The case for gothic romance, because normal love is boring People are craving true yearning
Just weeks after having a boyfriend became embarrassing (iykyk), Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein arrived on Netflix and delivered a clarifying truth: it is only embarrassing when it’s ordinary. When it isn’t steeped in devotion. When it has no real hunger.
A revival of Gothic romance, from Frankenstein onward
Since Del Toro’s highly-acclaimed film hit streaming platforms, social media, mainly the ever freaky Twitter, has been swept up in a renewed gothic-romance fervor. Timelines are filled with praise for Nosferatu, The Phantom of the Opera, Carmilla, and Dracula. Netizens are sharing why they adore the genre, fan-casting actors they believe would shine in specific roles, and proving through and through that the gothic romance will never be anything less than compelling.
The beauty of the damned
Indeed, the beauty of the doomed is undeniable in the current cultural zeitgeist. In Frankenstein, for instance, Elizabeth’s dying whisper to the creature “Love is brief; I am glad I found it with you” captures what makes the genre irresistible: its love is primal, grand, and unafraid to ache. Its true beauty ultimately lies in the visceral yearning, something that is missing today.
The unease of modern relationships
The current dating scene has been haunted by situationships, the classic romantic ‘‘relationship,’’ if it can even be called that, where nothing is established. According to Elika Dadsetan, an organizational psychologist, and CEO of VISIONS, Inc, the human brain isn’t made for it. ‘‘Ambiguous relationships keep the nervous system in a low-grade activation cycle: waiting, guessing, bracing,’’ she explains. ‘‘Over time, that creates emotional exhaustion.’’
Escape from emotional emptiness
With modern relationships increasingly becoming sources of stress rather than comfort, many conceal their true feelings to avoid appearing needy or jeopardizing the connection. And in search of some relief, they often seek an escape. At least, that’s what Sofie Roos, author at Passionrad, licensed sexologist, and relationship therapist, observes. “When we deprioritizing our deep and foundational needs, that makes our mind looking for an escape,” Roos explains. “Some people turn towards intense, mysterious, passionate and supernatural relationships. They want love to feel as intense as it is in these love stories.”
Gothic romance as a refuge
If modern dating has failed humanity, there is always gothic romance. Dadsetan believes that, in it, we are able to ‘‘get the thrill without the risk,’’ free from the need to negotiate boundaries, endless misunderstandings and the power dynamics of day-to-day life.
The tragedy that attracts
Although many gothic romance stories have tragic endings (Elizabeth dies in front of the Creature, the Phantom of the Opera dies of love after Christine leaves him, and Ellen sacrifices herself in Nosferatu), the genre's allure does not fade because of it. In fact, it seems to only intensify. It is as if its tragedy awakes something in us, something that feels primal, something that feels urgent. According to Roos, it ‘‘leads to a paradox where love becomes more important than anything else, because you live on limited time and know that you will be looking back at this as the best love story of your life, something that builds an even more intimate bond and stronger attraction.’’
Urgency and absolute devotion
And this sense of urgency, paired with unwavering devotion that must be honored at all costs, culminates in an intensity, "a sense of being chosen," as Dadsetan puts it, and a kind of love that seems almost inhuman. It’s a love so intense that morality and conventions don’t matter anymore. And the only imperative is to protect it, no matter the cost.
The human need to belong
Ultimately, people want to belong. To love deeply and endlessly. As Dadsetan describes it, ‘‘people are searching for spaces to be seen, to feel deeply, and to matter.’’ And gothic romance offers precisely that: a rare escape where, for an instant, the heart gets to run wild among the beauty of the doomed, seeing not condemnation, but a love so surreal it feels almost sacred.
