Why supernatural is important in black gothic

KenDarrius Williams

ENGL2016-44378

Ms. Harris

12/3/21

Blog Post

            Supernatural is a fundamental part of making black gothic feel authentic as it captivates its readers with horror and thriller elements. The supernatural in black gothic can be used to enhance storytelling in certain qualities that might not be easily understood if said without these elements. However, even though having these elements are important in black gothic, supernatural is often overlooked because of religious backgrounds, or because of people’s fear of the unknown.

            Creating an ambiance of fear, mysteriousness, and having volumes of darkness are baseline presets in making black gothic feel authentic. Manifestations of the supernatural in black gothic are events that are beyond scientific understanding such as ghosts, superpowers, black and dark magic, hauntings, demonic possessions, objects and people of the unknown, and things of that nature. The supernatural is important for black gothic. Accepted supernatural enhances a story’s storytelling by blurring the lines between reality and fantasy and horror. Many stories in black gothic that use slave narratives such as Beloved use explained supernatural which is a type of supernatural storytelling that is later explained throughout the story and builds congruency and makes a story feel complete. Supernatural elements truly make black gothic feel authentic and at its best.

The acceptance of the supernatural in modern society has somewhat dwindled over the years. In the early years, the supernatural was widely believed by all and was thought to be by the devil himself, which is why the supernatural is quite controversial. In today’s time, rarely does anyone put any thought into why they don’t believe in the supernatural, they just know that they don’t, which causes it to be overlooked. People also don’t believe in the supernatural because of their religious backgrounds.

Beloved, a story about how a mother killed her children to spare them from racism and torture and how it affected her community and those around her highlighted the supernatural perfectly. The novel used supernatural elements like ghosts and reincarnation to explain a tragic story about racism and used supernatural elements to enhance how severe it was to go through back then. They didn’t use supernatural to make the story less fiction but used it to highlight the severity of the situation and its consequences.

In conclusion, supernatural in black gothic is used to enhance the experience of a story and is usually intended to scare the reader. Having the right ambiance of lighting and sound can help with making the supernatural feel authentic to black gothic and horror. Black Gothic uses these elements to blur fantasy with reality but also with suspense as it’s a great tool in gaining attention and making a story magical.

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