【正确答案】正确答案：Gothic novel is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Its origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his novel The Castle of Otranto. The gothic novels always include the following elements: the setting in a castle, an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, an ancient prophecy, omens, portents, supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events, high, even overwrought emotion, women in distress or threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male, and the metonymy of gloom and horror. The gothic novel has influenced the novel, the short story, poetry and even film-making up to the present day.