WRITING IN THE SOUTHERN GOTHIC STYLE

Understand the origins and nuances of this Gothic subgenre to write atmospheric tales.

- BY SONYA ALEXANDER

Writing Southern Gothic tales requires incorporating certain elements that are signatures of this subgenre.

Before starting that short story or novel, it’s important to know that the Southern Gothic story is the cousin of the Gothic tale. The Gothic narrative emerged from Britain in the mid-18th century, a byproduct of its environment. With the birth of the Industrial Revolution, which introduced advanced technology and vital industries, society was going into unknown territory. Gothic literature clung to the past, dripping with moody atmosphere, old castles, ghosts, and characters experiencing psychological morass. Piggybacking off of this is Southern Gothic prose, stories that are part and parcel of America and the South. The characters often hold onto the past and sometimes belong to societies that are fighting to survive. Death is frequently an overarching theme in these saturnine tales.

Hallmarks of Gothic Tales

The Gothic story often utilizes the supernatural as a psychological trigger for characters. In Susan Hill’s novel The Woman in Black: A Ghost Story, the main character, Arthur Kipps, a solicitor, goes to settle an estate in Crythin Gifford and is plagued by incessant strange noises and the apparition of a woman in black. The occurrences at the manor take his mind to the brink. After he uncovers the story behind the woman in black, he leaves with the spiritual veil of the woman in black’s misery following him. She won't allow him to live in peace until he’s experienced tragedy akin to hers. With this, while eternally trapped in the netherworld, she gets a modicum of retribution.

Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is bereft of the supernatural, but has plenty of shadows, gloom, and psychological terror. What makes Rebecca scary is the idea of Rebecca. Maxim de Winter's new wife, who's nameless, lives in her shadow. Once it’s believed that