Gothic Horror - Blog Posts

Me, a sith who adores cersei: There is no middle ground, I only deal in absolutes.

There’s two ends of the horror spectrum

which gender are you? angel making itself scary to ward off evil, or demon making itself look beautiful to decieve humans?

How are you gonna complain that Nosferatu was too sexual as if Gothic literature didn't originate from social rebellion? As if Bram Stoker's novel didn't have sexual undertones? As if Nosferatu didn't have sexual undertones already? I understand if you didn't expect such upfront sexuality, but don't hate on the movie for it. If it's not for you, that's okay! Taboo topics aren't for everyone; Just remember that Gothic literature is meant to be taboo. A social rebellion. Expressing the dark, barbaric, animalistic, and shunned aspects of human nature. I haven't watched the film YET; But I have taken a course SPECIFICALLY on Gothic literature {and passed}, read Bram Stoker's Dracula, watched both original Nosferatu's multiple times, and immersed myself in Gothic literature for a while now. Gothic horror IS sexual in its essence. It's grotesque and disgusting. Revolting and shameful. That's the point. It's also sensual, emotional, despondent, and FULL of metaphors. It’s EROTIC. If the genre isn't for you, or if certain aspects aren't for you, that's okay. Everyone has their limits, everyone deserves their boundaries.

Mr. Utterson the lawyer.

Another sketch of Henry Jekyll, M.D., D.C.L., L.L.D., F.R.S., etc.

The combination of his bewildered expression and me listening to the Jekyll and Hyde musical in the background while drawing this made it so that about 40% of the time it looked like he was just really unsure if he was being flirted at XD

A Smol Edward Hyde.

Dr. Henry Jekyll "a large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty, with something of a slyish cast perhaps, but every mark of capacity and kindness"

Mr. Edward Hyde from the gothic novella "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson.

I have no idea why This is how I imagined him looking XD

*pats Edward's curly hair*

You want more...

The confession

A short horror story I wrote.

TW: 920

Word count: blood, gore, murder, religion

It's quiet today, yes it is most of the time in a church, but not this kind of silence... I might even be able to call it eerie.

It's so quiet it feels like there is someone here with me, just one that is able to hold their breath for a very long time or never had a breath to begin with.

From the corner of my eye I notice a dark red curtain close.

Ah, it must be someone whom is here to confess.

I carefully close the book I was reading and whilst holding it close I walk over to the one who seeks the guidance and forgiveness of God.

I enter the small room on the opposite side and close the curtain behind me.

As I sense the person in the other room make a cross, he speaks in a shaking voice: "In the n-name of the F-father, the Son a-and the Holy Spirit..."

I recognize the man's voice, it's Benjamin, the kind farmer from the edge of town.

He comes here often and is very devoted to God.

Just what could it be that scared the poor lad this much?

Ben continues his prayer: "May last confession has been..." He takes a break, seemingly deep in thought.

"I'm sorry, I... I don't know. I have been here every Sunday though, I truly didn't have anything to confess at that time."

"That is alright, I know. Please tell me what happened Ben."

"So..." He swallows loudly "It all started a couple of days ago."

"Recently my crops have been dying, much, much faster than normal. All of them are now nothing more but dust. At first I thought it was divine punishment for something, but after asking even my youngest it seemed not to be the case. There was something killing them. It didn't take long for it to go over onto my life stock, all dead. My sheep, my cows, even the little donkey.

All had been more than healthy before then.

No blood, just dead.

Of course I went to ask around and seemingly I wasn't the only one with this horrible occurrence. My neighbors Peter and Hans had the same problem.

Something has been eating away at the land. It was something evil, father.

The others and me, decided to investigate and found out that something strange happens at night.

There was something wandering our fields when even the moon and stars hid behind clouds out of fear.

We all saw them.

It looked human, a human with long dark hair.

Each time it even just passed something alive it would quickly perish.

Last night, we decided to make our move.

Armed, we followed it.

