Gothic Literature

The term "Gothic" originated from the group of architects who made their designs with intricate shapes and complex patterns, called Goths. This form of design then became a sort of platform for the medieval times and then further expanded to becoming a "backdrop" for the psychological and physical settings for a new literary time periods. The type of literary style portrayed mystery, suspense, decay, ruin, terror,death, privileged irrationality, passion over rationality and reason and even superstition.
 The Gothic Period was roughly through the year of 1764-1840, which was ending around the same time Romanticism was starting. Horace Walpole was credited for being the first to introduce a Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, setting the elements that to this day are taken up by authors and flipped into their own. This story details a medieval castle with labyrinthine passages, haunted portraits, the ancient curse that is brought into the present, the innocent maiden pursued by a old nobleman. The themes include how people aren't who they seem to be it gives you a mood of ongoing fear and anxiety and imprisonment and isolation. The key elements you would usually find in Gothic fiction is Atmoshpere, Clergy, The Paranormal, Melodrama, Omens, Setting, Virginal Maiden in Distress(with exemptions).
People tend to mistake Horror and Goth for each other when in fact, there is a major difference in the two ways of literature even though Gothic includes some factors of Horror. There is a video of  Neil Gaiman's view on Horror versus Gothic that is pretty popular in which the author describes what he believes is the difference between the two. He says the biggest contrast is the mood. Horror aims to scare you, and attack your preconceptions; meanwhile the mood for Goth is more ominous and moving very slowly with anticipation.