‘The themes of Oscar Wilde’s controversial novel include moral duplicity, aestheticism, and homoeroticism that offended the social, literary and aesthetic sensibilities of Victorian book critics who called it “mawkish and nauseous”, “unclean”, “effeminate”, and “contaminating”.

‘One of the most quintessentially Gothic texts of its time. With the novel’s depiction of dark… themes of sin and murder, gluttony and excess, the novel explores what it means to be human and inhuman simultaneously. The doubling and contrast between Dorian Gray’s perceived self and his real self (portrayed by the paintings physical representation of his soul) are exploring a distinctly gothic idea of doubles “of the disturbing parts of human identity”. This alternative idea of individuality explores what it means to be a ‘monster’ is shared with many [following modern texts in the gothic genre].

The Picture of Dorian Gray is also distinctly gothic in that Wilde uses the idea of the Uncanny which ‘derives its terror not from something externally alien or unknown but -on the contrary- from something strangely familiar which defeats our efforts to separate ourselves from it.’ The painting of Dorian is essentially Wilde utilising this idea, the painting is identical to Dorian, and although it warps with every sin until it is unrecognisable, Dorian still knows it is his own self.’

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‘Thomas Hardy’s enduring fascination with things loosely defined as “Gothic” - ruins, graveyards, ghosts, corpses, curses, ancient pagan rituals, and psychic phenomena - is among the most intriguing yet least appreciated aspects of his life and art.

Tess of d’Ubervilles (1891), considering it not as a story with (unnecessary) Gothic elements but rather as a Gothic novel per se. A tenebrous allegory of death and sexual repression, Tess is as much a part of the late-Victorian Gothic renaissance as The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray and Dracula. Hardy’s novel rightfully belongs alongside these works as one of a series of dark masterpieces produced in relation to the sexual anxieties of the fin de siecle.’ (End of the century)

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The Yellow Wallpaper is regarded as a classic in feminist literature. ‘The gothic tale of “The Yellow Wallpaper”… Early readers were appreciative of the sheer horror of the tale, and, indeed, it still stands as a wonderful example of the genre. But it was not until the rediscovery of the story in the early 1970’s that “The Yellow Wallpaper”. Was recognised as an early feminist indictment of Victorian patriarchy. This story contains many typical gothic trappings, but beneath the conventional facade lies a tale of repression and freedom told in intricate symbolism as seen through the eyes of a mad narrator.’

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‘Dracula is an epistolary novel told as a series of letters, diary entries, newspaper articles and ships’ log entries. It responds to Victorian anxiety over the potential fluidity of gender roles, colonialism, racial mixing, and reverse imperialism.’

‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula is one of the outstanding works of Gothic literature. The story, told in the form of letters and journal entries, tapped into the fears that haunted the Victorian fin de siecle. In Dracula, modern progressive Britain is menaced by decayed, aristocratic Europe. Superstition is pitted against Science, and wanton female sexuality in the guise of Lucy Westenra, is contrasted with the traditional respectability of Mina Murray. The book is an imaginative tour de force, full of terrifying and dream-like imagery, but its roots lie deep in the anxieties of late-Victorian Britain.’

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‘Classified as both gothic fiction and ghost story, the novella focuses on a governess who, caring for two children at a remote estate, becomes convinced that the grounds are haunted.’