Book excerpt: The Gothic has come a long way from the romantic quest for the imaginary. The gothic has proved to be an extremely enduing genre that has manifested itself in various forms in the cultural, literary, political, ecological and historical aspects of human existence. This anthology takes up various aspects of the Gothic ranging from ghost stories in literature and films to folklore and mythology to cultural horror, to showcase how Gothic is part of an omnipresent power structure that shapes the socio-cultural and psychological metanarrative that governs human ontology.