Gothic fiction is the forerunner of today's horror genre, although the Gothic style continues to boast many practitioners. Making its debut in the late 18th century, Gothic fiction was a branch of the larger Romantic movement that sought to stimulate strong emotions in the reader - fear and apprehension in this case. Gothic fiction takes its name from medieval architecture, as it often hearkens back to the medieval era in spirit and subject matter and often uses Gothic buildings as a setting.

Gothic fiction places heavy emphasis on atmosphere, using setting and diction to build suspense and a sense of unease in the reader. Common subject matter includes the supernatural, family curses, mystery, and madness. Gothic fiction may also feature a romantic plot or subplot, particularly in later incarnations in the Victorian era and the 20th century. While the Gothic novel is often considered the best example of the genre, some poetry and short stories can also be characterized as Gothic, such as the Graveyard Poets of late 18th century England and the short stories of Edgar Allen Poe, which have influenced Gothic writers ever since their publication.

Gothic fiction often deals with past eras, sometimes romanticizing them and other times using them as a symbol of excesses of darkness and oppression. In its early days, the Gothic genre took the medieval period as a major inspiration. Early Gothic novels were characterized as Romances, referencing a medieval narrative genre. These novels were often anti-Catholic and used a medieval setting to showcase what their authors believed to be the worst abuses of Catholic power. Conversely, Gothic fiction also romanticized the medieval period by adopting the style of its literature and returning to more emotional, fantastical subject matter in favor of the rationalism and order that dominated Enlightenment thought.

Modern Gothic fiction continues this tendency to look back to past eras, using such settings as Colonial America, Victorian England, or the Antebellum South. Like the medieval period to 18th and 19th century writers, these eras offer equal fodder for romanticization and moral criticism. Modern Gothic works set in the present day may take place in a 19th century mansion, much as early Gothic works commonly used Gothic castles as their setting.

Gothic novels were among the most popularly read fiction of the late 18th century, with notable examples including Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764), Anne Radcliffe's The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794), and M. G. Lewis' The Monk (1796). Though it was less popular in the Victorian era, 19th century Gothic fiction is among the best known and most read today, including writers such as Mary Shelley, Edgar Allan Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Bronte sisters, Oscar Wilde, and Henry James. The vampire, one of the favorite stock characters of Gothic fiction, appeared in several important works of this era: John Polidori's The Vampyre, Sheridan LeFanu's Carmilla, and Bram Stoker's Dracula, to name a few.

Gothic fiction employs a lot of stereotypical characters, situations, and language, which many feel are worn out, and the more intense and gory horror favored by writers such as Stephen King has largely taken its place in modern literature. The Gothic genre has continued to decline in popularity since its debut, but it also has a faithful following, and its influence can be noted in much literature, film, and music. Many of Hitchcock's films, as well as the books and stories they were based on, could be considered Gothic. Writers including William Faulkner, Harper Lee, and Tennessee Williams brought the Gothic to their treatment of the American South. Some contemporary authors continue to write in the Gothic tradition or to update it to address their own concerns; examples include Joyce Carol Oates and Patrick McGrath.