07-12-2010, 10:11 PM
I think nostalgia is the key, at least for me. It's probably not a coincidence that the mass-market flood of popular Gothic romances happened during the 1960s and '70s, a time of great societal upheaval. I enjoy being transported into an idealized time-that-never-was in which morality and love are pleasantly uncomplicated matters, a world in which the horrors and uncertainties of real life are removed to a safe distance or blurred away altogether. Even when these stories are set in the (relative) present, they still feel as if they take place in a faraway time. The dangers in a Gothic romance are just that -- romantic -- and even when the life of the heroine is threatened, we know of course that things will turn out all right in the end. It's the thrill of listening to a thunderstorm while safely bundled indoors by a crackling fire -- our fear buttons are pushed when the elements rage, but we're reasonably secure that the house will still be standing when the storm passes.