Thesis: Is Poe Gothic or Horror? (And The Difference Between)
A knife, poisonous insects, these are things most people fear. The threat of harm or death are things we tend to shy away from. It’s our body's natural instincts that make us afraid and send adrenaline to our brains. It’s a response to a threat, programmed into our systems for centuries to “stay away” from snakes or strangers. However, what about the macabre, the creepy crawlies under the bed, the hundreds of scary stories and movies that have been passed down and retold through the ages. Why is the creepy and gothic so popular? Why is someone like Edgar Allan Poe so beloved for writing such works like “A Tell Tale Heart” and “ The Cask of Amontillado” which are innately morbid? Human’s are a curious species in that even though there is no danger involved in the creepy or macabre we still fear it, however there is also this strange pleasure or joy we derive from reading about a man getting buried alive, or a ghost haunting, and it’s because there’s no obvious threat to us, not...
