Mystery and fear is a notion that is presented invariably in almost every Gothic text available. It has become a distinctive characteristic of Gothic writing, and is conveyed by the authors through a variety of literary techniques. How far these authors are successful depends on the writer's art and the reader's responsiveness. In this essay, I shall attempt to evaluate the different means that authors use to create this sense of mystery and fear, as well as the degree of effectiveness of these means. In particular, I will be focusing on the works of Bram Stoker, Oscar Wilde as well as Henry James.

Most stories written in the Gothic tradition is centralised on the idea of moral transgression. Such Gothic stories usually revolve around the idea of crossing into the illicit and the unknown, outside what is ordinary and accepted. There is an inversion or rejection of the...