It’s no secret that one of my favorite genres is gothic romance. It perfectly blends two of my greatest loves: the romance genre and the gothic (duh). Like the traditional courtship novel, the typical gothic novel deals with young women finding their way in the world, usually when marriage is not an option for them for one reason or another. They must join the workforce, typically in someone else’s home.
Where the domestic sphere is often seen as a sanctuary or safe space from the outer world, the gothic romance explores the quiet terrors of the home, specifically when you have limited agency, and that home is not yours. It explores women’s place in a world that is equally filled with unspeakable terrors and infinite possibilities. Best of all, we get some sort of resolution, sometimes a HEA (Happily Ever After) or sometimes the catharsis of bringing previously hidden traumas into the light. The terrifying domestic space becomes a sanctuary once again.
The gothic romance also deals with something far more transgressive and, dare I say, terrifying to the status quo: female sexuality. In these stories, women are not just navigating the strange world within the domestic sphere but their own sexual yearnings and psychological landscape. I say ‘female’ because the genre historically centered women’s lives in a man’s world, so to speak. That said, the genre also centers on other non-het-cis male perspectives. Gaywyck, published in 1980 and largely considered the first gay gothic romance, was written by Vincent Virga because he wanted to show that “genre knows no gender.” A lovely sentiment since the genre explores what it means to be human, magnifying our desires, our fears, our hopes…all the hidden, unmentionable things frowned upon by polite society. I think that what makes this genre so powerful is that it shows protagonists who are often at their weakest grow into themselves and become empowered simply by daring to bring what is covered in shadow into the light.
Of course, it is never that simple, certainly not when giant ghost helmets fall from the sky, killing your betrothed (Horace Walpole’s Castle of Otranto, 1764) or when an evil Marquis tries to force you into marriage or mistress-hood (Ann Radcliffe’s Romance of the Forest, 1791). Or, you know, you are VERY attracted to your boss, and IDK, he seems to like you but also has a ton of secrets (Victoria Holt’s The Mistress of Mellyn, 1960). Life gets so much more complicated when you’re the long-lost illegitimate love child of your employer who hired you under suspicious circumstances (Dark Shadows, 1966-1971). Suffice it to say, the truly juicy parts of these stories are the telenovela-worthy plots filled with romance and intrigue. Plus trap doors! And hidden rooms! And prophecies! And problematic employee-boss relationships! And maybe ghosts, if you’re lucky!
The genre has a rich history, which you can learn more about via the New York Public Library’s Brief History of Gothic Romance. If you want a more in-depth study of the genre, Romancing the Gothic - 300 years of Gothic Romance with Lori A. Paige, is a fantastic video lecture that details the origin of the genre from the 18th century and its resurgence in the 20th century via category romances and television. Lori A. Page is probably one of the most important scholars in the field. Her book, The Gothic Romance Wave: A Critical History of the Mass Market Novels, 1960-1993, is a feast for any connoisseur of the genre. Read it and thank me later!
My deep and violently passionate love for this genre has made me do many a thing, including purchase my own billowy gothic nightgown. Who doesn’t want to traipse around a gothic castle in a thin billowing white nightgown on a moonless night? Just me? It has also led me to ask the following very important question to my Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook followers: How would someone be able to tell if they are a heroine in a gothic romance novel (heroine meant in the most inclusive of ways, of course)? For REASONS.
So, if you, too, have been wondering, as the nights get colder and darker, and your prospects seem slimmer and slimmer, if every macabre happening or strange summons could be because you are, in fact, a heroine in a gothic romance, here are the tell-tale signs:
You are an orphan. But you are also plucky, so are resolved to forge your own way in the world.
You are also very beautiful…or very plain.
You are in need of work, so you must go a-governessing.
You frequently have candles go out in dark corridors. Useless!
You discover a wife in the attic of the home in which you are employed (whose wife is anybody’s guess).
You are fearful of—and in lust with—the lord of the manor…he is terrifying, in a sexy way.
You are subjected to many sexual advances from your boss, his rivals, and/or others.
You a befriended by a noble stranger (he, too, is an orphan, though don’t be surprised if he ends up being the long-lost son of a rich and noble family. Cha-ching!).
You keep falling through trap doors, stumbling upon hidden passageways, or generally finding secret rooms that aren’t on any blueprints of the house.
