K. Edgar Winchester

Well, when I say American Gothic I also mean Southern Gothic, meaning the entire story takes place in the south (or lower), but my books meet the standards for a typical American Gothic book. There are certain elements, or requirements, a book has to meet in order to be American Gothic:

1) Night journeys are a common element seen throughout Gothic literature. They can occur in almost any setting, but in American literature they are more commonly seen in the wilderness, forest or any other area that is devoid of people.

2) Evil characters are also seen in Gothic literature and especially American Gothic. Depending on the time period that the work is written about, the evil characters could be characters like Native Americans, trappers, gold miners etc .

3) American Gothic novels also tend to deal with a madness in one or more of the characters and carry that theme throughout the novel.

4) Miraculous survivals are elements within American Gothic literature in which a character or characters will somehow mangage to survive some feat that should have led to their demise.

5) In American Gothic novels it is also typical that one or more of the characters will have some sort of supernatural powers.

6) An element of fear is another characteristic of American Gothic literature. This is typically connected to the unknown and is generally seen throughout the course of the entire novel. This can also be connected to the feeling of despair that characters within the novel are overcome by.

And finally:

7) Psychological overlay is an element that is connected to how characters within an American Gothic novel are affected by things like the night and their surroundings.

I grew up in the south, for one, but I mainly decided to write a southern narrative because every book I read nowadays sounds the same. There are no "voices" in novels anymore, or rather, every novel sounds like they were written in the same voice, by the same author. I wanted a voice that would stand out in people's minds, even if they hated the books.