The supernatural has a powerful allure, and through using this, Gothic Fiction delves into and explores the nature of the human world. This can be shown with the help of four different texts, Dracula written by Bram Stoker, Twilight written by Stephanie Meyer, Inescapable written by Amy A. Bartol, and Carrie directed by Kimberly Peirce, as they reflect and or challenge the different human natures that are written about in Gothic Fiction. The nature of the human world has many different aspects to it, one being a fear of pain and or death, but having the willingness to put aside that fear and endure it for the sake of loved ones, second being the fear of the unknown because our minds tell us that in order to progress in life, we must know what is coming so we may prepare for it, and third being that we are naturally drawn to sublime beauty, and at sometimes have no control of it no matter what we tell ourselves.
Humans naturally have a fear of pain or death, but most are willing to put aside that fear for the sake of loved ones, to save them from having to experience it themselves. This can be shown using supernatural elements in Inescapable, through the protectiveness that Evie, an angel with a soul, has towards her soul mate. When Freddie, the evil reaper, plunges a knife into the thigh of Russel, Evie begs him, “No, Freddie, stop! I’ll do anything you want, I’ll give you anything you want… just stop, please… stop”. Bartol incorporates repetition with the words of “anything” and “stop” to emphasise the desperation Evie feels in this situation. Then, Evie goes to the extreme by offering her soul, the one thing Freddie wishes. “You see, Russel, Evie is the most extraordinary being we’ve ever seen. She’s an angel who possesses a human soul: a half-breed. She said she’ll give me her soul if I agree not to kill her soul mate, which is you.” Bartol uses the supernatural elements of angels and demons to explore the nature of a human to put aside fear for loved ones through the character of Evie, whom is part angel, part human and whom was brought up as a human, thereby prone to experiencing human feelings. Likewise, in Twilight, the supernatural elements, which include the vampires, look into the natures of the human world through the main character of Bella, particularly the nature regarding the putting aside the fear of death. Bella believes that, “surely it was a good way to die, in the place of someone else, someone I loved. Noble, even. That ought to count for something.” Meyer uses the idea of sacrificial love to develop Bella’s character further whilst exploring the nature of the human world. Meyer brings this out right at the beginning of the book and hints at it throughout the rest of the novel. One instant is when Bella decides to leave Charlie and Forks to keep him safe from the hunter, James. “I gasped, knowing where my scent would lead. ‘Charlie! You can’t leave him there! You can’t leave him!’ I thrashed against the harness.” Meyer uses exclamation marks to highlight the distress and concern of Bella which adds to the whole emotional state that Bella currently is in. “My mind was blank as I tried to think of a way to make him let me go. This wasn’t going to be pleasant.” Even though Bella knows that she will have to fight her father, she does it because of her nature to sacrifice herself for her loved ones. Another instant is when Bella believes James has her mother, and will do anything to save her, “I had no choices now but one: to go to the mirrored room and die. I had no guarantees, nothing to give to keep my mother alive…I had to try.” Meyer has modernised the stock vampire and created the Cullens, vegans, whilst also keeping the animalistic vampires who thirst for blood, James, to appeal to the modern day society. Ergo, by analysing these two texts, Inescapable and Twilight, we can see that through the use of supernatural elements which appeal to the modern day society, we can look into the human nature to fear