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It’s dark and chilly outside. You’re huddled under the covers of your bed, turning the final page of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula.” Just as you close the book, lightning flashes outside your window. Your body tingles with a strange mixture of fear and glee.
Maybe you’ve been scared enough for one night, but what about tomorrow, when you’re ready to scare yourself again? It’s time to consider picking up something from a female author. All of the following women are powerful writers who’ve established and evolved the Gothic genre. Take a look at any of these authors and novels the next time you need to get your entertaining fix of darkly twisted stories.
Emily Brontë wrote one of the most famous Gothic novels ever written: “Wuthering Heights.” Published under the name of Ellis Bell, “Wuthering Heights” was controversial at the time because it challenged the prudery and hypocrisy of the Victorian era. Although she published only a single novel and a collection of poetry with her sisters, Emily Brontë is considered one of the greatest – and most inspirational – Gothic writers in history.
Flannery O’Connor was a mid-20th century Southern Gothic writer with a passion for exploring the grotesque in everyday life and the nuances of human nature. A deeply religious Catholic, O’Connor was interested in experimenting with “characters who are, in their empty-headedness, unusually vulnerable to the thrilling mystery of religious speech,” according to The Atlantic. She is perhaps best known for her short story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find.”
The oldest sister of the famous three Brontës, Charlotte worked on and off as a governess at various schools before publishing her poetry in a collection with her two sisters. The following year, she published her famous novel, “Jane Eyre,” under the pseudonym Currer Bell. She outlived all four of her sisters and her brother, passing away in 1854.
Anne Rice is a popular writer known for her “Vampire Chronicles,” which include dark and yet highly romanticized vampire characters. Her first vampire novel, “Interview with a Vampire,” shot her into immediate fame. Rice writes more than just vampire novels; she has delved into Christian fiction and even erotica in her career. Talk about diversity!
A Victorian Gothic novelist like the Brontë sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell is known for her striking social commentary. She and her husband were friends with writers such as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Bronte and Harriet Beecher Stowe. She is especially known for her biography “Life of Charlotte Bronte,” but she also wrote the novels “Mary Barton” and “North and South.” Both of which showcase dynamic, three-dimensional female characters and Gothic ghost stories.
Ann Radcliffe was one of the first Gothic writers, man or woman. Her six novels describe natural surroundings in great detail and all feature elements of the supernatural. The features of the Gothic genre that Radcliffe developed influenced later writers like Edgar Allan Poe, Jane Austen and even Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
Although not a Gothic writer in the classical sense, Margaret Atwood is a member of the subgenre, Southern Ontario Gothic. Novels of this subgenre are set in the region of southern Canada and usually feature small, Protestant towns abounding in moral hypocrisy. Atwood’s “Alias Grace” is a notable work in the Southern Ontario Gothic genre.
Daphne du Maurier was a very successful 20th century author. According to her website, she “wrote dark, often gothic and edgy novels and short stories, with unexpected twists or suspenseful endings.” One of her most famous novels, “Rebecca,” was even adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock.
Married to the famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Shelley proved as adept as her husband at producing great literature. Her novel, “Frankenstein; or the Modern Prometheus,” is widely read, reproduced and referenced to this day. The mysteriousness of the supernatural occurrences in this novel make it one of the first popular Gothic novels written by a woman.
According to her website, Shirley Jackson was “one of the most brilliant and influential authors of the twentieth century.” Born in 1916, Jackson acted as both a writer and as a publisher throughout her career. Her dark, twisted short story, “The Lottery,” is one of the most well-known stories of the century and is required reading in many schools.
Immerse yourself in the writing of these ten Gothic women writers and you will be sure to experience all the fear, romance, thrills and horror that have established this genre as one of the most popular since the 18th century.
