This Tropical City is a Gothic Body: The Urban Space as a Gothic Body in Anne Rice's Literature

Abstract

The recent death of the American author of fantastic and horror literature, Anne Rice, has led us to revisit her legacy, rethinking her contribution to contemporary culture. Her writing was marked by supernatural entities such as vampires, witches and demons, transiting in urban and rural spaces of the United States of America. These creatures are built beyond the manichaeism of good and evil, they are complex entities just like human beings. They live beautifully, violently, passionately and intensely, a mirror of humanity in its tormented complexity. As intense and well-built as these beings are the spaces in which they inhabit and circulate. From the French Quarter to the swamps of Louisiana, the geographic locations chosen by the author are pulsating and vibrant, they are part of the construction of the story and the internal and external dynamics of the characters. In such a way, these spaces are more than just a setting, they become a central part of the narrative, a Gothic body in itself. Thus, this text will approach the urban space as a Gothic body in the books The Witching Hour (1995) and Merrick (2000).