E X T E N S I O N SUPERNATURAL HORROR Supernatural elements appeared in literature from the very beginning. The first known poem, Beowulf (8th century AD), is the story of a courageous and brave warrior1 who fights against a monster. In Christian times, this fight symbolizes the battle between evil and good. The supernatural is a central characteristic of William Shakespeare s comedies and tragedies. The ghost in Hamlet represents the doubt the King s son feels about his father s death; the witches2 in Macbeth symbolize the ambition of a courageous warrior; the fairies and goblins in A Midsummer Night s Dream are comic elements that play with human passions. The attraction of the unknown and the fear of the afterlife became a sub-genre during the 18th century when the new middle class created by the Industrial Revolution demanded realistic novels which went beyond the limits of nature and life. The Gothic Novel (late 18th century) represents man s unconscious fear of death under the surface of a fantastic tale. The first Gothic 2. witch: ugly, old, magic woman. 1. warrior: (especially in the past) a person who fights in a battle or war. 22