The Gothic arose from the romance genre in the late 18th century, combining romance and horror in an attempt to thrill and terrify the reader, but in the Victorian era it ceased to become a literary genre dominant. However, Gothic themes such as psychological and physical terror, mystery, the supernatural and madness still survived. The melancholic atmosphere and persistent melodrama in novels such as Charles Dickens' "Great Expectations" are examples of gothic elements in later novels as "Victorian Gothic" moves away from traditional themes (ruined castles, helpless heroines, evil villains) and exchanges with the supernatural and the mysterious within a recognizable setting, bringing a sense of familiarity to the reader and thus making the text more disturbing. But is this sense of disconcerting familiarity the only reason Gothic novels are so widely read, or are there other reasons? Gothic literature has several distinctive characteristics. For one, it "often focuses on the dark, evil side of human nature. It says that each of us has a dark side, and in these stories we find characters giving in to that darkness and doing terrible, horrible things." First, and rather morbidly, the narrator of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat" tells us that he will die the next day, so we immediately understand that this story is a deathbed confession, which helps to convince the reader of the truth of the story: why a man destined to die should lie, is the obvious conclusion of a reader. According to himself, a rather biased source, the narrator grew up as a kind and loving man, had "docility and humanity" and was kind to all people and animals. However the story takes a gothic turn and due to alcoholism... halfway through the paper... at the time of their publication. Yet people could not resist the lure of an "escape" offered by Gothic novels and short stories, by exploring the terrifying consequences that could be brought about by the new science of the time, as in the stories "The Lifted Veil" and "The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde", which could then lead to novels such as "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Black Cat", both characterized by a character who descends into madness, a much feared "disease" in era. time. Novels like “The Black Cat” and “The Lifted Veil” also offer the idea of ​​the “supernatural,” something that fascinated the Victorians and instilled fear in them. Overall, in my opinion, the elements of the Gothic in fiction sensationalized the stories told and created an irresistible appeal for both the Victorians and today's modern reader..