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Southern Gothic

British  

noun

  1. a literary genre depicting life in the southern US and featuring grotesque themes and imagery

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

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Along the way, she visits strange and mystical worlds packed with nods to Southern Gothic motifs and the complicated, real-life history of the region.

From BBC • Apr. 6, 2025

The song is a synthesized version of a Southern Gothic anthem built to make space for Florence Welch's sweeping vocals.

From Salon • Apr. 19, 2024

Spears’ take on her life has been described as a Southern Gothic, feminist horror story, with the “Toxic” singer “often recounting her mistreatment by most of the men in her life.”

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 26, 2023

Born in 1925, O’Connor was a highly regarded fiction writer in the Southern Gothic style.

From Reuters • Sep. 12, 2023

The same thing is done in the Northern and Southern Gothic: in the porches of Abbeville and the tombs of Verona.

From The Stones of Venice, Volume I (of 3) by Ruskin, John