07-20-2010, 05:15 PM
Gothiclover has answered your post so adroitly that anything I could add would be redundant. But I can agree with the answers and thereby encourage you to read more Gothics.
You'll quickly learn which authors please you and which to avoid; you develop a sense and can often tell from the first few pages whether a book will win you over or not.
As for "read one, read them all," it's true that Gothics tend to share many elements in common; after all, this is what defines the genre. But among the best writers, there is a world of difference within those parameters.
I've been reading Gothics for a few years and have only come across the elements of witchcraft/diabolism you describe two or three times, and books containing those elements usually make it quite clear on the cover. For a while there was even a sub-genre of "Satanic Gothics" advertised as such. But most novels called "Gothic Romance" or "Romantic Suspense" do not contain these elements. The word "Gothic" (sometimes spelled "Gothick") has nothing to do with the modern "Goth" movement (associated with witchcraft or Wicca, vampires, werewolves, etc.) but rather with the "Gothic" aspect of medieval architecture; the earliest authors in the genre, Horace Walpole, Anne Radliffe, et al., established the traditional settings of crumbling old castles, mansions, monasteries, and other remote, dramatic buildings.
So read on, there's a lot to enjoy in this corner of literature!
You'll quickly learn which authors please you and which to avoid; you develop a sense and can often tell from the first few pages whether a book will win you over or not.
As for "read one, read them all," it's true that Gothics tend to share many elements in common; after all, this is what defines the genre. But among the best writers, there is a world of difference within those parameters.
I've been reading Gothics for a few years and have only come across the elements of witchcraft/diabolism you describe two or three times, and books containing those elements usually make it quite clear on the cover. For a while there was even a sub-genre of "Satanic Gothics" advertised as such. But most novels called "Gothic Romance" or "Romantic Suspense" do not contain these elements. The word "Gothic" (sometimes spelled "Gothick") has nothing to do with the modern "Goth" movement (associated with witchcraft or Wicca, vampires, werewolves, etc.) but rather with the "Gothic" aspect of medieval architecture; the earliest authors in the genre, Horace Walpole, Anne Radliffe, et al., established the traditional settings of crumbling old castles, mansions, monasteries, and other remote, dramatic buildings.
So read on, there's a lot to enjoy in this corner of literature!