghosts, castles, frail women, religious aspects etc. in a gothic horror movie.  They predominately consist of the supernatural to create the horror, for example in the film Let Me In.  Whereas horror can be non-supernatural too. For example the movie Scream nothing in there is supernatural it is just shocking and gruesome human behaviour, which is where the horror comes from.

< Gothic horror 


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The word goth has its roots in the name of a German tribe called the Goths. The term Gothic was later used during medieval times in the field of architecture for the construction of buildings with pointed arches and vaults. A typical Gothic novel has the following elements:
Old, abandoned castle, monastery or an abbey
Extreme scenery such as dense foggy forests, rugged mountains, stormy weather etc.
Omens, curses and visions
Male protagonist generally rescing a damsel in distress
Headstrong villain driven by passion and revenge
Young, beautiful women (often a virgin)
Suspense in the form of shadows, labyrinths etc. 





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