It led us into the dark forest, everything decaying in its path.

When it finally halted, Peter attacked first.

But he was touched by it by accident and turned to ash.

It was a terrible sight father! I won't ever be able to forget.

So Hans, enraged by the sudden death of our friend, screamed at it, grabbing it by its hair and yanking it back.

He held a knife to its throat ready to slice it open, and yet... he too lost his life right there.

The monster turned to me and asked: "Are you going to kill me too, mister?"

I could finally see its eyes, its horrid eyes.

I think they might have glowed, but I'm not too sure.

When the moon finally showed itself, it had turned just as blood red as the monster's eyes.

It had to have been the devil's work.

It has to!"

"What did you do?" I ask, trying to get him to continue his story, he came here to confess after all.

A strange giggle escaped the man's lips, one I have only heard once before from a madman.

"Ben! What did you do?!"

He remains silent for a bit.

Is he even still there?

"Father... I killed a child. I killed the devil's child" Ben answers with insanity clearly audible in his voice.

"Ben... you killed a child?"

Another strange giggle: "Father... I did it to save everyone. I stabbed it and stabbed it and stabbed it and stabbed it... In the end the monster even smiled at me as I cut out its facial features, to make it look more like the monster it was."

A chill runs down my spine, what in the Lord's name is going on?

Probably sensing my silence, Ben starts to weep: "My Lord... Father... I killed a child... I'm going to hell... aren't I?"

Unsure what to answer, I open my bible looking for a way to guide the man.

Suddenly I start to hear scratching on the other side, softly at first, but before I know it, it gets louder and louder.

'Is he nervous?' Is my first thought, but quickly the scratching doesn't sound human anymore.

I can't help it: "What's wrong?" I ask desperately, trying to hide my own panic.

"Father, please help me. God, please forgive me!" The man starts begging in great distress.

If this goes on, he might hurt himself, I have to get him out!

"Ben! Please, let's take a breath of fresh air! Please calm down, I'm sure He will forgive you!"

I jump out of the confessional, rush to his side and open his curtains.

But instead of being greeted by the panicked man's face, I am to an empty seat.

Empty.

No one.

Have I been talking to myself all this time?

No... The scratches are there.

The scratches in the woodwork are deep and look more to be made by some kind of animal, than a human being.

It almost looks like there is dust inside them.

With an audible gasp I take a step back, gazing into the empty room.

Then I notice something else amiss.

The light entering the church...

It has turned blood red.

Jobs vampires do to blend in with society (hypothetically, just 4 fun yall)

Nightlife Jobs

Club owners

Bartenders

Hostess

Reasons:vampires see better at night,vampires have been around a long time and know all about the desires of human beings, it's easier to hide who they are at night.

Antique Dealer

Reason: nobody questions an antique dealer when they know lots about an item from hundreds of years ago,it's the perfect cover.

Creative jobs

Artist

Editor

Writer

Painter

Sculptor

Reasons:They can work from home and remain reclusive, vampires were around during the Renaissance era,and know all about art.

Caretakers

Taking care of an old hotel

Taking care of a lighthouse

Taking care of the elderly

Reasons:vampires are very much used to death,they are numb to it.

Librarians

Reasons: quiet, dim light,access to many historical records.

These are just 5,but there are many more tbh,but that's it for now- Raven

“How can you enjoy horror?! How can you enjoy feeling fear and anxiety? What's wrong with you?”

I came across a video discussing this and it really made me think about myself, a horror fan who delves deep into the genre and loves to explore the different subgenres. But why do I enjoy it so much? Why do I prefer to sit in a state of anxiety and fear and watch others suffer?

The general answer would be: Because I am comfortable in that state. Those feelings I have lived within for most of my life, and it is where I feel most ‘safe’ in a sense. I feel that a lot of people can relate to horror in various ways.

Why?

Trauma. It all relates to the trauma I have endured from a very early age. Horror gives me various ways of sitting in these emotions and processing them. Even the different subgenres offer me different points of views and thoughts on how to approach these feelings and release them. No, I’m not talking about acting upon violence, because that’s just a very small part of horror.

