Introduction

Do you like being scared?

Fear is universal, and while it serves as a warning, it can bring a sense of excitement.

Gothic novels emerged in the 1760s as a new genre, using fear to entice and engage. While Gothic novels have been written in many languages and contexts, this exhibition focuses on the genre’s foundation and development in Britain. The novels marked a time of change and discovery, when the fear of the unknown was paired with the excitement of possibilities.

These tales fascinated readers with their transgressive topics and storylines of ghosts, monsters, and villains, exploring themes of queerness, colonialism, and the tensions between scientific and faith-based understandings of the world.

While the novels’ plots may appear to reinforce social norms and vilify outsiders, readers have also sympathised with and related to the creatures that embody transgressive traits. Ambiguous and hard to pin down, the stories shift and change like the apparitions they describe. They have endured over the years, as re-interpretations have brought to light hidden meanings in these scary stories.