Gothic Literature Quiz

In which setting would a Gothic story most likely take place?

• a soaring medieval castle gleaming with finery

• a crumbling old mansion full of cobwebs

• a gloomy urban landscape with rats in the alleys

Which character would you most likely see in a Gothic tale?

• a wealthy nobleman who is saddened by the memory of his lost love

• a lively young comedian who tells jokes about relationships

• a modern-day prince who likes rock and roll and hip-hop

Which event would you most likely see in a Gothic story?

• Characters use a time machine to travel to the future and explore new cities and countries.

• A young hero is summoned by the king to fight against a group of armies that have been attacking the kingdom.

• A family ghost who was cheated out of his inheritance comes back to claim his rightful family status.

Which language would you most likely see in a Gothic work?

• I couldn’t tell at first what I was gaping at: a big old house that looked as if it was about to fall over. The place was such a wreck, it was comical. I nearly fell over laughing while I looked at it.

• I knew not at first on what my gaze was fixed: a mansion of such dismal darkness and dilapidated sadness that I nearly fell into a swoon of severe weeping upon espying it.

• I had technical difficulties with my visual interface. My sensors seemed to be perceiving a large, off-market asset that was clearly suffering from being outdated and hopelessly primitive.

Which of the following would you most likely see in a Gothic story?

• a character pulling switches on an enormous old computer made up of a tangle of vacuum tubes and wires

• a character playing gloomy music on an enormous pipe organ that echoes throughout a castle

• a character driving an enormous tractor that is plowing up a field of beautiful flowers

What kind of weather would you most likely see in a Gothic tale?

• a sunny, crystal-clear day with temperatures in the 60s

• a dark, stormy day with lightning striking in the distance

• a brisk, blustery day with fluffy clouds rushing across the sky

Which event would you most likely see in a Gothic story?

• a horrible-looking, disfigured monster who lives in the woods and scares local children who are playing nearby

• an ordinary person who broke his nose and comes to the city to have plastic surgery performed by a doctor

• a tall, good-natured nerd who is great at technical things but can’t seem to connect with other people

Which story ending would you least likely see in a Gothic story?

• the catastrophic destruction of an entire mansion and everything in it

• a happy reunion between a lonely young woman and a handsome prince

• a visitor to a castle running into the woods to escape what may be a ghost

Which text would you most likely see in a Gothic work?

• I felt an icy, sickening sentiment in the unredeemed and blackest depths of my heart. I would not be able to overcome the horrible sins of my past; indeed, I sensed that I was fated to commit yet another foul and heinous crime.

• I felt an odd buzz in my heart that told me that somehow I could overcome the mistakes I had committed in the past. The sun was coming out! I now knew that I could do what I wanted and be what I wanted to be.

• The handwriting was on the wall. It is what it is. No beating around the bush here. No posing or posturing. This was the moment of truth. I either had the goods or I didn’t. I was determined to give one hundred and ten percent.