Writing Modern Gothic
Horror KT Wagner
www.northernlightsgothic.com
CAA/SFC Webinar, July 28, 2021
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KT Wagnerwww.northernlightsgothic.com
Vonda McIntyre’s First Law:
“Under the right circumstances, anything I
tell you could be wrong.”
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• Goths, Visigoths, Ostrogoths
• Gothic Architecture 12th-16th Centuries
• 18th Century View of Middle Ages
• Gothic Revival Mid 1700s
• First Gothic Novel 1764
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Historical Context
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• Emotion: dread, terror, disgust, fear, revulsion
• Psychological, Sociological, Allegorical
• The Uncanny: haunting familiarity, return of childhood/primitive beliefs
• The Abject. Abjection: “The state of being cast off” (Julia Kristeva’s 1980 essay The Powers of Horror)
• Supernatural/preternatural not necessary but common in Gothic Horror stories
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Horror
“We make up horrors to help us cope with the real ones.” ~ Stephen King
“The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our souls...” ~ Edgar Allan Poe
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Traditional Gothic Conventions
DungeonsCursesTortureVampiresSpiritsCastlesTombsTerrorDamsel in Distress*GraveyardRuinsDeath-like statePhysical decay
MurderDeathSuicideGhostsDemonsGloomy settingsFamily SecretsPriests and MonksAscent and descentInsectsBroken taboosIsolation physical/emotionalMadness*
Severed LimbsGargoylesBonesMirrorsWaxwork dollsAutomataMonstersSpiritual sufferingGaslightingSocial taboosSexual taboosEvil is punished
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Protagonist
Antagonist
Monster (A reflection in some way)
Twisted perceptions
Unreliable narrator
Describe character through setting
Threat can be unseen or unnoticed by MC
Archetypes – try subverting them
• Wanderer
• Doppelganger
• Mad Scientist
• Byronic Hero/Virginal Maiden/Foolish Old Woman
• Evil and/or inept clergy
Character
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Show the deterioration of the world of the story. The ways it is a decaying shell of what was.
Buildings and setting steeped in past sins/evil
Reader experience setting through all senses.
Filter through point of view character.
Play with words/poetic devices: Latinate/Anglo Saxon, Onomatopoeia (word sounds like it means), Homonyms (same sound, different meanings), Metaphor etc.
Metonymies suggesting gloom, terror, isolation, mystery, danger, supernatural • Wind (howling, extinguishing a flame)
• Rain (blowing)
• Thunder and lightening
• Ice and snow
Setting
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Mood is the emotion evoked in the reader by the text and it contributes to atmosphere which is the lingering feeling about the story environment.• Word choice
• Repetition
• Setting
• Imagery
• Tone (narrator’s attitude about the story)
Mood/Atmosphere
Samuel Coolridge
“Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
I looked upon the rotting sea,And drew my eyes away;
I looked upon the rotting deck,And there the dead men lay.
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• Stereotypes and oppression
• Science without morality
• Cultural contradictions
• Isolation/Alienation
• Obsession
• Death/loss
• Use of power (wealth/politics/social class)
• Insanity *
• Othering *
Theme
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• By country/region/culture
• Southern Gothic
• Northern Gothic (Southern Ontario Gothic)
• By time/space
• Cyber Gothic
• By science/social science
• Environmental Gothic (EcoGothic)
• And more…
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Subcategories to explore and create
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Writing a Modern Gothic StoryShort stories are an opportunity to play with genre, ideas, voice etc. Also consider poetry.
Ideas, Prompts, Prework
• Collect details, snippets, articles, words, images
• Settings that invoke strong emotion (any) in author
• Some familiarity with setting – research/beta readers
• Collections of random elements (lists)
• Idea file – what scares you, what upsets you, political/societal issues that enrage you.
• Free writing/journaling
• Research
• Read
Putting it together
• Building a story in layers
• Starting elements: at least two – setting, character, plot
• Add a random element and/or framing device
• Let the story go where it will in drafting stage
• Focus on atmosphere
• Give your subconscious room to contribute
• Use motifs, symbolism and recognizable narratives
• Time between drafts
• Attention to sentence level/word choice during revision
• Feedback (what’s on the page, what isn’t)
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(Example) American Black Vulture, black birds, birds
Words:
Broken wings
Flock
Swoop
Soar
Riding thermals
Scavenge
Preen
Carrion
Feathers
Beak
Circle
Bald
Dead
Gorge
Talons
Putrid
Migratory
Buzzard
Carnivore
Rotting
Parasite
Aviary
Nest
Wingspan
Eggs
Collective nouns:
A hover of crows
A murder of crows
A horde of crows
A mob of crows
A muster of crows
A parcel of crows
A parliament of crows
A storytelling of crows
An unkindness of ravens
A kettle of vultures
A committee of vultures
A venue of vultures
A volt of vultures
A wake of vultures
Symbols & Mythology
Harpies
Death
Change
Magic
Mystery
Messenger between life
and death/physical and
spiritual world
5 crows = sickness
6 crows = death
Blackbird nest = good
luck
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PublishingThe End. (Or is it?) ☺
KT Wagner – [email protected]
Thanks for attending!
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