Gothic literature is typically known as involving horror; however, not everything in Gothic literature is directly involved with horror. In Gothic literature, tales revolve around mysterious castles/mansions, murder, treachery, curses, treachery, secrets, etc. It is believed that Gothic as a writing style was introduced by English writer/politician Horace Walpole with his story, The Castle of Otranto. This story gained immense popularity and became a trendsetter for other authors to use the Gothic style in their stories. Specifically, Southern gothic literature, part of the Gothic genre, includes topics such as mental disease, supernatural elements, and the grotesque; however, Southern gothic literature deals usually goes into characters with disturbed personalities, showing them as damaged or even delusional.
The Petrified Man by Eudora Welty is focused on the weird, grotesque from the city of New Orleans, voodoo capital, to the freak show. The petrified man is wanted for rape, which fits into the Gothic scene because of its cruel, violent intentions. Greenleaf by Flannery O’Connor also shows Southern Gothic characteristics. For example, Mrs. Greenleaf’s faith healing and ritual give us a taste of a mystical, peculiar, and religious woman. When Mrs. May is murdered by the Greenleaf’s bull, we also get a taste of the dark aspect of the gothic aspect in this short story, “One of his horns sank until it pierced her heart and the other curved to her side and held her in an unbreakable grip” (52). This also represents the grotesque that surrounds murder in the Southern Gothic literature. These short stories show their audience that the Gothic writing style does not have to involve things like vampires to be considered Gothic literature.
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