Body horror is my favorite subgenre. The drastic metamorphosis of the human form turning into something we cannot comprehend - something that is alien to us. The suffering of being in that form that’s in between reality and the unknown. Struggling to understand it, attacking it because we don’t. I see my own body this way. I have never felt comfortable in my physical body. No, I do not suffer a debilitating disease or suffer the loss of body parts, but when I look at myself in the mirror I wonder, “Is this really what I look like?”

I forget that I do not look like the image I have of myself in my head and being reminded of that makes my stomach feel tight and I feel actual fear. I do not like how I look on the outside. I also do not like knowing what’s on the inside. Blood and gore make me queasy, not only on the screen or in a book, but in reality. The knowledge that my body is filled with fleshy pieces and liquid that can so easily be spilled and lead to my demise is terrifying.

Gothic horror. This one is a bit more subdued. It’s the past versus the present, time leaking into the future. It’s a reminder of how the past affects the present and how, in turn, the present affects the future. My past clings to me, I live in it. I am doing my best to let go, and movies in the subgenre and usually about doing just that. The happy ending of moving on from past trauma, of learning to cope healthily or close a chapter of your life to look forward to the future. This is a subject I desperately try to improve in myself, but this subgenre is where I feel so… understood.

Cosmic horror is so intriguing to me. It makes me dive into analyzing otherworldly subjects, working my mind to try and grasp whatever understanding I can from the horror introduced. It shows humanity struggling against an unknown but overcoming it… or being driven mad. It reminds me what it is to be human; how not understanding everything is terrifying, but real. We are not meant to understand everything, we cannot scientifically break down things and we can either accept that or fight against it.

Humanity’s true hubris is trying to understand the core of the universe, to examine everything in a way that we will have infinite knowledge and pluck at the strings of reality so that we can control it. How we, as a species, crave domination. This subgenre makes me take a step back, realize there are things we should not meddle in, and sometimes we should accept things as they are… lest we see what lies in the mountains of madness.

Paranormal fiction gives me hope. Strange, isn’t it? The idea of ghosts or demons haunting us. Thinking that we could be tormented by an entity that lives beside us that we only need to give an ounce of attention to. So why does it fill me with faith? Because I feel so alone. Not only due to my schedule of being someone who is only active over the evening and night, but because I have a habit of isolating myself due to my intense fear of abandonment. The paranormal is unseen right next to us and, as much as I don’t believe in spirits, heaven, or hell, a part of me does hope that maybe those I have lost are still here.

That I am not sitting here alone at my computer. Perhaps a phantom stands with me, watching me in intrigue of this new technology they cannot understand. Maybe a specter paces the hallway, reliving a certain moment in their lives over and over again, not knowing that I am here… but they are present. Is there a fiend wrapped around my shoulders, damning me throughout the day by placing me in difficult situations and causing havoc around me? Well, they’re dealing with my annoying optimism and having to listen to me break down, too. If they felt joy about it, I’m sure they would be tired of it by now. We’re just nagging each other at this point. Yet, neither of us would be alone.

It’s about grief.

It’s about self-animosity.

It’s about trauma.

It’s about feeling understood.

I enjoyed the show Stranger Things, for example, because I could relate to the characters. I was a gifted child who was exploited by the authority around me, I never felt that I fit in, and I tried so hard to do so. I was smart, but in turn I was looked down upon and still told I was not by adults. I had special interests but never found friends who shared in those. I was afraid of being alone.

Enjoying horror does not mean there is anything “wrong” with you. It’s a platform for exploring deep emotions, expressing questions we are too afraid to ask, and finding comfort in a way you can understand in a safe place. (By safe, I mean your living room or bed.) I know horror can be dangerous, but it can also be a form of therapy. Writing in the genre allows you to work through uncomfortable emotions, to get your feelings out in a way that doesn’t avoid those emotions.

