10-24-2007, 06:45 PM
First, I want to say that I am in complete agreement with you about what makes a Gothic Romance. I only define "Classic" as you would "Classic" literature. If "sentimental" sounds a bit wimpy, how about "Standard", "Prototypical", "Archetypal" to describe the Gothic romances with all the ambiance, etc. When I began reading Gothics, I was reading the typical ones: Holt, Eden, Tattersall, etc. Mostly historical Gothic romances. These became my ideal for Gothic romances.
However, it became increasingly harder to find similar books and I had no resources on Gothic authors. When I went to the library, I'd read the synopsis and if it sounded like it had suspense and romance, I read it. So I turned to romantic suspense for a while. Most of these came from the 60s and 70s. I didn't care for more modern romantic suspense. I later came to find out these books from the 60s and 70s were classified as Gothics. It made for a very confusing view of Gothics. I came to accept them as such, but I wouldn't consider them my standard idea of a Gothic romance.
Now, in more modern times, you have the horror Gothics and paranormal Gothics. I haven't read much horror Gothics, but I would consider Stephen King here. I haven't read V.C. Andrews but I grew up thinking they were horror stories. As for paranormal, I have never read a vampire romance and never had much inclination to do so, so I can't really judge them. (One of our inactive members did make a post regarding one of these.) However, I have read supernatural/ghost stories by Barbara Michaels and she does a very good job with them. However, I do prefer her historical Gothics as these are more in line with my standard ideal.
I'd like to see more discussion regarding straightforward Gothic romances, but our member list is so small, I really don't know what others' viewpoints are. I'd like to see this forum grow to be a good resource for others, new or old to Gothics, to advise on and promote good Gothic literature. As you stated elsewhere, if poorly written Gothics are produced en masse, we could have a decline in the quality of the stories we will be reading.
However, it became increasingly harder to find similar books and I had no resources on Gothic authors. When I went to the library, I'd read the synopsis and if it sounded like it had suspense and romance, I read it. So I turned to romantic suspense for a while. Most of these came from the 60s and 70s. I didn't care for more modern romantic suspense. I later came to find out these books from the 60s and 70s were classified as Gothics. It made for a very confusing view of Gothics. I came to accept them as such, but I wouldn't consider them my standard idea of a Gothic romance.
Now, in more modern times, you have the horror Gothics and paranormal Gothics. I haven't read much horror Gothics, but I would consider Stephen King here. I haven't read V.C. Andrews but I grew up thinking they were horror stories. As for paranormal, I have never read a vampire romance and never had much inclination to do so, so I can't really judge them. (One of our inactive members did make a post regarding one of these.) However, I have read supernatural/ghost stories by Barbara Michaels and she does a very good job with them. However, I do prefer her historical Gothics as these are more in line with my standard ideal.
I'd like to see more discussion regarding straightforward Gothic romances, but our member list is so small, I really don't know what others' viewpoints are. I'd like to see this forum grow to be a good resource for others, new or old to Gothics, to advise on and promote good Gothic literature. As you stated elsewhere, if poorly written Gothics are produced en masse, we could have a decline in the quality of the stories we will be reading.