Episode 162: Setting as a Monster

Notes:

The Verbivore reads some of the introductory description to the house High Place from Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. Here are those words:

- “Francis took out a key and opened the heavy door. Noemí walked into the entrance hall, which gave them an immediate view of a grand staircase of mahogany and oak with a round, stained-glass window on the second landing. The window threw shades of reds and blues and yellows upon a faded green carpet, and two carvings of nymphs—one at the bottom of the stairs by the newel post, another by the window—stood as silent guardians of the house. By the entrance there had been a painting or a mirror on a wall, and its oval outline was visible against the wallpaper, like a lonesome fingerprint at the scene of a crime.”

Here are a few articles and videos we referenced for this conversation:

- The Strand Magazine “The Necessity of an Antagonistic Setting”

- MasterClass Article “How to Create Atmosphere and Mood in Writing”

- MasterClass Article “How to Describe Setting in Literature”

- MasterClass Article “What Is Setting in Writing? Plus Dan Brown’s 5 Tips on Writing Setting”

- Storyboard That “Character vs. Nature / Man vs. Nature”

- New York Public Library Article “A Brief History of Gothic Romance”

- BL.UK Article “The Gothic in Great Expectations”

- YouTube Video “Crimson Peak 2015 Extras - A Primer on Gothic Romance”

- YouTube Video “Tom Hiddleston Explains Gothic Romance (Oct. 20, 2015) | Charlie Rose”

- YouTube Video “The Byronic Hero: Isn’t it Byronic? (Feat. Princess Weekes) | It’s Lit”

- YouTube Video “Jane Eyre: Why We Keep Reading It (Feat. Princess Weekes) | It’s Lit”

We touch on several of our previous podcast episodes. They are as follows:

- Episode 58: Let's talk about Mexican Gothic

- Episode 131: Jurassic Park

Books Mentioned:

- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

- Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

- Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen

- Masterpiece Theater: Northanger Abbey - Directed by Jon Jones

- The House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

- Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

- Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

- Rebecca – Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

- Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

- Crimson Peak – Directed by Guillermo del Toro

- The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King

- Uprooted by Naomi Novik

- Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

- Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

Music from: https://filmmusic.io
‘Friendly day’ by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
Licence: CC BY (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)