Gothic fiction is a genre of horror and is characterised by themes of death, darkness and evil. Gothic fiction has been around for a very long time and is still popular today. The tell-tale heart, Don 't ask jack and The sandman are all good examples of gothic fiction. The purpose of gothic fiction is to scare the readers and make them interested. The tell tale heart is about a man who goes insane and kills his roommate because his eye looks like a vultures. Don 't ask jack is about a living jack in the box and how terrorised children. The sandman is about a little boy who goes to bed one night and the Sandman steals his eyes. All three texts have gothic elements in them but they use them differently. In all three texts the authors use characterisation to create a sinister and menacing mood. The characterisations of the characters includes insanity, pursued protagonist and obsession. For example in The Tell-tale heart the protagonist has an obsession with the old man 's eye that drives him to insanity "I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever" this is the first sign of insanity from the protagonist. He believes that if he does not kill the old man something bad will happen to him. In this text this is the part that creates a sinister and menacing mood because of the felling of danger the protagonist suffers. In Don 't Ask Jack, the character is a villain who is trying to convince the children that he is a damsel in distress,