Today, the word Gothic primarily describes a style of European architecture which flourished from the twelfth through the sixteenth centuries, though the word seems originally to have referred to any non-classical (Greek or Roman) architecture. Gothic architecture used pointed arches and vaults, flying buttresses, narrow spires, stained glass windows, intricate traceries, and varied details; its upward movement was meant to suggest heavenward aspiration. One would think the opposite because of it gloomy, depressing meaning. When a person thinks 'gothic', they don't ever really think about heaven and God.

"The Gothic creates feelings of gloom, mystery, and suspense and tends to the dramatic and the sensational, like incest, diabolism, and nameless terrors. Most of us immediately recognize the Gothic (even if we don't know the name) when we encounter it in novels, poetry, plays, movies, and TV series. "

http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/gothic/gothic.html

--Tanya Rios

According to virtualsalt.com/gothic.htm, gothic novels have few specific elements in which they believe should be included for a novel to be considered 'gothic'. Some of these elements include:
1. Setting in a castle.
2. An atmosohere of mystery and suspense.
3. An ancient prophechy.
4. Omens, portents, visions.
5. Supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events.
6. High, even overwrought emotion.
7. Woman in distress.
8. Women threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical man.
9. The metonomy of gloom and horror.
10. The vocabulary of the gothic.

Frankenstein had half, if not most of these elements. The atmosphere was full of mystery and suspense because you never knew who might die next or where the creature may be. Victor Frankenstein considered his mothers death to be an 'omen' for future unfortunate events. This creature living among the living woulkd be considered 'supernatural'. Elizabeth was killed by the big creature. And in general the story is full of gloom and horror.

--Tanya Rios

Psycho Trailer

I posted this video from Alfred Hitchock because this black and white film relates to Mary Shelley's Gothic setting in many ways,the spooky setting of the trailer,the house in the hill, the horror and suspense of this movie make this type of old fashion serial killer a great combination of what many artist are influence by.

Writers who made Gothic Style popular

A Brief Historical Overview: "The first great practitioner of the Gothic novel, as well the most popular and best paid novelist of the eighteenth century England, was Ann Radcliffe. She added suspense, painted evocative landscapes and moods or atmsophere, portrayed increasingly complex, fascinatingly-horrifying, evil villains, and focused on the heroine and her struggle with him. Her best works–A Sicilian Romance (1790), The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and The Italian (1797), with the irredeemably malevolent monk, Schedoni–still have the ability to thrill and enthrall readers.
Inspired by Radcliffe and influenced by German sensationalist horror tales, Matthew Lewis wrote The Monk (1796). The novel follows the lust-driven monk Ambrosio from one abominal act to another–rape, incest, matricide, burial alive– to his gory death and well-deserved damnation. Naturally it was enormously successful and controversial. The story goes that Radcliffe, a sedate, conventional matron, was appalled at his novel and his acknowledging her influence on him, so she responded with The Italian, whose villain is also a monk, to show how a novel of terror and suspense should be written."
Women were a big influence in the beginning of the Gothic era as they inspired many writers to define the aspects of this trend.
www.ask.com/web?q=Modern+Gothic+Writing&qsrc=2991

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley and Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte are very similar and both revolve around death. Death is used as a prominent element in both books, and both Shelley and Bronte use death to show the psychological changes within characters. Both books show the psychological changes between the main characters, and the ones living after the deaths have occurred. Although the books have similiar elements, they use them a bit differently. While Frankenstein takes a more violent look on life, Wuthering Heights deals with more of natural, psychological point of view.

--Tanya Rios

Tim Burton's Art Style

Tim Burton’s Goth Art Wows Crowds at MoMA
Tim Burton. (American, b. 1958) Untitled (Edward Scissorhands). 1990. Pen and ink, and pencil on paper, 14 1/4 x 9" (36.2 x 22.9 cm). Private Collection. Edward Scissorhands © Twentieth Century Fox © 2009 Tim Burton

The Museum of Modern Art has blown the lid off Tim Burton’s best-kept secret: he isn’t just an imaginative filmmaker; he’s also an amazingly talented artist. Burton’s retrospective, which is spread throughout the museum, focuses on the director’s 14 feature films, while also offering drawings, paintings, photographs, sketchbooks, props, and short films that have never previously been exhibited. Spanning a lifetime of creativity — from his teenage drawings and college films to character sketches from his upcoming Alice in Wonderlandmovie — Burton’s Gothic vision is as captivating as it is astounding.

Hundreds of magical works are exhibited salon-style in MoMA’s third-floor special-exhibitions gallery, which is entered by way of a three-dimensional monster’s mouth. The creature’s red-carpet tongue takes visitors down a black-and-white striped hallway, which displays flat-screen monitors playing Burton’s six-episode Internet series The World of Stainboy. Passing through this metaphorical orifice, you come out in a darkened gallery, filled with Day-Glo paintings of freaky characters on velvet and a rotating carrousel sculpture illuminated by black lights. Beyond this trippy room, nearly 40 years of Burton’s surreal style of thinking unfolds.

I am a loyal fan of Tim Burton's work.His Art is mysterious,dark, unpredictable and for me amazingly beautiful.In many movies like:Sleepy Hollow(1999),Edward Scissorhands(1990) ,The Nightmare Before Christmas(1993), Beettlejuice(1988) etc... We can see the Gothic influence that has captured many around the world.

httpflavorwire.com/57107/tim-burtons-goth-art-wows-crowds-at-momaa

Tim Burton’s Goth Art Wows Crowds at MoMA
Tim Burton. (American, b. 1958) Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas storyboard. 1993. Pen and ink, marker, and colored pencil on paper, 5 x 7" (12.7 x 17.8 cm). Private Collection. © 2009 Tim Burton.

Subcultural style

The goth subculture is a contemporary subculture found in many countries. It began in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s in the gothic rock scene, an offshoot of the Post-punk genre. The goth subculture has survived much longer than others of the same era, and has continued to diversify. Its imagery and cultural proclivities indicate influences from nineteenth century Gothic literature along with horror films and to a lesser extent the BDSMculture.^[1][2][3]

The goth subculture has associated tastes in music, aesthetics, and fashion, whether or not all individuals who share those tastes are in fact members of the goth subculture. Gothic music encompasses a number of different styles. Styles of dress within the subculture range from deathrock, punk, androgynous, Victorian, someRenaissance and Medieval style attire, or combinations of the above, most often with black attire, makeup and hair.

This style represents freedom and uniqueness.not because someone is different from us means that you are evil or ugly(Just like we have read in Frankenstein)We all have to accept each other just the way we are and learn the importance of respect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goth_subculture