imagery continued

Time- time is a good characteristic for southern gothic. The traditional thought for southern gothic and time would be old. A bitter old man or woman with straggly grey hairs, hunched over with fragile bones, pale, weak, sickly. An old shrieking shack with tattered wooden siding, broken windows, and holes in its original wood floors exposing the land beneath it. An old shoe, an old era, an old history. However, if you think about it lack of time can be just as gothic… A baby left in the middle of the night on a door step of an orphanage. A child possessed by their dead parent’s spirit.

Colors- The colors we see as we read a story have a huge impact on how we label it and how gothic we label it. Most dark colors are chosen to describe a setting in a story. Black, grey, brown, dark blue, red, and sometimes white are usually the colors of choice for a gothic setting. Occasionally, the author will allow light or brightness to contrast against these dark colors has a tool. Whether the tool be to discover something that was hidden in the darkness, or simply lighten up the mood of the plot. As it is most plots get their darkest before they get lighter.

Falling- All too often southern gothic stories end with a fall. The sun setting, the house collapsing, a death, love ending.

I suppose I prefer to see southern gothic as dark and horror stricken but the truth is it’s not limited to one such description.