I do not speak for everyone, and this is about my person views and experiences. I would love to hear the views and stories of others.

moodboard for a story im writing

Queer as is gay, but also Queer as in 1800s gothic horror

NINETEEN CLAWS AND A BLACK BIRD by AGUSTINA BAZTERRICA (A REVIEW)

quickly: a collection of short stories where death and endings are the main characters (people falling from the sky / predacious teachers / taxi driver serial killers / breaking up / psychiatrist offices / father-killing daughters / devious cats / dead people on the moon / laughing at funerals / eating to feel / ceiling holes / caged birds / suburban bands / men in dark tunnels).

This is a strange collection of stories that I really wanted to love, but having read it, can’t wait to return. The writing leans freely into surrealist mystery, horror, and romance. Death seems to be the primary meditation, but there are also streaks of feminist and patriarchal struggles, conflicts between life and death, and questions of fate.

Most of the stories had amazing setups with promising openings. Unfortunately, the bizarre plotting and exposition often washes the stories out, with almost all of them ending with unsatisfactory conclusions. It felt like the last few V/H/S movies… montages of moments that are merely emotions and feelings, but not true stories.

Only one story, in particular, will stay with me… Earth. A daughter’s hasty reaction to her father’s temperament draws dire consequences for her mother and herself. Another, maybe, was Mary Carminum, about two devious men who have the tables turned on them by their dates. The rest of them are lost in a sea of metaphors, similies, and Rupi Kaur-esque poeticism.

★ ★

BELOVED by TONI MORRISON (REVIEW)

quickly: a self-emancipated woman is tormented by her past long after she’s made it to freedom (an ex-slave who has slavery living inside of her / children born in the shadow of trauma / a grandmother who can smell the future on the wind / jealous daughters who speak their minds / a house haunted by the dead / stolen milk and blessed berries / blood magic / the deep dark evil of slavery)

what a wild, lush, furious nightmare of a story. this is the story of Sethe, how she escaped slavery, and how she ended up in a house haunted by the ghost of a dead child. this is truly a southern gothic horror tale in every sense. there are psychological and physical traumas, some obtained from slavery and its perpetrators, some obtained from attempts at resisting slavery. there is magic, not the stereotypical “voodoo/hoodoo”, but something older, darker, and less defined. there’s injustice, southern lands, hard times, etc. at first, toni’s writing is like a dense forest, but once you find your footpath, the journey will carry you forward. 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

more thoughts: SPOILERS!

Some personal context… I’ve been on the hunt for truly thrilling stories that take my breath away and Toni Morrison’s work did more than that. This read was preceded by “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson. I chose it based on it being a classic of gothic horror, a sub-genre I love. I was disappointed by its lack of thrill, passion, or anything, other than Eleanor’s unraveling. 

Enter Toni Morrison. This is my first read by the late and great author, and it couldn’t have been any more perfect of an introduction for me. I’ll never hear “southern gothic” without thinking of BELOVED, which should be the staple of the genre (sorry, not sorry, Shirley J.). Rarely have I heard this work referred to as such. (If I had, I probably would’ve read it earlier.) I almost feel ‘honored’ to have read this book, though I’m not sure why. Maybe something to do with this incredible black writer penning a story so beautifully terrifying that people forget to call it ‘horror’. Maybe because she met and exceeded what I expected, exceeded what popular culture has had me to expect, and embodied that uniqueness that comes with being called Great.

We begin in a mess of spite and timelines. A blurred view of the world, and everyone in it. From 124, the home at the center of the story, we meet Sethe and the rest of her family who are, and are not there. We are given a brief survey of all that has occurred or been endured, from people running away to a haunting being born from the death of a child. Then, Paul D, a man she hasn’t seen in years, has found his way to her.

