The Return of the Repressed

Clemens argues that by stimulating a sense of primordial fear in readers, Gothic horror dramatically calls attention to collective and attitudinal problems that have been unrecognized or repressed in the society at large. Gothic fiction does more, however, than simply reflect social anxieties; it actually facilitates social change. That is, in frightening us out of our collective "wits," Gothic fiction actually shocks us into using them in more viable ways.