The Nature of the Gothic

What is Gothic Literature?

Merriam-Webster defines Gothic fiction specifically in the adjective sense as "of or relating to a style of fiction that describes remote settings and mysterious or violent incidents"; the Wikipedia article for the same gives it the alternative name of 'gothic horror' and describes it as a "literary aesthetic of fear and haunting". The term 'Gothic' itself was originally pejorative and referred to Gothic art and architecture – such as the infamous example of the style, Notre-Dame de Paris – and in turn the Goths, who were perceived as barbaric. Nowadays it has a certain loose association with medieval romanticism or the Victorian period, as well.

As a genre, it began to take hold in the later half of the eighteenth century and continued (at strength) into the nineteenth, remaining influential thereafter. It was arguably a response to the European Age of Enlightenment and, once it hit its stride, was determined to challenge commonly-held assumptions about morality; to that end, works of Gothic literature were also called 'gothic romances', due to the influence of Romanticism in the late eighteenth century. You're likely already familiar with some notables even if they're not your thing: Mary Shelley and Frankenstein, the works of Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker and Dracula, and the oeuvre of Anne Rice, to name but a few.

"It was a dark and stormy night..."

In giving those examples alongside the definition, you can probably guess its common characteristics:

Anything that looks into the shadows – of the mansion's library, or of the human psyche.

We could be here for days dissecting the "why" of the cultural movement behind the popularity of Gothic fiction, including why it's had something of a resurgence in today's climate. That's not in the scope of this blog entry. Suffice it to say that it's set to endure for generations to come, as long as there are human beings who want to peek behind the curtain or analyze a dream.

Themes and Influences in Stone and Flesh

Stone and Flesh isn't set in a ruined castle in a land of perpetual darkness. It has no damsel in distress fleeing through a forest in a sweeping nightgown. There is no fallen angel love interest, or vampire coven, or lightning cracking over a storm-scoured seaside cliff. The apocalypse isn't nigh.

Here's what it does have:

I will happily cringe and admit that I'm something of a child of the Goth subculture. Though I didn't regularly go round in pale foundation and a dark lip, or even constantly dress in black, my interests and early influences have always been very firmly Gothic, from the architecture and art and the associated historical periods through to the literature. I developed a taste for symphonic rock and dramatic composers like Wagner; my favorite Disney movie was The Hunchback of Notre-Dame; I devoured reference books on the occult, mythology, and herbalism. I loved our weekend trips to National Trust English castles and ruined monasteries. My circumstances as a teenager led me easily and unsurprisingly to an appreciation for poetry, which I wrote for a long time and influenced my prose.

Though my initial prose themes tended to be a little melodramatic when I was young, they've endured and matured: in true Gothic fashion, I like exploring extremes of emotion, all kinds of juxtapositions, and the nature of man. I go crazy for symbolism. I'm not shy about blood and gore or sexual themes, where appropriate. Something or someone will be windswept at some point. There will probably be a dream sequence or three. I find tragic characters compelling, not just for their tragedy but what they do in the aftermath of those tragedies. I like playing with assumptions: for example, that comfort can be dangerous, or that death need not be feared. I love describing something terrible as if it were sublime.

I've been more reluctant to point to 'other media influences' for Stone and Flesh, for two reasons. Firstly, because my influences are rather piecemeal; if you ask me what my favorite bands or albums are, it's hard for me to respond because I grow attached to individual songs rather than albums or bands. Similarly, I may be inspired by one particular scene in a film or one character (or dynamic) in a novel, rather than the whole film or the whole novel. It's hard to be succinct about that.

Secondly, because they're often too nebulous for me to cite. I think the kids call that 'vibes'. But again, it's hard to be succinct when you want to point to how one particular aspect of a piece of media made you feel rather than a handful of comp titles. That said, I think in some of my influences you can see something of the Gothic and in turn, something of the Fruit of War Saga: The Book of All Hours duology by Hal Duncan, Berserk, the Time Quintet by Madeleine L'Engle, Arthuriana and European fairytales, mythology, The King in Yellow, psychopomp and "Death and the Maiden" narratives, Bleach, works of chiaroscuro, Castlevania, Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du mal, Diablo IV and World of Warcraft, the prose style of du Maurier, the sculptures of Bernini, and the art of Yoshitaka Amano.

Most of all, though, it is a love of speculative fiction generally that inspires me. Asking "what if?", asking "why?", re-imagining the everyday, turning the expected on its head, or simply regarding something from a different point of view. The stuff of dreams. While there's an escapist element, yes, I think more often than not, SFF is instead a different lens through which to examine what makes us who we are. 

It'll get darker, you say?

As I've mentioned to my newsletter subscribers, imagine Stone and Flesh is a lush meadow, and by its end you're approaching the treeline of a forest. Book 2 is when you step into that forest. Although part of me regrets not making Stone and Flesh weirder from the get-go, frankly, there was too much to establish first. I'm glad I decided to give readers a gentler, less dark entry into the Fruit of War Saga. However, I'm equally excited for the path to get twistier and the atmosphere thicker.

It's often said in this business that your second book makes or breaks you, if you're writing a series. I'm feeling the pressure, but also practically giddy for you to see the whole scope of my vision. If you haven't taken your first step on the journey yet, I hope this goes some small way toward convincing you.

The Fruit of War Saga is going to grow into something truly, amazingly Gothic: a dark and beautiful architecture framing an examination of human nature on an epic scale. I want it to haunt you for years to come in all the best of ways.

References

1. 'Gothic' definition, adjective, third usage; Merriam-Webster [Accessed 5th May 2026]
2. Gothic fiction; Wikipedia [Accessed 5th May 2026]
3. What is Gothic literature?; Penguin [Accessed 5th May 2026]
4. Romanticism; Wikipedia [Accessed 5th May 2026]
5. Psychopomp; Wikipedia [Accessed 5th May 2026]

Further Reading