Time is layered in this story… at times in the present, at times in the past, sometimes glimpsing the future. Morrison moves through lives and their perspectives in a God-like fashion, without warning, but with the knowledge of all things that have occurred or will come. The way she gives details and expounds on storylines can be unsettling, at first, like coming into a dense and thick forest. Without some studying of what lies before you, it can be easy to get lost. She is a writer who gives glimpses of things before unveiling a fuller truth that towers and shadows and swallows. Sometimes these glimpses of the plot can seem like you missed something, but, artfully, the revelations in future pages have a way of connecting past pages, to form a continuous story.

From behind the eyes of Sethe, her daughter Denver, and Paul D (Sethes old friend and new lover), we come to know the history of Sweet Home (the plantation the family is from) and the history of the people who left it. Through their memories and inner reflections, they relay all we need to know about who they are and why. 

In short, they belonged to “good” white people, but things changed when their owner died and others came in to rule over them. Going from being treated like dogs, to being treated like less than that, prompted them to head to freedom. Most of the core trauma of this story is sourced in that transitional period between their old master passing away and them becoming their own masters out of desperation and survival.

Throughout this story, poetically, are piercing observations, questions, and philosophical dilemmas about slavery and the white supremacy and capitalism supporting it. Toni illustrates quite sharply how monstrous this process of dehumanization is, and how profoundly evil these acts of violence were. So evil in fact, it seemed to spread throughout the entire white race, able to make itself disappear and become known at any time, even in the most “good” of whites. It is an evil so big it seems impossible to have existed (and still exist). Like its appearance should have ended the world, like some demonic apocalyptic revelation from The Bible. (A Bible that has not served the slaves well, and Toni captures this black theological resentment perfectly.)

One of the most disheartening moments is when Grandma Suggs, renowned backwoods high priestess, forgoes her ‘gift’ of preaching. After living a tormented life and finally making it to a place where she is hers, she was collapsed by the intrusion of white men into her seemingly sanctified space. Their privileged appearance and sudden disruption cause Grandma Suggs to question all of existence, finally realizing, that there is no promised land. There are no sacred spaces for them. Maybe no God for them either. She forgoes preaching and spends the rest of what little time she has, thinking about colors. Something she never had time to do as a slave. When asked if she was “punishing God” by not preaching his word, she responds, “Not like He punish me”. 

Sethe is troubled by the child that she killed, a child that has haunted 124 since she died. Paul D is able to rid the house of the spirit, but that only leads to it manifesting in physical form… a girl named Beloved. She appears out of the river one day, sick and dying, and Sethe nurses her back to life. After gaining strength, Beloved proceeds to wreak havoc on relationships and resources. It takes Denver, Sethe’s daughter, to gather the community to rid the house of Beloved, the beautiful demon born of crimes against the flesh. 

That is the story. And I am reducing it to fumes for the point of this commentary, but it is such a rich reading I’m not really spoiling anything. This brief summarization and my recounting of a fraction of my reflections is pale compared to the full color of Morrison’s masterpiece. 

Also, I must say, the Everyman’s Library binding is BEAUTIFUL and comes with useful chronologies and a short biography of the author—and it is well bound! So much better than the penguin hardcovers I see in the library sometimes, which are often too tightly sewn. Just a random note. 

And again, I am HONORED to have read such a masterful work of horror and to have experienced this world built by Toni Morrison’s words. There’s an Everyman’s Library hardcover Song of Solomon, so maybe I’ll read that soon.

Cthulhu. This is the fat, bloated, 6-eyed version based on H.P. Lovecraft's own sketch.

Spot illo for the Casting The Runes rpg, which is inspired by the writing of M. R. James. The artwork was an attempt to mimic the style of illustrations from Edwardian period. This particular illo depicts the creature described in Canon Alberic's Scrap-Book.

'There was black and tattered drapery about it; the coarse hair covered it as in the drawing. The lower jaw was thin—what can I call it?—shallow, like a beast’s; teeth showed behind the black lips; there was no nose; the eyes, of a fiery yellow, against which the pupils showed black and intense, and the exulting hate and thirst to destroy life which shone there, were the most horrifying features in the whole vision. There was intelligence of a kind in them—intelligence beyond that of a beast, below that of a man.'

