Films and Movies
This two-minute short film used elements of light and dark to hide the monster until the closing shot.
Lights Out
This trope featured heavily in Squirm, where the main character had visions of something squirming under her skin.
What is "nightmare" or "the grotesque"?
This trope works to establish the tone of a piece before the plot gets going.
What is "mystery"?
This short story is the grim origin of what became a Disney classic.
What is Cinderella?
The name of the main character in The Thing.
MacReady
The Thing used this trope to pray on our fears of seeing people know become taken over by something unknown.
Paranoia
The point-of-view character in Some Contingency Plans for Zombies gradually revealed himself to be this gothic trope.
What is a villain?
From Edward to Dracula, these monsters are often portrayed as sauve and mysterious, usually serving as a fear of the "other".
Vampires
What is an "ambiguous ending"?
The name of Chris's genre-savvy best friend in Get Out.
Who is Rod?
This short film used "the grotesque" in its depiction of the monster hiding in a lake.
What is The Raft?
Zombies, vampires, and ghosts are examples of this trope, used by authors to provide commentary on the human condition.
What is "supernatural/paranormal activity"?"
These supernatural beings are often used as a metaphor for the slow decay of materialism.
What are zombies?
This early Gothic work, adapted many times since the dawn of cinema, established many of the tenets of the genre, including a monster, unnerving atmosphere, castles, and mystery?
What is Frankenstein?
The name of the vampire from the 1922 movie (also featured at the end of an episode of Spongebob Squarepants)?
Who is Nosferatu?
What is "an ambiguous ending"?
This trope is featured heavily in Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, with graveyards, gloomy castles, and a frightening monster.
What is mystery and fear?
This trope, featured in most of the stories we've read thus far, serves to unsettle the audience, even before the plot begins.
What is "unnerving atmosphere"?
This short story used corrupt police officers as metaphors for violence in a city, and compared them to a virus attacking a body.
What is The City Born Great?
Verna conquers her emotional distress in this short story about a murder in the arctic.
What is Stone Mattress?
This film used the gothic tropes of the grosteque and isolation to investigate our fear of the unknown.
What is The Thing?
This gothic trope features heavily in the main character's descent into madness in The Yellow Wallpaper.
What is emotional distress?
This trope usually indicates that trauma has lingered on unseen for years, and serves as a metaphor for lasting damage.
What is a haunted house?
This short story features the use of a stromatolite as a murder weapon in the arctic.
What is Stone Mattress?
The author of The Black Cat and Masque of the Red Death, two of the most famous gothic works.
Who is Edgar Allen Poe?