Grand-Guignol as Twentieth-Century Gothic Drama

This chapter argues that the malleability of the Gothic mode has meant that it has always been able to adapt itself to a variety of media. Gothic drama has been a highly successful way of delivering such narratives. First gaining prominence in the late eighteenth- century, alongside the first wave of Gothic novels, these plays had long theatrical runs and attracted huge audiences, as well as being on the cutting edge of developments in stagecraft and special effects. This changed in the early decades of the twentieth century. The never-ending stream of original play texts and adaptations of Gothic fiction dried up and more popular forms of performance such as spookshows and scare attractions emerged. The Grand Guignol, the French Theatre of Horror, includes both horror and comedy performances and yet focusses more on realist plots than on the monsters of the Gothic. It is argued that whilst the Grand Guignol appears as a rupture from the Gothic dramas that preceded it, this is not the full story. The chapter positions the Grand Guignol as a necessary link between the spectacle and melodrama of the Gothic stage, and the psychology and gore of twentieth-century horror cinema.