Upon the Brink of Believability: Gothic Literature and Fairy Tales

Abstract

Whipped by sharp winds, dry leaves convulse and crackle over an uneven path that winds through ashy, skeletal trees, up and around the jagged black mountainside, to the glowering ancient mansion punctuating the bleak, gray sky above.Inside, a terrified young woman runs through the darkness, blindly negotiating the twists and turns of a dank subterraneous passageway, all the while pursued by the c:a: stle's owner, a vile, lusty man. Suddenly, a vaporous figure appears before her and silently motions towards a secret door just a few steps away...