Gothic entrapment formulas structure modern horror film narrative

Evidence

Formulas from Gothic literature established the dominant narrative expressed in horror film—the entrapment of the protagonist in a space where the universe contracts. These entrapments, which include “the corridors of uncounted castles, the dark warrens of Victorian slums, sewers, and mines, the fog shrouded streets of Jekyll’s or Jack the Ripper’s London, and the labyrinth that leads to Dracula’s castle,” are recycled or re-expressed in countless suspense, horror, and slasher films. — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 649

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the Gothic horror formula as spatial entrapment where the universe contracts around the protagonist.