Spot illo for the Casting The Runes rpg, which is inspired by the writing of M. R. James. The artwork was an attempt to mimic the style of illustrations from Edwardian period.

Cover art for Triple Aces Games Leagues of Gothic Horror - Guide to Mummies. Channeling some Hammer Horror.

The demon Vepar. Spot illo for Triple Ace Games Leagues of Gothic Horror rpg.

people really just walk into horror movies and expect them not to deal with uncomfortable things despite the genre being dedicated to discomfort.

i saw so many people complain that lisa frankenstein, a movie where one of the leads is famously a rotting corpse, was too gross for them. when i walked out of nosferatu, i heard people say that the nudity was uncalled for... in a vampire film. nudity? in MY gothic horror?! unheard of!

a LOT of people really need to accept that maybe some genres just aren't to their taste, idk. not every movie needs to be cookie-cutter clean. sexuality is a staple of gothic horror, if not the wider genre horror in General. you don't need to enjoy it, but it doesn't make these things uncalled for.

10,000 listens! Thank y'all so much for checking out the DEAD WEST podcast!

Your support has been incredible, so appreciated, and insanely validating. When you put a creative piece of yourself out there, you dream of it finding the right audience and it is incredible to me that this show has resonated with so many folxs. Knowing that 10,000 people gave us a shot blows my mind.

Every listen, every share, every review, every rating, every piece of engagement on social media, every single thing YOU all have done has helped to lead us here. So, speaking on behalf of the incredible cast and crew, we at the Dead West thank you so much for showing up & showing our story love!  Spotify Apple Web Your Preferred Player

DEAD WEST PART 6: As above, so below is Live!

In Part 6, Conrad comes face to face with the Mother of the Mountain only to realize that around every corner there is some monster or another.

Please be aware there are a LOT of content warnings for this episode. Be sure to check them out before diving. ================================================ LISTEN HERE: SPOTIFY APPLE WEB RSS Your Preferred Player ================================================ Be sure to check out our Ko-fi and Patreon for options to support the show.

Episode drops tomorrow, catch it everywhere!

Conrad and Father Gregory finally meet! Letting us learn more about Blackwater and the Father's role in it. VA credit: Zach Scott

I HAVE A GOD DAMN PLAN, to listen to this for the rest of the day! Honestly between this new beauty and the Port Sulphur Band record I am in hog heaven while I finish up some writing and planning for the next podcast episodes.

This makes me so damn proud.

When I was first spinning this show up I had a lot of reservations with putting it out into the world. The time period I wanted to set the show in comes with a LOT of bigotry, religious zealotry, racism, sexism, and xenophobia. With that, fictional media coverage of this time period is traditionally through the lens of a glorified "tough guy" acting under the eye of the Christian God or guided by the principles of Manifest Destiny. Which means the audience that flocks to Westerns are traditionally cis white dudes in which the bigoted, racist, sexist, xenophobic rhetoric has the possibility of feeding into their lived experiences and view points. Hell, I even started a TikTok for the show to help market it. My first podcast episode EXPLODED from a couple of posts I did over on TikTok, with 90% of the listener-ship being funneled over from social media identifying as men. Which on it's own isn't a huge issue; it becomes one when some of these commenters on Tiktok have usernames like "yourn*zihero88." Saying they see this being their favorite podcast in the future. (Username exaggerated for this post, but not by much.) So seeing stats like this give me a lot of hope for the future of the story I am working on telling here with Dead West. And we haven't even gotten to the real depth of this world or the stories I want to see come to life in it yet. Still on the horizon: - Sapphic Betrayal and Revenge - Trans Outlaws - POC Monster Hunters All informed by real life examples from the Wild West. Don't believe me? Go check out Henry Allen! I know at this point and time we have a little white boy as our driving narrative force, but my intent with the show wasn't to stay with Conrad forever.