Introduction to the Gothic: reading, literacy and text-based activities for KS3 (11-13yo)

1. Introduction to the Gothic
Learning Objective:
To explore key
ingredients of
Gothic stories.

2. Things that make a story Gothic
1. Gothic Settings – usually large isolated places like castles,
forests or mountains. Which letter? ______
2. Dark Villains - Villains often have dark, evil powers
(usually beyond what is natural). Which letter? ______
3. High Emotions – there is often some kind of terror, panic
or fear in the story. Which letter? ______
4. Romance – the love and romance is often mixed with
danger and risk . Which letter? ______
5. Supernatural Activity –
there are often ghosts, spirits, vampires or other such
things in the story . Which letter? ______
1. Strange Events - some unusual event(s) often happen to
the character(s) in the story. Which letter? ______
RAINING FISH
A
D
C
E F
B

3. GothicFilm Clip
Film
Trailer
Features of Gothic stories
Twilight
Trailer
(Play
original
movie
trailer on
youtube)
Romance:________________________________________________________________________________________
High Emotions:____________________________________________________________________________________
Gothic Settings:___________________________________________________________________________________
The Supernatural:_________________________________________________________________________________
Strange Events:___________________________________________________________________________________
Dark Villains:____________________________________________________________________________________

4. Gothic Extract
The castle could only be reached across a narrow, stone bridge which spanned a wide and deep crack in the
side of the mountain. As my carriage clattered over the bridge, I could only think of my love, Mina, back in
England, and I wondered if I would ever see her again. Then, the carriage stopped abruptly and I stepped
out. I looked up to where the driver should sit, in order to thank him, but there was no one there. With this
realisation, a freezing ice chill ran across my body and fear began to churn in the pit of my stomach. What
kind of place was this?
On the horizon, the sun was setting over the distant mountain range. Just as it did, a large black bat flew out
from one of the lower stone windows in the castle. The large beast wheeled around the outer courtyard and
disappeared into the carriage window. Immediately as it did so, the carriage door swung open and a tall,
dark-haired man stepped out, from where I had sat alone only a few seconds before. His face was long and
white and his eyes had a hint of menace.
‘Welcome.’ spoke the man is a strongly accented voice. ‘I am Count Vladimir Dracula, and you must be
Jonathan Harker. Welcome to my mountain home. Please come inside.’

5. GothicTrue and False Quiz
1. Gothic settings are cities, shops and beaches. T / F
2. Gothic stories hardly ever have romance in them. T / F
3. Ghosts and the supernatural are an important part of Gothic stories. T / F
4. Dracula and Frankenstein are Gothic stories. T / F
5. A person disappearing could be the strange event in a Gothic story. T / F
6. Gothic stories never contain horror in them. T / F
7. Castles are one of the favourite settings for Gothic stories. T / F
8. Marilyn Manson looks like a Gothic villain. T / F ------------------------------------------------ 
9. The baddies always win in Gothic Stories. T / F
10. There are no modern Gothic stories. T / F

6. Plenary
Are gothic and horror the
same?
Answer either ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and
explain your answer.

7. MYSTERY – legends, suspense, thing beyond the
understanding of science.
A DARK VILLAIN – the villain has dark and evil powers
that are in some way more than natural.
OMENS AND CURSES – incidents of bad luck, or events
that suggest the risk of something dangerous in the
future.
HIGH EMOTION – there is panic, terror or some other
kind of heightened feeling in the story, which might be
excessive/irrational love, fear or madness.
GOTHIC SETTINGS – forests, castles, mountains. These
are often very large, or very isolated places that provide
a sense of threat and power (often the power of nature).
SURREAL OR NIGHTMARISH EVENTS – there are some
very strange events that either happen to the
character(s), or appear in their dreams.
SUPERNATURAL AND PARANORMAL ACTIVITY – ghosts,
spirits, vampires and other examples of supernatural
powers.
ANTI-HERO – the hero is flawed in some way. There is
something tragic about them, and they are either
doomed or burdened by some secret and serious matter.
ROMANCE – forbidden romance, where love and danger
are in some way combined.
A WOMAN IN NEED OF A HERO - the main woman in the
story has some kind of weakness and seeks strength
from the anti-hero.