Originally coined to refer to the barbarity of the Gothic tribes who sacked Rome the term gothic was used as a derogative to designate anything that was not Roman and thus uncivilized. Later famous for its application in ecclesiastical buildings gothic became the name of an architectural style that flourished in medieval Europe up to the sixteenth century. With its revival in the mideighteenth century gothic with a religious undertone affected also the culture and literature of its time. Having survived even to the present it now enjoys a ubiquitous presence in contemporary culture as an expression of repressed desires, fears and dark sides of human nature. This article attempts to provide a brief overview and characteristics of the gothic in its various forms, especially in literature. Besides, it also seeks to explore the driving force behind the gothic that has kept it so popular over the centuries