You are approached by a strange woman from the village who warns against the evil haunting the house you now inhabit.
You are a little afraid of the child you are hired to care for. You don’t know if you should nurture them or run from them. They are strange, very strange.
You are prone to gazing out windows, especially if it is raining out.
You often feel that someone is watching you, especially when you pass the portrait of the old patriarch of the estate whose eyes seem to follow you as you walk down the forbidden corridor.
You are in a state of chronic isolation, as you live in a remote location and you have zero friends, save the raves who live in the tree outside your window and caw ominous portents.
You repeatedly wake up to your bedroom window being open, though you could've sworn you closed it.
You are forbidden from entering a specific wing in the manor, which, naturally, only makes you go explore it.
You try desperately not to fall in love with the master of the house but do so anyway. The heart wants what the heart wants (even if he is a little sus)! What can you do? HE GETS YOU.
You look suspiciously like the woman in the hundred-year-old painting over the mantle in the drawing room.
You must to some distant, inhospitable location to find love/yourself/meaning in life.
You are offered marriage by a "nice" but incredibly bland guy, who you turn down, so he is free to marry an equally nice but bland person, and you're free to be wooed by the handsome, brooding guy you really like who might also be a vampire.
You have a tragedy in your past—
You are fleeing said tragedy, which is how you ended up at a remote estate that no one else dared willingly enter.
You are the queen of innocent but curious sexual tension. You may not know what’s what, but you have STIRRINGS.
You are going to be married off against your will until you run away. Anything is better than being forced into a loveless marriage!
You might even have a creepy “uncle” or strange family friend who keeps alluding to your inheritance in the form of "husbandly care" for all your needs. Definitely time to hit the road.
You often run through castles barefoot in a long white gown during the witching hour.
You encounter one terrifying ghost who is actually just trying to help.
You are prone to fainting fits and fits of melancholy.
You are far too curious for your own good.
You can quickly pin up your long flowing hair, except for that one pernicious lock that always falls loose and can only be brushed from your face by the inquisitive fingers of the lord of the manor.
Your lock locks also easily tumble from said pins and cascade around your nubile figure at inopportune moments.
You are frequently haunted by the aroma of fresh-cut heirloom roses that may or may not be of supernatural origin.
Your sleep is often disrupted by a cloud or shadow passing in front of the moon, which then leads you to discover the french doors to the balcony in your bedroom are ajar. A lone bat might perch on said balcony.
You succumb to a mysterious ailment while your employer is in the city on business, at which point he makes a hasty return, dreadfully worried about you, his employee, which he absolutely does not have FEELINGS for (spoiler alert: he does).
You suspect the housekeeper is hiding a secret that will lead to your or your master’s demise.
You will likely find yourself in a disorganized library on the property at some point, where you will get yelled at in then kissed in later.
You will then unexpectedly meet the young lady who is your lord's intended—you know, your boss and the man with dark secrets that you are in love with—and you will spend the remainder of the night wondering about that kiss! And that other woman! And those mixed signals!
You hear hysterical laughter in the middle of the night from a mysterious source and grab a candle to investigate it, your bare feet chilled against the floorboards.
You hear references among the staff that your (super handsome and grumpy) employer was engaged once. No one knows what happened to her, only that she adored the pianoforte. Cue "eerie lullaby" by the phantom of the Yorkshire moors.
You, conversely, know that the lord of the manor was once married, but absolutely everyone refuses to talk about what happened to his wife. Maybe he murdered her. Maybe she ran off with a lover. Maybe she haunts this castle still.
You often look to the estate as you return from your country walk (you love a good country walk) to find a window curtain twitching as if someone has been watching you.
You find the house you are in doesn’t seem to like you. Or worse, it REALLY likes you…and never wants you to leave. Ever.
You are subjected to the cruelty of the lord’s mother who intends to ensnare her son in a most unsuitable but practical marriage if she can just get you to stop distracting her son with your sexy little threadbare governess clothes!
You often hear and see strange things that the rest of the house insists aren't real.
You were raised by an unloving guardian, or you were raised by one who loved you quite a bit.
There you have it. If you can relate to most of the signs in this very formal and thoroughly researched list, then you are most certainly a heroine in a gothic romance. Be warned! And prepare yourself for your fate by reading (or rereading) some of these delightfully thrilling tales…
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